Category Archives: Psychology

Tilting at Ludicrous CEO Pay

Posted on June 11, 2007 by John Hunter

I continue to tilt at the robber barron CEO pay packages. Hopefully, at some point, the people approving these obscene pay packages can be shamed into stopping or replaced by people with some sense of decency. I was taught in … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Economics, Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged curiouscat, Deming, executive pay, management, overpaid executives, quote, respect for people | 10 Comments

Continuous, Constructive Feedback

Posted on June 7, 2007 by John Hunter

Employee performance: Continuous, constructive feedback yields results [the broken link was removed]: Be specific. If you simply say “Good job, Frank,” Frank won’t know exactly what he did to get that atta boy. Therefore, he can’t consciously work to repeat … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Respect | Tagged managing people, Performance Appraisal, Psychology | 4 Comments

Predicting Improves Learning

Posted on May 10, 2007 by John Hunter

The Power of Prediction by Jared Spool: By asking these questions up front, we give the team members something to focus on. When a participant gets stuck somewhere they predicted, it stands out. They can take pleasure in knowing they … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Software Development | Tagged learning, Psychology | Comments Off

Be Careful What You Measure

Posted on May 9, 2007 by John Hunter

Be Careful What You Measure by Mike Wroblewski: Although this recalculation of productivity had a positive affect, it is not what I would consider a triumph. Ongoing efforts are still required to truly increase productivity, so it’s back to gemba. … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology | Tagged Data, organization as a system, Psychology | 6 Comments

Motivating Employees

Posted on March 7, 2007 by John Hunter

No Matter How Badly You Want It: “When it seems easy, it’s like they already wanted to do it in the first place.” Martin paused. “It seems impossible when they didn’t ever want to do it. So, it doesn’t seem … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Deming, managing people, motivation | 1 Comment

Performance Appraisals Performance

Posted on February 21, 2007 by John Hunter

Appraising the Performance Of Performance Appraisals [the link that IEEE broke was removed] by Harry Goldstein: The traditional annual review covers a lot of ground: coaching and guidance for the employee, feedback and communication, compensation, staffing decisions and professional development, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Deming, Performance Appraisal, Psychology | Comments Off

Don’t ask employees to be passionate about the company!

Posted on February 7, 2007 by John Hunter

Don’t ask employees to be passionate about the company! People ask me, “How can I get our employees to be passionate about the company?” Wrong question. Passion for our employer, manager, current job? Irrelevant. Passion for our profession and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, Psychology, Respect, Software Development | Comments Off

Compensation at Whole Foods

Posted on February 6, 2007 by John Hunter

Compensation at Whole Foods Market [the link that Whole Foods broke was removed] Most large companies also pay their executives large amounts of stock options in addition to large salaries and cash bonuses. However, this is not the case at … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged deadly diseases, executive pay, leadership, overpaid executives | 1 Comment

Motivating People to Change

Posted on February 4, 2007 by John Hunter

Don’t miss a nice series of posts by Jon Miller: How to Motivate People to Change – part 1, part 2, part 3. [links broken, so removed 🙁 ] Success may come in the short term when motivation is through … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Psychology, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged change, managing people, motivation, Psychology | Comments Off

Making Better Decisions

Posted on January 9, 2007 by John Hunter

Comment on: When Times Are Tough, Do You Make Better Decisions? [the broken link was removed] When times are tough you are more likely to do something – take some action, make some decision. When times are good, many are … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, Psychology | Tagged critical thinking, Process improvement | 1 Comment