Category Archives: Psychology

The Problem is Likely Not the Person Pointing Out The Problem

Posted on July 19, 2010 by John Hunter

I believe the problem is likely not the person pointing out the problem. Now granted I have often been that person. Part of what I have been tasked with doing in various jobs is finding ways to improve the performance of the organization. I was told the managers wanted to hear about problems from someone working there, so I was asked to do so. What it often meant was they wanted someone to fix the problems they thought existed not … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Building on Successful Improvement

Posted on July 13, 2010 by John Hunter

Do ‘Quick Wins’ Hurt Lean Initiatives? This becomes very difficult, since in many organizations these executives have the strategic attention span equivalent to the life-cycle of a mayfly. When the ‘quick win’ approach is taken, the savings / impact becomes like a drug to the executives. They see the benefit and they want more – NOW. Usually they are able to get this for a while, since they are very interested in the program at the beginning and show their … Continue reading →

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Problems With Student Evaluations as Measures of Teacher Performance

Posted on June 16, 2010 by John Hunter

Dr. Deming was, among other things a professor. He found the evaluation of professors by students an unimportant (and often counterproductive measure) – used in some places for awards and performance appraisal. He said for such a measure to be useful it should survey students 20 years later to see which professors made a difference to the students. Here is an interesting paper that explored some of these ideas. Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Education, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Incentivizing Behavior Doesn’t Improve Results

Posted on May 28, 2010 by John Hunter

In the webcast Dan Pink shares research results exploring human motivation and ideas on how to manage organization given the scientific research on motivation. “once a task called for even rudimentary cognitive skill a larger reward led to poorer performance” “Pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table. Pay people enough so they are not thinking about money they are thinking about the work.” “3 factors lead to better performance: autonomy, mastery and purpose” [not additional … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Deming, Management, Psychology, quote, Respect, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

People Cannot Multitask

Posted on May 24, 2010 by John Hunter

There is plenty of research showing that people can’t multitask. But this knowledge is missed by many people. Here is another study showing this: Why We Can’t Do 3 Things at Once That’s because, when faced with two tasks, a part of the brain known as the medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) divides so that half of the region focuses on one task and the other half on the other task. This division of labor allows a person to keep track … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Quality tools | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Interruptions Can Severely Damage Performance

Posted on May 12, 2010 by John Hunter

Interruptions can severely degrade your performance. The type of work you are doing impacts the cost greatly. I have spent some of my time programming web applications. When I am doing that interruptions are a huge drain on my performance (for me the costs of interruptions while programming are far higher than any other type of work I have done – many times higher). If the interruption disrupts my flow (an interruption needn’t necessarily disrupt it I found, instant messages … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, Psychology, quote, Respect, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Ignoring Unpleasant Truths is Often Encouraged

Posted on May 4, 2010 by John Hunter

We can’t Handle the Truth Unfortunately, the proverbial “kill the messenger” is alive and well in American business. People who speak the truth are often labeled as a non-team player, a disrupter, a trouble maker or the current tag of being “not a good fit”. … It doesn’t take much to see that the truth can get watered down, altered or hidden entirely inside a company, especially as it moves vertically up the ladder. We may believe, at least in … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, Fulfillment and Flow

Posted on February 24, 2010 by John Hunter

“After a certain basic point, which translates, more or less, to just a few thousand dollars above the minimum poverty level, increases in material well being don’t see to affect how happy people are.” The speech includes, the first purpose of incorporation at Sony: To establish a place of work where engineers can feel the joy of technological innovation, be aware of their mission to society, and work to their heart’s content. Excellent books by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow: The Psychology … Continue reading →

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More Reasons to Avoid Layoffs

Posted on February 11, 2010 by John Hunter

Lay Off the Layoffs by Jeffrey Pfeffer As its former head of human resources once told me: “If people are your most important assets, why would you get rid of them?” … In fact, there is a growing body of academic research suggesting that firms incur big costs when they cut workers. Some of these costs are obvious, such as the direct costs of severance and outplacement, and some are intuitive, such as the toll on morale and productivity as … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Psychology, Respect | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Circle of Influence

Posted on February 9, 2010 by John Hunter

In, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey discusses the circle of control, circle of influence and circle of concern. This provides a good framework from which to view issues as you look for improvement strategies. Within your circle of control you have much more autonomy and have less need to win others over to your plan. However, in practice, even here, you benefit from winning over those who are involved (for example you are their boss). Our … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Creativity, Deming, Management, Popular, Psychology, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Understanding Psychology: Slogans – Risky Tools

Posted on February 3, 2010 by John Hunter

Slogans mainly are bad. But like most things they can be used in ways that help or hurt. The main problem is when they substitute for a method to achieve the aim (most of the time). If the slogan serves like a mission statement to focus people on something useful to focus on and it is one minor part of a system to achieve a result it can be fine and even useful. The issue, to me, is not so … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Quality tools, quote, Respect | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Trouble with Incentives: They Work

Posted on January 28, 2010 by John Hunter

Gipsie B. Ranney has a great new article – The Trouble with Incentives: They Work I have wondered whether the escalation of pay, perks and parachutes for CEOs actually tends to attract individuals who are primarily extrinsically motivated, rather than individuals who are seriously interested in creating value. Several recent examples appear to be consistent with this view. … An important issue with regard to incentives is possible effects on teamwork and cooperation. If the incentive system is set up … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, Deming, Management, Management Articles, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Undercover Boss – Will They Really Change?

Posted on January 11, 2010 by John Hunter

[removed video that is no longer available] I am skeptical that this reality show (Undercover Boss) will actually do any good but the webclip looks fun. It will premier right after the Super Bowl on CBS. The concept, if done right, could actually be interesting. But even in that case, I would be skeptical it would do much good. I may be wrong, but I would think we will get a whole bunch of thoughts based on one single data … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, Psychology, quote, Respect | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Soren Bisgaard

Posted on December 22, 2009 by John Hunter

Soren Bisgaard died earlier this month of cancer. Soren was a student of my father’s who shared the commitment to making a difference in people’s lives by using applied statistics properly. I know this seem odd to many (I tried to describe this idea previously, also read his acceptance of the 2002 William G. Hunter award). Soren served as the director of the director of the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (founded by William … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Six sigma, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Habits

Posted on December 10, 2009 by John Hunter

Some things about what people do also have their roots in psychology. Deming had an understanding of psychology as one of 4 areas in his system of management. A huge factor in what people do is based on what they are used to doing – habits. It is often difficult for people to change – not necessarily because they don’t want to, or the alternative is more difficult or they think it is unwise. It is difficult just because they … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Worker Retention at Zappos

Posted on October 29, 2009 by John Hunter

Tony Hsieh, chief executive of Zappos, spoke at a recent y-combinator event (two great organizations we have mentioned before). Facebook and Zappos’s Different Views on Worker Retention “We actually want our employees stay with the company for a long time, for 10 years, maybe their entire life.” … “We now provide mentorship and training so employees can join at the entry level and, over a period of five to seven years, have the opportunity and training to become senior leaders … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Fun, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments