Category Archives: Respect

Toyota Manufacturing Powerhouse

Posted on November 28, 2005 by John Hunter

Great required reading [the broken link was removed] via Evolving Excellence, Relentless [the broken link was removed], Detroit News: As Toyota expands rapidly, it is also grappling with a shortage of skilled managers and engineers. When it decided in June to build its seventh North American assembly plant in Woodstock, Ontario, officials said one reason they chose that site was because the new factory could be overseen by the team running its nearby Cambridge plant. Last month, the normally acquisition-shy … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Manufacturing, Psychology, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Management Training Program

Posted on October 28, 2005 by John Hunter

Fog Creek Software Management Training Program by Joel Spolsky: Finally, when you’re really really good, they let you hang around with Yussef on the ovens. Yussef was about 100 years old and so good at running the ovens it was scary. When Gabbi tried to show me how to solve the problem of bread sticking to the conveyer belts on the way out of the oven, he ran back and forth like a lunatic for ten minutes, turning knobs, pulling … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Popular, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Performance Without Appraisal

Posted on October 1, 2005 by John Hunter

In response to the Alternatives to Stack Ranking? post on the popular Mini-Microsoft blog. I’m also taking some time to contemplate on Deming’s points and assess how Microsoft is doing against them. … What I would deeply appreciate is real-world experience from people living with stack ranking alternatives. I strongly suggest chapter 9 (Performance Without Appraisal) of The Leader’s Handbooks, by Peter Scholtes. You mentioned Deming. When asked “If we eliminate performance appraisals, as you suggest, what do we do … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Respect | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Going Lean in Health Care

Posted on August 17, 2005 by John Hunter

Going Lean in Health Care [the broken link has been removed] a report from the Institute for Healthcare improvement based on presentation by James Womack and others. This report is an another excellent resource from IHI, which I have mentioned before is doing great things. This is definitely worth reading. Lean principles hold the promise of reducing or eliminating wasted time, money, and energy in health care, creating a system that is efficient, effective, and truly responsive to the needs … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Respect | 7 Comments

Purpose of an Organization

Posted on August 16, 2005 by John Hunter

W. Edwards Deming described the purpose of an organization in New Economics, on page 51, as: The aim proposed here for any organization is for everybody to gain – stockholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment – over the long term. Like so much of what Deming said that makes sense to me. It is my sense the “conventional wisdom” would state something more along the lines of the purpose of a company is to make money. I do not … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Popular, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 23 Comments

Indian Firms Learning From Toyota

Posted on August 15, 2005 by John Hunter

Taking A Page From Toyota’s Playbook [the broken link has been removed], Business Week: The goal for Wipro is to become the Toyota of business services. Toyota preaches continuous improvement, respect for employees, learning, and embracing change. “It’s the soft stuff that makes a big impact on the hard numbers,” says Kurien, a cheerful 45-year-old. There is plenty of hard-edged analysis, as well. To embrace Toyota’s methods, Kurien last year assigned teams to examine business processes, break them into discrete … Continue reading →

Posted in India, IT, Management, Process improvement, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 2 Comments

Managing Fear

Posted on July 12, 2005 by John Hunter

The post, Root Causes of Crunch Mode [the broken link was removed] from the Game Manager blog makes the good point that Fear and anxiety are known to reduce comprehension and learning ability. W. Edwards Deming made “drive out fear” one of his 14 management changes America needed to make in order to compete with Japan. Fear is a valuable physiological reaction in some situations, but fear make(s) it difficult to think, and thinking is generally superior to fighting in … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, quote, Respect | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment