Tag Archives: managing people

Design the Management System with an Appreciation of Confirmation Bias

Posted on February 26, 2019 by John Hunter

To create strong organizations we must create management systems using an appreciation of psychology. We must understand that people have tendencies that must be addressed by designing a management system built to take advantage of the strength those people bring and mitigate the risks the weaknesses (such as confirmation bias) that those people also bring. One way to do this is to seek out voices in your organization that question and challenge accepted positions. Often organizations promote those that make … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Psychology | Tagged critical thinking, culture, management, managing people, organization as a system, Psychology, respect for people, robust | 1 Comment

Unpacking the Components of Hard Work to Design Better Work Conditions

Posted on December 20, 2016 by John Hunter

Effort is grossly underrated by Jamie Flinchbaugh: There is a common phrase of “work smarter, not harder.” I get the appeal of that. Effort without clarity, efficiency, and effectiveness, has severe limits. Working smart is essential. But does that mean working hard has no value? No, effort is grossly underrated. I believe we should aspire to work smarter and harder. Neither is sufficient, both are required… My father used to convince himself working smarter should be the main focus and … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged Career, Joy in Work, management system, managing people, Psychology, respect for people, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Change Management: Create a Culture Seeking Continual Improvement or Use Band-Aids?

Posted on November 17, 2015 by John Hunter

Successfully shepherding change within an organization is often a challenge. Often change management strategies are mainly about how to cope with a toxic culture but exclude the option of fixing the toxic culture. Why not address the root causes instead of trying band-aids? The most effective strategy is to build an organizational culture into one that promotes continual improvement. A continual improvement culture is one that is constantly changing to improve (grounded in long term principles: respect for people, experiment, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged change, culture, curiouscat, leadership, managing people, organization as a system, Psychology, respect for people, root cause, trust | 3 Comments

Take Advantage of the Strengths Each Person Brings to Work

Posted on September 17, 2014 by John Hunter

The players have weaknesses. But it is our job as coaches to find the strengths in what our guys do. They all have strengths, and that’s what we highlight. What really helps is having Russell. He is so committed to improving on the littlest things every day. I try to find a word for this sometimes, but I can’t … it’s his refusal to fail. No detail is too small, and he makes sure to stress that every day.” Darrell … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged blame, continual improvement, Madison, managers, managing people, organization as a system, respect for people, teams | 7 Comments

Building a Great Software Development Team

Posted on May 29, 2014 by John Hunter

Elliot: I worked with some of the best programmers I’ve ever known at the tiny, obscure ASEE Adam Solove: Why do you think that happened? They hired for passion, rather than experience? If I had to pick one thing, passion would likely be it but really it is a complex assortment of things. Passion for the right things, based on what we aimed to be, mattered a great deal. That took the form of being passionate about the user experience, … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Popular, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged curiouscat, hiring, John Hunter, managing people, organization as a system, Popular, Psychology, Software Development, teams | 4 Comments

A Good Management System is Robust and Continually Improving

Posted on May 22, 2014 by John Hunter

Imagine a big clock, the big and little and sweeping second hands moving with absolute accuracy for years and years. Then, imagine various people working within it, somehow swapping out gears and cogs without the clock stopping or slowing down even a little. This is a fairly good quote on a good management system. Some people might not like the mechanistic model – comparing an organization to a clock, and I agree that isn’t the right model, but even so … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Systems thinking | Tagged continual improvement, long term thinking, management system, managing people, organization as a system, robust, Software Development, sports, Systems thinking, teams | 5 Comments

Innovative Thinking at Amazon: Paying Employees $5,000 to Quit

Posted on April 15, 2014 by John Hunter

Amazon continues to be innovative not just in technology but with management thinking. Jeff Bezos has rejected the dictates espoused most vociferously by Wall Street mouthpieces and MBAs that encourage short term thinking and financial gimmicks which harm the long term success of companies. Most CEOs and executives are too fearful or foolish to ignore what they are told they must do because Wall Street demands it. CEO’s and boards often ratchet up the poor management thinking by tying big … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Innovation, Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Amazon, Bezos, Innovation, management, management system, managing people, respect for people, short term thinking, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Toyota Understands Robots are Best Used to Enhance the Value Employees Provide

Posted on April 8, 2014 by John Hunter

Toyota has always seen robotics as a way to enhance what staff can do. Many USA executives think of robotics as a way to reduce personnel. Toyota wants to use the brainpower of employees to continually improve the organization. Toyota wants to free people for monotonous or dangerous work to let them use their minds. Humans Steal Jobs From Robots at Toyota Humans are taking the place of machines in plants across Japan so workers can develop new skills and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged continual improvement, engineering, Innovation, Japan, lean manufacturing, managing people, Manufacturing, overpaid executives, respect for people, technology, Toyota, Toyota Production System (TPS)

Deming and Software Development

Posted on March 17, 2014 by John Hunter

I am sometimes asked about how use Deming’s ideas on management in a software development context. My belief is Deming’s ideas work extremely well in a software development context. The main issue is often unlearning some assumptions that people might have about what the Deming management system is. It really is surprising to me how many “knowledge workers” respect Deming’s ideas but then say his attempts to treat factory workers as thoughtful people who should be respected and involved in … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Popular, Process improvement, Respect, Software Development | Tagged build capability, commentary, Creativity, curiouscat, Deming, John Hunter, managing people, Popular, Software Development, Systems thinking, technology | 7 Comments

94% Belongs to the System

Posted on April 24, 2013 by John Hunter

I should estimate that in my experience most troubles and most possibilities for improvement add up to the proportions something like this: 94% belongs to the system (responsibility of management), 6% special. Page 315 of Out of the Crisis by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. the system that people work in and the interaction with people may account for 90 or 95 percent of performance. Dr. Deming’s quote from the introduction to the Team Handbook I think, in looking at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Popular, Psychology | Tagged blame, curiouscat, Deming, Joy in Work, managing people, organization as a system, Popular, quote, respect for people, Systems thinking | 15 Comments

What Does Respect for People Actually Mean?

Posted on March 11, 2013 by John Hunter

“Respect for People” is a great short hand statement. There is a great deal of complexity packed into those words. At the simplest level respect for people requires systems that are designed with people in mind – systems are not designed as though robots were doing what people did. Then those systems also must be built in a way that respects the inherent value of people. And the idea builds beyond that and grows into an understanding that in order … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Psychology | Tagged lean management, managing people, respect for people | 2 Comments

Creating a Quality Culture

Posted on August 21, 2012 by John Hunter

This month Paul Borawski (CEO of ASQ) has asked the ASQ Influential Voices to share their thoughts on the Feelings and Quality Culture. I don’t think creating a culture of continual management improvement is complex but it takes more commitment than most organizations seem to have. To build a culture that supports customer focused continuous improvement a management system needs to reinforce consistent behavior over the long term. There is far too much saying certain things (customers are valued, people … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged culture, long term thinking, managing people, respect for people, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Joy in Work in the Quality Improvement Field

Posted on April 17, 2012 by John Hunter

As I mentioned previously, I will be posting on a topics raised by Paul Borawski, CEO, ASQ as part of ASQ Influential Voices. This month Paul’s post, Are Quality Professionals Happy On the Job? looks at job happiness in the quality improvement field. Paul stated he “wasn’t surprised that Forbes Magazine named software quality assurance engineer as the ‘happiest job’ in the U.S.” I was. Frankly looking at the results I question the methodology used – I just find their … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Psychology | Tagged ASQ Influential Voices, Career, Joy in Work, managing people, Psychology, quality, respect for people, Software Development | 4 Comments

Motivation, Rewards, Performance Appraisals and Your Career

Posted on April 12, 2012 by John Hunter

In this interview Dan Pink again makes some great points relating to psychology, managing people and managing your career. Q. What kinds of programs can managers and companies put into place to motivate their workforce? Assuming companies are paying people fairly, they should do what they can to foster autonomy, mastery, and purpose. One of my favorite specific ideas is this: The Australian company Atlassian conducts what they call “FedEx Days” in which people work on anything they want for … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Career, intrinsic motivation, managing people, motivation, Psychology, respect for people | 1 Comment

Respect for People: Optimize for Developer Happiness at Etsy

Posted on April 3, 2012 by John Hunter

The webcast above discusses the culture of software engineering at Etsy (a very popular site providing a marketplace and community for small businesses – artisan focus). Some of the key points of the talk. Etsy trusts employees. Etsy’s strategy is to optimize for developer happiness. Etsy has lunches twice a week where employees build community. Etsy sees code as craft. The echos Etsy’s value on authorship: “the people behind what we buy make commerce meaningful.” It re-inforces the belief that … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Psychology, Respect, Software Development | Tagged culture, engineering, IT, Joy in Work, managing people, Psychology, respect for people, Software Development, teams, trust | 6 Comments

Continual Feeding

Posted on March 29, 2012 by John Hunter

I like growing things. I think it is part the connection to system thinking I have had since I was a kid. I like finding ways to leverage my effort so that I put in a bit of thought and effort and then get to enjoy the fruits of that effort for a long time. This idea also guides my investing approach. I planted a vegetable garden in my yard a few years ago. My strategy was to find methods … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged build capacity, coaching, John Hunter, managing people, Systems thinking | 3 Comments