Tag Archives: photos

Analysis Must be Implemented by People to Provide Value

Guest Post by Bill Scherkenbach

photo of W. Edwards Deming with a cat

Every time I look at this picture, I think of Dr. Deming’s words to drive out fear and take joy in your work. We were talking in my home office when Sylvester saw a good lap and took it. Our conversation immediately shifted when both Dr. Deming and Sylvester started purring.

The greatest statistical analysis is nothing if it can’t be implemented by people. But people learn in different ways. Some like good stories, others like pictures. Only a few like equations. Dr. Deming always liked a good laugh; and a good purr.

By what method do you get your analyses implemented?

Bill Scherkenbach taught with Dr. Deming at the Deming 2 day seminars and received the Deming Medal and the author of several books on Deming management principles.

Related: How to Get a New Management Strategy, Tool or Concept Adopted part 1 and part 2 – Getting Known Good Ideas Adopted – Respect People by Creating a Climate for Joy in Work – Playing Dice and Children’s Numeracy

Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog Carnival #174

The Curious Cat management blog carnival is published 3 times a month with hand picked recent management blog posts. I also collect management improvement articles for the Curious Cat Management Articles site; an RSS feed of new article additions is available.

  • How to Identify Your Team or Organization’s Purpose by Jesse Lyn Stoner – “What is the end-result that you offer? Look at your purpose from the viewpoint of the result, not the products or services you offer.”
  • What we can learn from Russell L. Ackoff by Aleksis Tulonen – “If you want to (dis)solve the problem you need to understand how (dis)solving the problem will affect the system and what the problem really is. Gathering the mental constructs of several people with different mindsets will gain you more understanding of what you are dealing with.”
    • photo of White House Rose Garden with Oval Office in the background

    White House Rose Garden, Washington DC. By John Hunter. See more photos from Washington DC.

  • Why smart managers do stupid things by John Stepper – “What You See Is All There Is. Over and over, he demonstrates how people systematically disregard basic probability and other facts in order to (quickly and easily) make up a story that fits with the things they see.”
  • Downtime Antipatterns for SaaS owners, ZipCar edition – “Use an automated system to point DNS entries to a ‘sorry, we’re down, please see http://status.zipcar.com’ page running on a commodity VPS in a completely different datacenter. Provide useful information to the customer RIGHT AWAY, and don’t leave them wondering why the page isn’t loading.”
  • Espoused Vs. In-Use by Anthony DaSilva – “From over 10,000 empirical cases collected over decades of study, Mr. Argyris has discovered that most people (at all levels in an org) espouse Model II guidance while their daily theory in-use is driven by Model I.”

    • Continue reading →

Mount Timpanogos Trail, Utah Photos

Photo on the Mount Timpanogos Trail by John Hunter

In 2007, I kept failing to plan for a vacation, finally I just booked some tickets to Utah without much of a plan. And still had done little to plan as I departed. So I bought some travel books and started on the trip while I was figuring out where I should go. I did know Utah offers amazing hiking options and I found many great hikes that made for a great trip.

The first day of the trip began in Salt Lake City and then a visit to Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake. The next day I hiked the Mount Timpanogos Trail (where the photos on this page are from). The following morning I enjoyed the Timpanogos Cave National Monument. The Mount Timpanogos area is about an hour from Salt Lake City. My trip continued to the Dinosaur National Monument. Once I add more of the photos to my travel site, I will add a new post here.

Related: Curious Cat photos while hiking through National Parks – Wind Cave and Jewel Cave – Grand Teton National Park Continue reading →

Parfrey’s Glen, Wisconsin

John Hunter Durwood Glen

photo of Yellow Flower in Parfreys Glen

See more photos from my visit to Parfrey’s Glen Natural Area in Wisconsin, about an hour outside of Madison. It really was amazingly beautiful – the pictures do not do it justice. The Parfrey’s Glen trail is under a mile but well worth visiting. If you want to hike more try the Ice Age National Scenic Trail or nearby Devil’s Lake State Park. The top photo is of me (John Hunter) at nearby Durwood’s Glen. The yellow flower is from Parfrey’s Glen.

Related: Coopers Rock State Forest, West Virginia – Metropolitan Museum of Art – South Carolina travel photos – The Importance of Management Improvement – Hoh Rain Forest and Ruby Beach – North Cascades National Park

Parfrey’s Glen is Wisconsin’s first State Natural Area, is a spectacular gorge deeply incised into the sandstone conglomerate of the south flank of the Baraboo Hills. The exposed Cambrian strata provide excellent opportunities for geological interpretation. The walls of the glen – a Scottish word for a narrow, rocky ravine – are sandstone with embedded pebbles and boulders of quartzite.

Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve in Ohio

photo of Tree at the Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve
The Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve in Ohio is quite a nice short hike. Photos by John Hunter. If anyone knows what the green beetle is please add a comment.

I visited the preserve last year. Other sites from the trip include: Rocky Gap State Park, Maryland and Coopers Rock State Forest, West Virginia.

More photos: Rocky Mountain National Park – Mount Rainier National Park – Capital Crescent Trail (Washington DC) – travel photo directory

photo of a green beetle

Capital Crescent Trail Photos

I have posted some photos from my walk last year on the Capital Crescent Trail in Washington DC.

3 Vultures on the Potomac River photo of Blue Flower

The Capital Crescent Trail goes along the Potomac River in Washington DC (on the C&O towpath). I hiked first along the Arlington, Virginia side of the Potomac (starting at the north end of the Teddy Roosevelt Island Parking lot) then crossing over at Chain Bridge and heading back down the Capital Crescent trail and over the Key Bridge to and making a loop hike out of it.

More photos: Egypt Photo Essay – Boston (Museum of Fine Arts, Science Museum, Boston Commons…) – Glacier National Park – Great Falls National Park – Olympic National Park Photos

NYC Travel Photos
In August I spoke to the Fordham University Deming Scholars MBA Program. I spent the weekend with my brother’s family in Brooklyn. The photo to the left shows my nephew at the Statan Island Children’s Museum. The photo accurately conveys my weekend as I stuggled to keep up with his blur of activity.

See more photos: Curious Cat NYC Travel Photos