• Wind Power Provided Over 1% of Global Electricity in 2007 - 19,696 MW of capacity were added in 2007, bringing the total to 93,849 MW. Europe accounts for 61% of installed capacity, Germany accounts for 24% and the USA 18%.
• Manufacturing Employment Data from 1979 to 2007 - Manufacturing hours worked decreased for all countries in the period of 2000-2007 (UK has had the largest decrease 3.9% annual average decrease, the USA in next at 3.1%). All countries increased manufacturing output over the same period.
• Does the Data Deluge Make the Scientific Method Obsolete? - I am not at all convinced that a new method without theory ready to supplant the existing scientific method. Tools will allow for new ways to search for insights but I see no reason to think those will supplant the scientific method.
• Top 12 Manufacturing Countries in 2007 - The USA's share of the manufacturing output of the top manufacturing countries in 1990 was 28%, 1995 28%, 2000 33%, 2005 30%, 2007 27%. China's share has grown from 4% in 1990, 1995 7%, 2000 11%, 2005 13%, 2007 16%.
• Webcast on the Toyota Development Process - Kenji shares a presentation he attended earlier this year by Nobuaki Katayama, a former Chief Engineer at Toyota, and the lessons he learned from him.
• Ignorance of Capitalism - The idea that government regulation of markets is interference is equivalent to saying police interfere with freedom by enforcing laws against violent crime. Yes the watchmen must be watched. You can have bad policing and bad regulation; but the idea that policing the free market, in itself is wrong, is ignorant
• New Management Truths Sometimes Started as Heresies - The true power of the new ideas are still adopted in a very small number of organizations. Thankfully small initial steps are being made but there is much more to be done, before we can think of these ideas as accepted.
• Nepalese Entrepreneur Success - Great example of my hope for using capitalism to improve the standard of living for people around the globe... My biggest wish for this blog is to get more readers listed on that page.
• Future Directions for Agile Management - Build systems that cope well with uncertainty and allow for constant continuous improvement of processes
• Science Sortof Explains: Hiccups - The internet is very cool... I used Google to find out why. That lead to - MayoClinic on Hiccups
• Lean IT Systems, Not ERP - Information technology solutions should liberate people to be more flexible with designing processes, PDSA... not act to enforce rigid rules.
• Can I Afford That? - So the money in my checking account basically is how much I have to spend. If I have the money and want to spend it, I can afford it. If I don’t have the money, I can't afford it. I can just save until I can.
• Toyota Winglet, Personal Transportation Assistance - Toyota has invested in personal transportation and personal robotic assistance for quite some time... The aging population worldwide (and others) will benefit greatly from improved personal mechanical assistance.
• Spending Guidelines in Retirement - The recent Business Week Retirement Guide is very good. In Spending Safely, they explore how to spend while preserving your capital in retirement.
• Do What You Say You Will - There is the saying "It is better to be thought a fool than speak, and prove it." Well it is better to be thought a pointy haired boss than to ask for feedback, then ignore it, and prove you are a PHB.
• Keeping Good Employees - I like direct, simple, questions. What can we do to keep you? What do you enjoy about your job? What do you dislike? What can I do to increase your joy in work?
• Copywrong - Copyright is a taking of a public benefit for a private entity. The idea was that taking from the public to provide the creator a limited-term, exclusive, government-granted, right to their work would encourage individuals to invest their time in creating works that would benefit society. The current system is broken.
• Outcome and In-Process Measures - In-process measures can be valuable in providing actionable information sooner than the outcome measure would allow action.
• 500 Year Floods - With the new data showing a flood, (it seems to me) most any model is likely to show an increased risk (and pretty substantial I would think) of it happening again in the next 100 years...
• Save Some of Each Raise - A tip for improving your financial health: anytime you get a raise split the raise between savings, paying off debt (if you have any non-mortgage debt), and increasing the amount you have to spend.
• Better Meetings - Meetings are perennial problems. People sit through meetings and then complain about how big a waste of time it was. Here are a couple very simple tips to try and actually improve
• How to Protect Your Financial Health - There are external risks to your financial health. Many people ruin their financial health even before any external risk can, but lets say you are being responsible then what risks should you seek to protect yourself from and how should you protect yourself?