Blog posts on interactions

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

• How Toyota Turns Workers Into Problem Solvers

  This idea is simple. Creating an environment where this is actual the way things are, not just the way things are said to be, is difficult. That is why I believe so strongly in Deming’s management philosophy. The organization must be viewed as a whole. Benefits can be gained by adopting some concepts in a piecemeal manner. However, many benefits accrue only when the positive interactions between Toyota Production System (TPS – Lean) concepts occur (as systems thinking would predict).

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• Performance Without Appraisal

  The comments on the mini-microsoft blog shows performance appraisal continues to be an emotional topic. People on opposite sides of the debate are very passionate.

  I admit it took me longer to accept Dr. Deming’s thoughts on performance appraisal than other ideas (and that is even with Peter Scholtes being a friend which gave me the opportunity to discuss the idea with him). So I understand it is not an easy concept to accept.

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• Using Design of Experiments

  Design of Experiments can seem complicated but at the core it is fairly simple and powerful. By applying the proper techniques it allows you to gage the effect of several variables and, very importantly, the interactions of those variables with a small number of experiments (or tests or pilots).

  George Box is a wonderful author (and friend) who can write for mangers who are not knowledgeable about statistics and statisticians. Statistics for Discovery does a good job of explaining how organizations should use experiments to improve.

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• Doing the Wrong Things Righter

  Most of our current problems are, he [Russell Ackoff] says, the result of policymakers and managers busting a gut to do the wrong thing right.

  I agree with the very big problem of ignoring the overall system and seeking to improve what really should be completely rethought and changed.  However, I am a bit skeptical of the idea of it being better to do the right thing poorly than it is to do the wrong thing well. 

  I realize "It is far better to do the right thing wrong than to do the wrong thing right." as Russell Ackoff has said, is a catchy quote.  But certainly the truth is that it depends on the system and how wrong or right a thing is and the action is.  Sometimes it is far better to do the wrong thing fairly well (to increase the overall benefit to the system) than to do the right thing poorly (and create huge problems in the rest of the system).  So sure pay attention to the concept of thinking about whether the best course of action is to completely change what you are doing instead of improving how you are doing it.  But don't pretend it is really is better to do the right things wrong - it depends.  Sometimes sure that is true, other times it isn't.

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• Management f-Laws by Russell Ackoff

  We found that we could improve part of a corporation and destroy the whole by improving the part.

  ...

  Russell Ackoff thinks that, imprisoned in centuries of Western education which values only analytic thought, most people cannot do the “synthetic” thinking that sees an organisation as an intermoving whole.

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• Interactions Among the Four Fields in Deming's System of Profound Knowledge

  ... 2 quick examples
  
  Distorting the System to meet a target
  
  This certainly is about the interaction of understanding variation (in this case people not understanding data well enough and being mislead), psychology (how people respond to pressure to meet goals), theory of knowledge (not understanding the difference between the proxy value of data and the underlying truth) and systems thinking (how a system is likely to react to meet goals - distorting data and distorting the system, and using simple measures where those things work to get numbers).
  
  Create a System That Lets People Take Pride in Their Work ...

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• Using Design of Experiments

  Design of Experiments can seem complicated but at the core it is fairly simple and powerful. By applying the proper techniques it allows you to gage the effect of several variables and, very importantly, the interactions of those variables with a small number of experiments (or tests or pilots)...

  continue reading: Using Design of Experiments
• Applying W. Edwards Deming’s Ideas in Software Development

  In her presentation at the Deming Research conference, Poorani Jeyaseker explains how the management system drives behavior that is not useful to the organization. The business team asks for estimates for software development. Those estimates are treated as promises. The management system creates a punishment mechanism for missing estimates by over 10%. Of course this creates fear and pressure to make sure work can be completed within the 110% * estimate. So logically the estimates are padded (both to account for the natural variation in how close estimates are to final results and for the existing culture that means changes will be made to requirements without the estimate being adjusted)...

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• Secrets of the World’s Best Companies

  ... great management ideas are found in the thoughts of leading management thinkers (now it is true most I think most “writings or speeches of gurus and consultants” don’t provide much use but the right thinkers do offer great value).

  As Dr. W. Edwards Deming said there is no instant pudding for management (no quick fix). And management requires customization to the organization. You cannot just copy management practices from one place, where they are successful, to another. You can learn from what has been successful and adopt it to your organization if you have knowledge and theory and know how to test (PDSA) the effectiveness of new ideas in your organization...

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