John Hunter

Video Introduction to Dr. W. Edwards Deming

By John Hunter / March 4, 2013 / 0 Comments

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. This video has been added to The W. Edwards Deming Institute YouTube channel. The video provides some history on Dr. Deming and his ideas on management. We hope you enjoy this short look at Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s life. Related: Inspection is too late: the quality, good or bad, […]

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Where There is Fear You Do Not Get Honest Figures

By John Hunter / February 28, 2013 / 3 Comments

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Fear invites wrong figures. Bearers of bad news fare badly. To keep his job, anyone may present to his boss only good news. W. Edwards Deming, page 94, The New Economics Using data to make decisions is important to effective management. But using data […]

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Why ThoughtWorks Eliminated Sales Commissions

By John Hunter / February 21, 2013 / 0 Comments

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Martin Fowler offers insightful details on the problems with using sales commissions (click on the right arrow button at the very top middle to see the next slide). Some quotes from his presentation: there are serious problems with the sales commission model, problems that led ThoughtWorks to get rid […]

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The Improvement Guide

By John Hunter / February 18, 2013 / 0 Comments

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). The Improvement Guide is a fantastic book on using the PDSA cycle well. The 2nd edition was published in 2009. The power of applying the PDSA cycle properly is huge. It leads to successful improvements which is important. Using the PDSA cycle […]

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Improving Processes Helps Innovation Efforts

By John Hunter / February 14, 2013 / 0 Comments

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. One of the criticisms against process improvement is that it requires stifling innovation. That is not accurate. Process improvement is meant to be continual. Building structure around how change is tested and adopted aids innovation, it doesn’t stifle it. The justified criticism, I have seen, is against bad processes […]

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The Idea of Performance Rating to Capture Merit is Alluring

By John Hunter / February 11, 2013 / 1 Comment

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). The merit rating nourishes short-term performance, annihilates long-term planning, builds fear, demolishes teamwork, [and] nourishes rivalry and politics. It leaves people bitter, crushed, bruised, battered, desolate, despondent, dejected, feeling inferior, some even depressed, unfit for work for weeks after receipt of rating, […]

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Customer Delight

By John Hunter / February 4, 2013 / 1 Comment

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). Customer satisfaction is better than dissatisfaction but it is not enough. A satisfied customer will leave for another provider at the slightest provocation. They see a bit lower price – they leave. You make one minor slip up – they leave. They […]

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cover image of The Leader's Handbook

Podcast with Kelly Allan on Dr. Deming and Peter Scholtes

By John Hunter / January 15, 2013 / 0 Comments

Kelly Allan joins Joe Dager for his latest Business 901 podcast to discuss the work of Peter Scholtes, author of The Leader’s Handbook.

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Podcast with Joyce Orsini and Kevin Cahill

By John Hunter / January 8, 2013 / 0 Comments

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). Joe Dager has posted, in his Business 901 podcast series, his discussion with Dr. Joyce Orsini, director of the Deming Scholars MBA program at Fordham University and president of The W. Edwards Deming Institute; and Kevin Cahill, the Executive Director of the […]

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User Gemba

By John Hunter / December 17, 2012 / 0 Comments

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Gemba is a Japanese term for “the real place” or in management terms “where the important action takes place.” The most common use of the term “gemba,” in a management context, is with respect to defining where the important work is done within an organization. Deming organizations, and lean […]

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