History

Posts selected fromManagement Blog - Engineering Blog - Investing Blog and other blogs

• Thinking Required – Not Just a Recipe to Follow

  One of the most powerful aspects of Deming’s management ideas also frustrates some people. Dr. Deming didn’t believe in simple guides telling managers what to do – his ideas are not prescriptive. The challenges of management don’t lend themselves to simple instructions spelling out exactly what steps managers need to take. What managers need to do depends on the organization and current state.

  There are general principles such as respect for people and understanding variation...

  continue reading: Thinking Required – Not Just a Recipe to Follow
• Children are Amazingly Creative At Solving Problems

  “The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance – it is the illusion of knowledge.” Daniel Boorstin

  continue reading: Children are Amazingly Creative At Solving Problems
• Angkor Wat, Cambodia

  Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple complex in the world, situated at Angkor, Cambodia, built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city.

  continue reading: Angkor Wat, Cambodia
• Create a Continually Improving Management System - not the Perfect Management Solution

  In most instances I think a PDSA approach to the approach to use it best. Test out various options in parts of the company. See what works. Build and improve the process and spread it more widely.

  continue reading: Create a Continually Improving Management System - not the Perfect Management Solution
• Root Cause, Interactions, Robustness and Design of Experiments

  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.”

  continue reading: Root Cause, Interactions, Robustness and Design of Experiments
• George Box Webcast on Statistical Design in Quality Improvement

  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.

  continue reading: George Box Webcast on Statistical Design in Quality Improvement
• George Box Webcast on Statistical Design in Quality Improvement

  With experimentation we are looking to find clues for what to experiment with next. Experimentation is an iterative process. This is very much the mindset of fast iteration and minimal viable product (say minimal viable experimentation as voiced in 1987).

  There is great value in creating iterative processes with fast feedback to those attempting to design and improve.

  continue reading: George Box Webcast on Statistical Design in Quality Improvement
• George Box Webcast on Statistical Design in Quality Improvement

  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.   

  continue reading: George Box Webcast on Statistical Design in Quality Improvement
• The Education System

  “I read them. Not to grade them. No, I read them to see how I am doing. Where am I failing?”

  W. Edwards Deming.

  continue reading: The Education System
• A Healthy Lifestyle is More About Health Care than the Sickness Management That We Call Health Care Is

  It really is important for giving yourself the best chance for health by taking sensible steps to exercise based on your own situation

  ...

  Doing small things like using a treadmill while you watch TV or taking the stairs instead of the elevator for short trips can help. Another option is to walk instead of driving your car, or if you drive parking a few blocks away (or at the far side of the parking lot) walking, or if you are running several errands walk between those that you can even if you are using your car. Biking to work is another healthy lifestyle choice (if you city has made this safe – too often they fail to do sensible things).

   

  continue reading: A Healthy Lifestyle is More About Health Care than the Sickness Management That We Call Health Care Is
• Practicing Mistake-Promoting Instead of Mistake-Proofing at Apple

  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.

  ...

  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.

  continue reading: Practicing Mistake-Promoting Instead of Mistake-Proofing at Apple
• Orangutans in Sarawak, Borneo

  The orangutans are free in the forest. They stop by the viewing points because of the tasty food (many were also brought here for rehabilitation so they are comfortable seeing people – though the rehabilitation is largely moved elsewhere now).

  The orang utan is found in the rainforests of Malaysian Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah), Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) and North Sumatra. It is one of the world’s largest primates, and is almost completely arboreal (tree living). The word “orang” is Malay for “person” whilst “utan” is derived from “hutan” meaning forest. Thus, orangutan literally translates as “person of the forest”.

  continue reading: Orangutans in Sarawak, Borneo
• How to Build a Great Software Development Team

  "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).

  ...

  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."

  continue reading: How to Build a Great Software Development Team
• System Imposing Burden on Customers Driven by Pointy Haired Boss

  The practice of telling your customer they must save you from horrible management is terrible. Managers designing a system that puts a burden on customers to rescue people from harsh treatment is about as lame as management can be. Definite Dilbert's pointy haired boss level idiocy.

  continue reading: System Imposing Burden on Customers Driven by Pointy Haired Boss
• Cognition: How Your Mind Can Amaze and Betray You

  This webcast provides another view into the area of Deming’s management system on the theory of knowledge (the one most people forget), how we know what we know and how that belief isn’t always right.

  Two of the four components of Dr. Deming’s management system were about our brains (psychology is the other) which makes a great deal of sense when you think about how focused he was on the human element in our organizations...

  continue reading: Cognition: How Your Mind Can Amaze and Betray You