respect for people

Our Unique System

By Christina Dragonetti / February 1, 2024 / 0 Comments

Martin Laurent’s story of transforming a GM plant using Deming continues. (Part 3 in a 4-Part Series)

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A box with office supplies next to a clipboard with a sheet of paper that says "layoff" on it and a man with his head and fist on the desk indicating devastation.

Looking at Layoffs Through the Deming Lens

By Bill Bellows / November 16, 2022 / 1 Comment

In this guest post Bill Bellows looks at recent layoff announcements from a Deming point of view. Who is responsible for company failures? What is Ford doing differently? What happens when companies target “poor performers” and how easy it is to “do the wrong thing right.”

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3 images of college students. From left to right: 5 students with backpacks waving at the camera, 2 students walking and talking while carrying binders and papers, and 4 students grouped around a laptop with one woman sitting at the keyboard. Everyone is smiling in all the photos.

Creating Joy in Learning: Deming in Education (Part 2)

By Christina Dragonetti / August 31, 2022 / 0 Comments

“Deming helped me not be a victim of the system.”
This is the second of two articles about Deming in education, based on an interview with David P. Langford. In this

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Series of wooden gears in a horizontal line, each held by a person's fingers.

Why Did the Management System Allow the Failure?

By John Hunter / August 8, 2022 / 0 Comments

In this guest post, John Hunter explores the questions management should ask when there’s a failure or problem, rather than blaming an individual.

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How to Improve Employee Morale and Engagement

By John Hunter / May 9, 2022 / 0 Comments

The way to improve morale and engagement is to improve the work. Eliminate things that drive workers crazy by making their work more difficult and by creating work that should never have to be done if the system were designed better. (Guest post by John Hunter.)

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Managers Must Understand that Blaming Employees Doesn’t Help

By John Hunter / October 5, 2021 / 0 Comments

Guest post by John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Often when problems occur, we seek to figure out who is to blame for the problem. This is not an effective management strategy as Dr. Deming made clear, and I have discussed before: Attributing Fault to the Person Without Considering the System, Distorting the System, Distorting the […]

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Deming on Management: Performance Appraisal

By John Hunter / July 15, 2021 / 0 Comments

Guest post by John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Dr. Deming called for the elimination of the annual performance appraisal. This post, part of our Deming on Management series, provides some resources to help those getting started in transforming their management system to one based on Deming’s management ideas. This topic is one that is difficult […]

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Prioritizing Joy in Work

By John Hunter / May 20, 2021 / 0 Comments

Guest post by John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Many lessons have been learned during the last year as the pandemic caused havoc with our lives and economy. During this time, we found new ways of operating our business that would have likely been deemed impossible before. As we return to more normal lives, as vaccines […]

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Emotions In The Workplace

By John Hunter / December 7, 2020 / 0 Comments

Guest post by John Hunter, founder of the CuriousCat.com. This interview on NPR, How To Harness The Power Of Emotions In The Workplace, provides some good thoughts on psychology in the workplace. There is often much more focus on the data part of W. Edwards Deming’s ideas, and while using data to understand and improve […]

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image of quote by Dr. Deming: People are entitled to joy in work.

Deming on Management: Joy in Work

By John Hunter / July 6, 2020 / 0 Comments

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 […]

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