Tag Archives: workplace improvement

Manufacturing Skills Gap or Management Skills Gap?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by John Hunter

I stumble across articles discussing the problem of manufacturers having difficulty finding workers with the skills they need (in the USA largely, but elsewhere too) somewhat regularly. While it is true that companies have this problem, I think looking at the problem in that way might not be the most insightful view. Is the problem just that potential workers don’t having the right skills or the result of a long term management skills gap? To me, the current manufacturing skills … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Engage in Improving the Management System

Posted on April 14, 2011 by John Hunter

To actually improve management you need to engage in continual improvement of your management systems. This requires doing the hard work of challenging complacency. The job of those improving the practice of management is not to make everyone happy and just ignore that the words about improvement are not actually carrying through to changes in behavior. Do Executives “Get It?” So many times executives spout the importance of new initiatives like wellness programs, safety programs, or improvement projects like Lean, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Psychology, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Jason Fried: Why work doesn’t happen at work

Posted on November 26, 2010 by John Hunter

In this TED talk, Jason Fried, founder of 37 signals, discusses how people get work done. When asked where do you go when you really need to get something done, almost no-one says: the office (unless it is early in the morning or late at night)? This is especially for creative people and knowledge workers. They need long stretches of uninterrupted time to concentrate. “The real problems in the office are the managers and the meetings.” The main theme is … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, Psychology, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Systemic Workplace Experiments

Posted on March 6, 2008 by John Hunter

Workplace Experiments At our company-wide get together last December we decided that 2008 was going to be a year of workplace experiments. Among other things, we discussed how we could make 37signals one of the best places in the world to work, learn, and generally be happy. … Last summer we experimented with 4-day work weeks. People should enjoy the weather in the summer. We found that just about the same amount of work gets done in four days vs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Management Lessons from Terry Ryan

Posted on January 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Management Lessons from Terry Ryan: Humility, Stability & Personality from Management by Baseball: competitors in any endeavor figure anything easy must not be a very important differentiator (bass-ackwards of course, but the erroneous mental algebra is that if it was important and easy both, everyone could/would do it and since they’re not doing it and it’s easy it, therefore, must not be important. Goofy but widespread thinking. As long as Ryan and his team make this seem like luck or … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment