Tag Archives: Innovation

YouTube Uses Multivariate Experiment To Improve Sign-ups 15%

Posted on August 17, 2009 by John Hunter

Google does a great job of using statistical and engineering principles to improve. It is amazing how slow we are to adopt new ideas but because we are it provides big advantages to companies like Google that use concepts like design of experiments, experimenting quickly and often… while others don’t. Look Inside a 1,024 Recipe Multivariate Experiment A few weeks ago, we ran one of the largest multivariate experiments ever: a 1,024 recipe experiment on 100% of our US-English homepage. … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Data, Design of Experiments, Google, IT, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote, Science, Software Development, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Zappos and Amazon Sitting in a Tree…

Posted on July 23, 2009 by John Hunter

Amazon is acquiring the unique company – Zappos: we have written about Zappos previously: Paying New Employees to Quit. Jeff Bezos uses the webcast above to talk to the employees of Zappos. Excellent job. The letter from Tony Hsieh, the Zappo’s CEO, to employees is fantastic. This is a CEO that respects employees. These are leaders I would follow and invest in (and in fact I am glad I do own Amazon stock). First, I want to apologize for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Deming, Fun, Innovation, Investing, Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Toyota Develops Thought-controlled Wheelchair

Posted on June 30, 2009 by John Hunter

Toyota has developed a thought-controlled wheelchair (along with Japanese government research institute, RIKEN, and Genesis Research Institute). Honda has also developed a system that allows a person to control a robot through thoughts. Both companies continue to invest in innovation and science and engineering. The story of a bad economy and bad sales for a year or two is what you read in most newspapers. In my opinion the more important story is why Toyota and Honda will be dominant … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management, Science, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Google Innovates Again with Google Wave

Posted on June 25, 2009 by John Hunter

Google Wave is a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year. They are developing this as an open access project. The creative team is lead by the creators for Google Maps (brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen). A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. You really have to watch to understand what it is. This is a long webcast … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Google, IT, Management, Process improvement, Software Development, webcast | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pixar Movie Management Magic

Posted on May 29, 2009 by John Hunter

Image of Wall-e, from the Pixar film of the same name. Pixar’s secrets on display in ‘Up’ “I think it comes down to two basic things: one is that we’re run by artists. … John Lasseter is a film director, as opposed to being from a business school or whatever. He has that side of him as well, but he’s always approaching these things as the same way we are. “Second, we have some pretty great people that they’ve managed … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Management Articles, Respect | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Google’s Innovative Use of Economics

Posted on May 24, 2009 by John Hunter

Secret of Googlenomics: Data-Fueled Recipe Brews Profitability Google depends on economic principles to hone what has become the search engine of choice for more than 60 percent of all Internet surfers, and the company uses auction theory to grease the skids of its own operations. All these calculations require an army of math geeks, algorithms of Ramanujanian complexity, and a sales force more comfortable with whiteboard markers than fairway irons. … Varian tried to understand the process better by applying … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Economics, Google | Tagged , ,

Building a Great Workforce

Posted on April 13, 2009 by John Hunter

How P&G Finds and Keeps a Prized Workforce by Roger O. Crockett “We actually recruit for values,” says Chief Operating Officer Robert McDonald. “If you are not inspired to improve lives, this isn’t the company you want to work for.” … The P&G strategy starts on college campuses. The Cincinnati company dispatches line managers rather than human resource staffers to do much of its recruiting. … For the few who get hired, their work life becomes a career-long development process. … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Customer focus, Deming, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Knowledge, Imagination, Innovation and Risk

Posted on March 23, 2009 by John Hunter

A consumer can seldom say today what new product or new service would be desirable and useful to him three years from now, or a decade from now. New product and new types of service are generated, not by asking the consumer, but by knowledge, imagination, innovation, risk, trial and error on the part of the producer, backed by enough capital to develop the product or service and to stay in business during the lean months of introduction. W. Edwards … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creativity, Customer focus, Deming, Innovation, Management | Tagged , ,

Applying Disruptive Thinking to the Healthcare Crisis

Posted on February 19, 2009 by John Hunter

Update: Sadly MIT delete the video. It is a shame educational institutions lose interest in knowledge just a couple years later. Thankfully we didn’t have to rely on the people deleting web content at universities to keep all the historical content we have in books from hundreds of years ago. I think it is a huge lose to what the mission of these schools should be but that attitude doesn’t seem to be shared by the schools. The Innovator’s Prescription: … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Innovation, Management, Management Articles, webcast | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Zara Thrives by Ignoring Conventional Wisdom

Posted on February 18, 2009 by John Hunter

Zara Thrives by Breaking All the Rules Many U.S. apparel retailers are choking on slow-moving inventories as consumers hold back on spending. But Spain’s Inditex, whose Zara chain pioneered cheap chic, is zipping ahead. The $13.8 billion company, which is closing in on Gap (GPS) for the title of world’s biggest clothing retailer, has nearly quadrupled sales, profits, and locations since 2000 … Wages are higher at Inditex—its factory workers in Spain make an average of $1,650 a month, vs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , ,

Newspaper Innovation In Kansas

Posted on January 29, 2009 by John Hunter

The newspaper industry is facing challenging times. One success story is the Lawrence Journal-World in Lawrence, Kansas. I first heard about their efforts years ago: Watchful Eyes on Kansas Media Innovations, NPR, 2005 Many media companies hoped that convergence — combining television, print and online resources — would help them survive. Instead, many companies have lost money on online journalism. In Lawrence, Kan., Dolph Simons’ Journal-World newspaper has taken ambitious news-gathering approaches to local issues. The Newspaper of the Future, … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Deming, Innovation, IT | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Disruptive Innovation Example: Eliminate Your Phone Bill

Posted on January 9, 2009 by John Hunter

Clayton Christensen’s ideas on disruptive innovation are very powerful. I have written about Innovation Thinking with Clayton Christensen previously. Here is an example of such innovation. All you need is a broadband internet connection and you can Kiss your phone bill good-bye: The Ooma service uses so-called Voice over Internet Protocol (or VOIP) technology to deliver calls to your existing phone using a broadband connection. Consumers need only to buy a $249 Ooma Hub (it was a hefty $399 when … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation | Tagged , , , ,

Google Should Stay True to Their Management Practices

Posted on December 9, 2008 by John Hunter

I believe in Google’s past, present and future. They have shown a great ability to ignore the short term focus that dominates (and kills success) of so many companies today. I am happy to invest in Google for the long term. This current reaction to the economic crisis, is one of many times Google can be seen to be making significant changes to adapt based on market conditions and the results of their experiments and experiences. Google’s management in general … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Management, quote | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ford’s Camaçari Plant in Brazil

Posted on November 18, 2008 by John Hunter

Brazil’s Camaçari plant is model for the future This state-of-the-art manufacturing complex in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia is not only the centerpiece of Ford’s Brazilian turnaround plan, it is also one of the most advanced automobile plants in the world. It is more automated than many of Ford’s U.S. factories, and leaner and more flexible than any other Ford facility. It can produce five different vehicle platforms at the same time and on the same line. … At … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Manufacturing, Respect, webcast | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Wind Power Provided Over 1% of Global Electricity in 2007

Posted on October 3, 2008 by John Hunter

Data from World Wind Energy Association, for installed Mega Watts of global wind power capacity in 2007. 19,696 MW of capacity were added in 2007, bringing the total to 93,849 MW. Europe accounts for 61% of installed capacity, Germany accounts for 24% and the USA 18%. Post from the Curious Cat Science and Engineering blog (more posts on energy and engineering). The graph shows the top 10 producers (with the exceptions of Denmark and Portugal) and includes Japan (which is … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Innovation | Tagged ,

Does the Data Deluge Make the Scientific Method Obsolete?

Posted on September 29, 2008 by John Hunter

The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete by Chris Anderson “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” So proclaimed statistician George Box 30 years ago, and he was right. But what choice did we have? Only models, from cosmological equations to theories of human behavior, seemed to be able to consistently, if imperfectly, explain the world around us. Until now. Today companies like Google, which have grown up in an era of massively abundant … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Innovation, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments