Tag Archives: Systems thinking

Doing the Wrong Things Righter

Posted on October 8, 2006 by John Hunter

The more we manage, the worse we make things by Simon Caulkin The distinguished systems theorist Russ Ackoff describes the trap as ‘doing the wrong thing righter’. ‘The righter we do the wrong thing,’ he explains, ‘the wronger we become. … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged continual improvement, Systems thinking | 3 Comments

Going Lean Brings Long-term Payoffs

Posted on September 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Going lean brings long-term payoffs [the broken link was removed] by John Torinus: The growing number of Wisconsin manufacturers, and the few service companies, taking the lean journey are learning that it is not a sprint. … The immediate paybacks … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Systems thinking | Tagged lean manufacturing, Lean thinking, long term thinking, Quality tools, Systems thinking, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

Complicating Simplicity

Posted on August 31, 2006 by John Hunter

Complicating simplicity: Gah! Trying to read about the “Simplicity: The Art of Complexity” (er, what?) conference. But the description at the conference site is the exact opposite of simple, clear writing: An investigation of the essence of simplicity must necessarily … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, quote, Software Development | Tagged Creativity, design, simplicity, Systems thinking, usability | 1 Comment

Senge and Deming

Posted on August 29, 2006 by John Hunter

Jeff Sutherland quoting Dr. Deming‘s response to Peter Senge request for a comment on his book, The Fifth Discipline: “Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people. People are born with intrinsic motivation, self-respect, dignity, curiosity to learn, joy … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged Deming, Psychology, respect for people, Systems thinking | Comments Off

Making Changes and Taking Risks

Posted on August 24, 2006 by John Hunter

Sales Force by Curtis Hartman, 1996 explores Ron Rodin’s use of Deming’s ideas at Marshall Industries. Ron Rodin’s book, Free Perfect and Now, is excellent. The system had to change. “We eliminated commissions, incentives, promotions, contests, P&Ls, forecasts, budgets, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Management Articles | Tagged Books, commissions, Deming, Systems thinking | 4 Comments

Ackoff, Idealized Design and Bell Labs

Posted on August 20, 2006 by John Hunter

Excerpt from Idealized Design: How to Dissolve Tomorrow’s Crisis…Today by Russell L. Ackoff, Jason Magidson and Herbert J. Addison: How Bell Labs Imagined — and Created — the Telephone System of the Future in the 1950s. Great stuff and another … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creativity, Deming, Innovation, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged Ackoff, Books, Customer focus, Innovation, Management, management history, Systems thinking | 7 Comments

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 … Continue reading →

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

Toyota Supplier Relations

Posted on August 9, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota’s relationship with vendors is an important link in its success [link broken, so it was removed] by John Torinus, CEO of Serigraph: One of the big differentiators between how the Big Three operate and how the vaunted Toyota production … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged Manufacturing, suppliers, Systems thinking, Toyota, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Comments Off

Vacation: Systems Thinking

Posted on August 4, 2006 by John Hunter

There’s more vacation time on tap for you (in the USA) by Chris Taylor: U.S. employees are taking less time off than ever: Not only is the average number of annual vacation days granted to them a mere 12.4 – … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Economics, Management, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged health, Health care, Management, Psychology, respect for people, Systems thinking | 4 Comments

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 … Continue reading →

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