By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). It is very common for people to see their situation as special and so different that they can only learn about management from some situation identical to the one they face. But this is a misunderstanding of what learning about better management […]

Guest post by Mike Stoecklein I hear a lot of talk in healthcare about the importance of defining “true north” for the organization. If you search the internet, you’ll find many definitions of true north and examples from organizations. Here are a few (all are from healthcare organizations): The company’s governing objective. Example given: deliver […]

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. In this latest W. Edwards Deming Institute podcast, Dr. Sophronia (Frony) Ward, Managing and Founding Partner of Pinnacle Partners, (direct download) discussess what you need to consider when looking at data from surveys. One of the points Frony makes is that often the survey data you see fail to […]

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Bill Bellows serves on the board of trustees for The W. Edwards Deming Institute. He has been writing articles for the Lean Management Journal for several years that discuss how to apply Deming’s ideas (and related management improvement ideas) in organizations. Those articles include: […]

It is easy for me to imagine the power of focusing on meaning in education. We are naturally curious and interested in learning. The education system often beats that out of us, but if you switched the aim from grading to providing meaningful learning experiences you harness the natural desires we have to learn.

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). “Institute training on the job” is point 8 in W. Edwards Deming’s 14 points for management. Dr. Deming’s management system was focused on creating a work environment that allowed people to take pride in their work by letting them contribute fully. So […]

Guest post by Luciana Paulise. See her previous guest posts: Applying Deming Principles at Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Applying a Model for Small Business Continual Improvement. W. Edwards Deming used to say “Knowledge is the key. Lack of knowledge…that is the problem.” Knowledge is what differentiates successful companies from the ones that are not. […]

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). 2014 W. Edwards Deming Institute conference presentation by Monta Akin, Kendra Shaffer and Jill Walker: W. Edwards Deming and the Leander Way. The Leander, Texas independent school district looked to focus on improving student learning (not to improve teaching). Those ideas seem […]

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Point 7 in Dr. Deming’s 14 obligations of management: Institute leadership (see point 12 and Chapter 8 in Out of the Crisis). The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as […]

To put it simply, effective use of Big Data to make decisions depends on each of the four components of The System of Profound Knowledge and the interaction between the components.