Guest post by John Hunter, author of Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. The idea of looking beyond the most visible problem when seeking to improve is important. If you just address the most visible issue, you often fail to improve the system and instead just add some work to smooth things over if that problem […]

Guest post by John Hunter, author of Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. This video shows part 4 of a Russell Ackoff presentation from 2003 on Systems Thinking and Management. In this part of the presentation, Ackoff discusses the difference between authority and influence. In complex organizations, trying to rule by authority is difficult and ineffective. […]

Guest post by John Hunter, founder of the CuriousCat.com. Have you ever tried running through water?  You don’t get very far very fast.  If you have water up to your waist, and you try to run, your progress is very slow.  Sure, you could put in more effort and maybe try to improve your technique […]

Professor Doug Stilwell of Drake University examines the connection between intrinsic motivation and joy in learning and how the systemic structures in our educational system can hinder it.

Doug Stilwell shares insights into how you can make the "right" decisions for your organization.

Guest post by John Hunter, author of Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. Mary Jenkins gave this presentation on Statistical Approach to HR Systems at the Ohio Quality and Productivity Forum in 1992. In the presentation, Mary provides a view of the organization as a system and the existing and possible systems to manage personnel. She […]

Guest post by John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). This is the seventh post in our Deming on Management series. This series provides resources for those interested in learning more about particular topics related to W. Edwards Deming’s ideas. View our previous Deming on Management posts, including: Leadership, Appreciation […]

Guest post by John Hunter, author of Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. This video shows part 3 of a Russell Ackoff presentation from 2003 on Systems Thinking and Management (see our previous post on part 1 and part 2). An organization that wants to survive in a dynamic environment has to continually educate its members […]

Eight years before COVID-19 hit, Peaker Services had a Pandemic Preparedness Plan in place.

Part 3 of "True Improvement vs Illusion of Progress," a presentation by Peter Scholtes.