Root Cause, Interactions, Robustness and Design of Experiments

Sat, 3 Oct 2026

A single root cause is rare. Normally you can look at the question a bit differently see the scope a bit differently and get a different “root cause.” In my opinion “root cause” is more a decision about what is an effective way to improve the system right now rather than finding a scientifically valid “root cause.”

George Box Webcast on Statistical Design in Quality Improvement

Fri, 2 Oct 2026

There is great value in creating iterative processes with fast feedback to those attempting to design and improve. Box and Deming (with rapid turns of the PDSA cycle) and others promoted this 20, 30 and 40 years ago and now we get the same ideas tweaked for startups. The lean startup stuff is as closely related to Box’s ideas of experimentation as an iterative process as it is to anything else.

Practicing Mistake-Promoting Instead of Mistake-Proofing at Apple

Thu, 1 Oct 2026

Mistake proofing is a wonderful management concept. Design systems not just to be effective when everything goes right but designing them so mistakes are prevented.

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But guess what, the unnecessary steps Apple decided to force me through are broken so I can’t just waste my time to make them happy. No. They have created a failure point where they never should have forced the customer in the first place.

How to Build a Great Software Development Team

Wed, 30 Sep 2026

"Without confidence, honest debate about ideas is suppressed as people are constantly taking things personally instead of trying to find the best ideas (and if doing so means my idea is criticized that is ok).

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This is also one of many areas where the culture within the team was self reinforcing. As new people came on they understood this practice. They saw it in practice. They could see it was about finding good ideas and if their idea was attacked they didn’t take it nearly as personally as most people do in most places."

Give People Enough Rope (and the Right Rope) to Succeed

Tue, 29 Sep 2026

You want systems that let people take on challenges without too many restrictions but with enough support and training that you don't leave them hanging.

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the ropes should suit their situation. A tightrope over a chasm is fine for a trained acrobat with a balancing pole. It is foolish for someone without the right training or tools. They would be better served with something else - a rope bridge with railings.

Top Curious Cat blog posts

Root Cause, Interactions, Robustness and Design of Experiments

George Box Webcast on Statistical Design in Quality Improvement

Practicing Mistake-Promoting Instead of Mistake-Proofing at Apple

How to Build a Great Software Development Team

Give People Enough Rope (and the Right Rope) to Succeed