| Page 136

Improving Engineering Education

Posted on May 25, 2006 by John Hunter

On our Science and Engineering blog I just posted on the Olin Engineering Education Experiment. It is a great story of doing things differently.

The Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering was founded with a donation of over $400 million and opened to students in 2002. All students get a full tuition scholarship. Interesting article: The Olin Experiment by Erico Guizzo gives an excellent overview of the different focus of the school:

Olin’s aim is to flip over the traditional “theory first, practice later” model and make students plunge into hands-on engineering projects starting on day one. Instead of theory-heavy lectures, segregated disciplines, and individual efforts, Olin champions design exercises, interdisciplinary studies, and teamwork.

To some extent this is something a number of schools are attempting to do. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Management, Science | 5 Comments

Lean Transformation Tips

Posted on May 24, 2006 by John Hunter

The 12 Half Truths of a Lean Transformation [the broken link was removed] by Charles Hagood. A one page article reinforcing what adopting lean methods will require.

The process of improving never ends. A Lean transformation has no end date! The process is ongoing and is never a closed out action item. There is no such thing as the perfect company or process, therefore the closest to perfect you can become is to recognize that it is a continuous process of improvement.

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles | Comments Off

Better and Different

Posted on May 24, 2006 by John Hunter

Reaction to Toyota: Better or Different? and Seth Godin’s post.

The answer, as I see it, is to be better and different (when necessary). In Seth’s post he talks about challenging people to find not just better solutions but different solutions. That is fine, as long as people don’t lose focus on being better. Neither one alone is adequate (at least not always). To achieve great success you must be both better and different. That is what Toyota does.

Frankly, if you have to choose one, just being better will work most of the time. The problem is (using an example from Deming, page 9 New Economics) when, for example, carburetors are eliminated by innovation (fuel injectors) no matter how well you make them you are out of business. Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, quote | Tagged continual improvement, Deming, Management, Process improvement | 11 Comments

Financial Education

Posted on May 23, 2006 by John Hunter

Federal Reserve System: economic and personal financial education [the broken link was removed]

“Financial education is a critical component of a robust and effective financial marketplace but it is not a panacea. Clear disclosures, wise regulation and vigorous enforcement are also essential to ensuring that financial service providers do not engage in unfair or deceptive practices,” Bernanke said.
…
Outlining the various initiatives that the Fed already sponsors to boost public understanding of financial matters, Bernanke pledged to keep up the work.

The financial decisions we make have huge impacts on the quality of lives. This blog focus largely on management improvement: in such posts we often mention the importance of long term thinking and systems thinking. When planning our personal financial paths long term thinking and systems thinking (to optimize our long term financial well being given the options available in our individual situation) are necessary.

One advantage over attempting management improvement is when working on your financial plans you don’t have to convince others to change: you have the ability to implement your personal financial plan.

Financial information:

Curious Cat Investment blog – financial literacy posts [added link]
Fool school [the broken link was removed]
Saving for Retirement
Why You Need a Roth IRA
Treasury Office of Financial Education [the broken link was removed]
Curious Cat Investing Library: select investment related articles

Posted in Education, Investing | Tagged Investing | Comments Off

Lean forward

Posted on May 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean forward [the broken link was removed] by Martin Ashcroft (on the recent lean conference by The Manufacturer magazine):

There is also a growing awareness that lean principles should not be confined to manufacturing operations, with almost nine out of ten recognizing their value throughout the entire organization. Action speaks louder than words, however, and manufacturers betrayed themselves somewhat in their answers to a later question about business initiatives, revealing that in practice, less than half had done anything about extending lean principles into business processes.

This seems exactly right. People agree lean should expand beyond the factor floor but actually doing so lags that belief. Still there is plenty of work to do both in getting companies to do apply the most obvious lean ideas as well as extending those companies that are already successfully applying lean concepts.

The most substantial success requires building upon the initial efforts. Truly becoming a lean organization is not something that can be done easily or quickly. And it can’t happen unless management stays focused and continues to learn about lean concepts.

Has Six Sigma been a failure?

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles | Tagged lean manufacturing | Comments Off

Forget Targets

Posted on May 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Forget about targets – and decide what really matters by Simon Caulkin:

The attraction of targets is their simplicity. But it’s a fatal one. As part of the misguided managerial obsession with quantification, they misapply partial, linear measures to a complex, shifting world.

While targets and goals can distract from improvement some guidance is useful. Systems thinking is important when using targets. As is an understanding of psychology (given the tendency to manage to what is measured the system can often be distorted to achieve a target). See more in: dangers of forgetting proxy nature of data.

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Management Articles | Comments Off

UK Lean Electronics Manufacturing

Posted on May 18, 2006 by John Hunter

CEO viewpoint: Lean and keen manufacturing [the broken link was removed] by Eamonn Walsh, chairman and technical director of Brainboxes:

At Brainboxes we have been manufacturing for 22 years so far and we believe that the way we work will keep us there. If we adopt the best practice of lean manufacturing methods and apply them to all manufacturing in the UK, electronics or otherwise, then the industry will be transformed for the good. Unreformed manufacturing will fall by the wayside.

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Manufacturing | Comments Off

Problems Caused by Performance Appraisal

Posted on May 17, 2006 by John Hunter

I ran across a great article on the problems created by our common use of performance appraisal today: Unjust Deserts (pdf format) by Mary Poppendieck:

As Sue’s team instinctively realized, ranking people for merit raises pits individual employees against each other and strongly discourages collaboration, a cornerstone of Agile practices.
…
There is no greater de-motivator than a reward system that is perceived to be unfair.

The article does a good job of explaining these, and several more, problems caused by performance appraisal. It also provides some good thoughts on how to manage effectively, including:

Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Management Articles, Performance Appraisal | Tagged Deming, evidence based management, Management, Performance Appraisal, respect for people | 2 Comments

Lean Construction

Posted on May 17, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Manufacturing in the Construction Industry [the broken link was removed] by Eric Sander:

In a radical departure from construction on site, Bensonwood Homes of Walpole, New Hampshire, has begun assembling major wall and floor components of their custom homes in their shop. These sections are delivered and assembled on site to reduce the construction time and improve quality. This approach is common in Japan. Toyota Homes and Misawa Home prefabricate custom homes in their factory for onsite assembly. Tedd Benson has recognized the advantage of this approach and is attempting a new approach for custom homes in the US.

Posted in Innovation, Management Articles, Manufacturing | Tagged lean management | Comments Off

The Customer Knows Best?

Posted on May 16, 2006 by John Hunter

The Customer Knows Best? Better Think Again by Anthony W. Ulwick

It’s important to listen to customers – but not follow their words without skepticism. Ask them to design your next product and you’re likely to miss the mark, suggests this Harvard Business Review excerpt.

Excellent point. Some management ideas are pretty easy and straight forward. But many management practices require knowledge and judgment to apply them successfully. Easy solutions may be desired, but, often you must choose between easy and effective (hint, I suggest effective is the better target).

Listening to customers is important but it is not sufficient. W. Edwards Deming made this point emphatically on page 7 of the New Economics:

Does the customer invent new product of service? The customer generates nothing. No customer asked for electric lights… No customer asked for photography… No customer asked for an automobile… No customer asked for an integrated circuit.