Tag Archives: travel

The Road Not Taken

Posted on September 2, 2015 by John Hunter

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Wonderful advice and so poignant. But actually, if you read the whole poem, what we take from the quote isn’t what the poem was saying. Earlier in the poem it says Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same Robert Frost was poking fun at his friend who would obsess over what … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bad Weather is Part of the Transportation System

Posted on January 6, 2014 by John Hunter

The job of managers is to create a robust system that delivers value to customers. A system that fails constantly (fails during the continual variation the system faces) is a failed system. Bad weather is part of the variation airlines face. Any management system has to cope with the variation that it faces. The management system must be designed and managed so that the organization successfully delivers value to customers under the conditions the organization will face. The air travel … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Customer Focus and Internet Travel Search

Posted on March 24, 2011 by John Hunter

The internet should make finding airline flight information easy. Instead it is a huge pain. Hipmunk has taken on the challenge of doing this well, and I think they have done a great job. This video provides an excellent view of both web usability and customer focus. This is a great example of focusing on providing customer value and using technology to make things easy – which is done far to little at most companies. Related: Innovation Example (Farecast – … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Innovation, IT, Management, Process improvement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

Posted on July 19, 2006 by John Hunter

Photos from my visit to the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. The design of the spaces (living and working) and tools was beautiful and, in fact, very much reminiscent of lean thinking ideas like 5s. On this trip, I also visited the Abbey of Gethsemani (where Thomas Merton was a monk) and Louisville.

Posted in curiouscat.com, Travel photos | Tagged , | 1 Comment

National Parks

Posted on July 4, 2005 by John Hunter

I just returned from several weeks visiting National Parks in the Northwest USA: Olympic, Mount Saint Helens, North Cascades, Glacier and Mount Rainer. I will post photos of the parks to the Curious Cat Travels section as I have time. A CNN.com article, from yesterday, discusses the use of National parks and comments on camping declining at the parks. I have always preferred to hike around during the day and then eat good food, sleep in a warm bed and … Continue reading →

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NYC Travel Photos

Posted on October 9, 2004 by John Hunter

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

Posted in curiouscat.com, Travel photos | Tagged , , ,