Tag Archives: organization as a system

Ackoff’s New Book: Management f-Laws

Posted on February 9, 2007 by John Hunter

Russell Ackoff is in London promoting his new book: Management f-Laws (see previous post: Ackoff’s F-laws: Common Sins of Management). A BBC article captures some of some of the great ideas from one of his talks (more articles… by Ackoff). How to avoid the fatal F-Laws by Peter Day: “Companies and organisations get things wrong most of the time,” he said. “The average life of a US corporation is only 11-and-a-half years, the rate of bankruptcy is increasing very year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged Ackoff, Books, organization as a system, system thinking | 4 Comments

Ritz Carlton and Home Depot

Posted on December 6, 2006 by John Hunter

Don MacAskill writes of his great service from Ritz-Carlton and horrible service from Home Depot. Neither result is surprising, see related posts below… Ritz-Carlton’s motto is “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.” And they actually turn those words into reality… Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged aim, culture, Customer focus, managing people, organization as a system | 3 Comments

What is Wrong with MBA’s

Posted on November 2, 2006 by John Hunter

Two interesting posts from Compound Thinking: What is Management? [the broken link was removed – this is one of many examples of a good blog’s domain lapsing and being bought by someone to promote unrelated items.]: Management is helping others become great. Well said. As Deming would say management’s responsibility is to work on improving the system (to allow everyone in the system to do great work). This encompasses a wide variety of things, including: creating sensible hiring processes designing … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Education, Management | Tagged Education, Management, organization as a system, Performance Appraisal | 4 Comments

Righter Performance Appraisal

Posted on October 9, 2006 by John Hunter

Speaking of “doing the wrong things righter” Microsoft has eliminated forced rankings in performance appraisal: to do performance appraisals righter. Microsoft exec puts her stamp on human resources: The forced curve was company policy. And it climbed up a list of employee gripes that grew as Microsoft’s stock, which accounts for much of the company’s compensation, languished. In May, after barely a year as Microsoft’s human-resources chief, Lisa Brummel swept away “artifacts of the past,” starting with the widely disliked … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged Deming, managing people, organization as a system, Performance Appraisal, respect for people | 1 Comment

Excessive CEO Pay

Posted on September 28, 2006 by John Hunter

Overpaid CEOs and Underpaid Managers: Fairness and Executive Compensation by James B. Wade, Charles A. O’Reilly, III and Timothy G. Pollock: We also find evidence suggesting that CEOs serve as a key referent for employees in determining whether their own situation is “fair,” and this influences their reactions to their own compensation. More specifically, we find that when lower-level managers are underpaid relative to the CEO, that is, underpaid more than the CEO or overpaid less, they are more likely … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged deadly diseases, leadership, Management, organization as a system, overpaid executives, respect for people

Incentive Programs are Ineffective

Posted on September 19, 2006 by John Hunter

Reward and Incentive Programs are Ineffective — Even Harmful by Peter Scholtes The greatest management conceit is that we can “motivate” people. We can’t. Motivation is there, inside people. Our people were motivated when we hired them and everyday, when they come to work, they arrive with the intention of doing a good job. Managers cannot motivate. They can, however, de-motivate. Herzberg established this over 30 years ago (Herzberg, Frederick “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?” Harvard Business … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Management, organization as a system, Performance Appraisal, Peter Scholtes, respect for people | 1 Comment

Thoughts on Hospital Management by Deming

Posted on September 6, 2006 by John Hunter

The latest newsletter from the W. Edwards Deming Institute [new link since the old link was broken] includes the photo of Dr. Deming from 1951 and: Some notes on management in a hospital by W. Edwards Deming, Ph.D.: Fifteen hours elapse between dinner and breakfast. I was hungry in the middle of the night, first night. Fortunately had candy bars on hand. I have learned how to acquire and store up food like a squirrel if I get hungry during … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Health care, Management | Tagged Deming, Health care, organization as a system, respect for people

Distort the System

Posted on August 19, 2006 by John Hunter

From our post: Targets Distorting the System, Dr. Brian Joiner: spoke of 3 ways to improve the figures: distort the data, distort the system and improve the system. Improving the system is the most difficult. Another example of this in practice: Recount helps one university rise in the rankings [the broken link was removed]: Behnke, who says he’s no fan of rankings, said he recently spoke to a provost at another institution who was capping class sizes at 19 to … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged critical thinking, curiouscat, Data, management, organization as a system, Systems thinking | 6 Comments

Competition

Posted on August 11, 2006 by John Hunter

Why I hate programming competitions [the broken link was removed] by Mike Vanier Most aspects of Deming’s thinking seemed natural to me from the start. Some ideas have taken longer (it took me awhile to be won over to the harm caused by performance appraisals, for example). Competition is another area that I still struggle with. I have been moved greatly by my experience and the thoughts of people like Alfie Kohn (No Contest: The Case Against Competition). But I … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Psychology, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged Management, organization as a system, Psychology, respect for people

Another Quota Failure Example

Posted on July 24, 2006 by John Hunter

Innocent People Placed On ‘Watch List’ To Meet Quota You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they’re reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it. The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they’re required to submit at least one report a month. If they don’t, there’s no raise, no bonus, no awards and … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged Deming, Management, organization as a system, Psychology, quota, Systems thinking | 3 Comments

CEO Flight Attendant

Posted on July 1, 2006 by John Hunter

Street Smarts: Learning From JetBlue by Norm Brodsky. The Jet Blue CEO works (once a month he estimates) as a flight attendant. He interacts directly with customers in real world situations (not just talking to travel managers in his office). This getting out and seeing work in action is exposed a great deal, including a lean management concept, Genchi Genbutsu – to go to see the problem in situ (not just reading a report about it). he’s shaping the company … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Deming, Management, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged Customer focus, gemba, Management, organization as a system | 3 Comments

Trust: Respect for People

Posted on June 30, 2006 by John Hunter

Respect for People [the broken link was removed*], Toyota.co.jp Respect for People has always been important to Toyota, and nowhere is this more evident than in the relationship among Toyota associates. … There has been only one exception to this rule throughout Toyota’s entire history. In June 1950, during a postwar period of great hardship in Japan, the company was forced to choose between corporate restructuring or risking complete collapse. Then-President Kiichiro Toyoda battled for months for the sake of … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged layoffs, leadership, management, organization as a system, respect for people, Toyota, usability | 2 Comments

Employee Ownership

Posted on June 26, 2006 by John Hunter

H.C. Miller workers to earn ownership [the broken link was removed] by Richard Ryman. I have always liked the idea of employee ownership. To me this can be a great help in creating a system where employees, owners, customers, suppliers work together. Alone an ESOP does little. But as part of a system of management it is something I think can be beneficial. Employees of H.C. Miller Co. have learned to look at their company differently. And because they did, … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Systems thinking | Tagged Investing, jobs, Management, organization as a system | 1 Comment

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Deming, Innovation, Management, Management Articles | Tagged critical thinking, Customer focus, Data, evidence based management, organization as a system, variation

Find the Root Cause Instead of the Person to Blame

Posted on May 3, 2006 by John Hunter

When encountering a problem or defect the inclination of many is to find a person to blame. W. Edwards Deming believed that the system was responsible for 93% of the problems and over time he increased that number to at least 97%. Why did he see it that way, while so many others first inclination is to blame someone? As I see it the issue has to do with what is the effective way to improve. Often if you ask … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Popular, Process improvement, Psychology, Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged blame, continual improvement, curiouscat, organization as a system, process thinking, respect for people, root cause | 6 Comments

Leading Lean: Missed Opportunity

Posted on April 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Leading Lean: Missed Opportunity [the broken link was removed] by Jamie Flinchbaugh: Three elements are needed to gain the benefits from using pull production to drive problems out into the open. First, you need strong problem-solving skills. Bringing a problem to the surface is only half of the battle-you still have to correct the problem. Second, you need an infrastructure capable of solving problems. This means persuading employees at all levels to respond to problems in real time. This does … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged Lean thinking, organization as a system, problem solving