systems thinking
By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Understanding Variation by Thomas Nolan, Rocco J. Perla and Lloyd Provost. There have been large changes in the use of data since the publication of Understanding Variation, by Thomas Nolan and Lloyd Provost. The new article discusses how to use an understanding of variation when working with large datasets […]
Read More
By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). From Dr. Deming’s last interview; published in Industry Week magazine. The results of a system must be managed by paying attention to the entire system. When we optimize sub-components of the system we don’t necessarily optimize the overall system. This is true […]
Read More
By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Deming Institute podcast with TJ Gokcen, CEO of Acquate on “Joy in Software Development” (download the podcast). Describing the importance of creating software using Deming’s ideas as expressed in agile software development, TJ says so it is a set of methods and practices that is more catered to change. […]
Read More
By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Leadership and the New Science: Learning about Organizations from an Orderly Universe by Margaret Wheatley does a good job of exploring how to view organizations as a system. A quote by Meg Wheatley from an interview long after the publication of the book does […]
Read More
By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Cornell Policy Review published a special issue exploring the application of systems thinking to public policy problems. Graduate students were given an introduction to systems thinking and then applied the concepts to address issues their field. Students applied systems thinking to a wide array […]
Read More
An in-depth discussion of the Point 4 in Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s 14 Points for Management.
Read More
By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Clare Crawford Mason spoke at the The W. Edwards Deming Institute conference in l997 in Alexandria, Virginia. Here is an excerpt from that talk: Profound Knowledge: A New Synthesis from a Transcending Perspective to Personal Improvement We are all familiar with the systems diagram Dr. Deming put on the […]
Read More
By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Appreciation for a system is one of the four components of Deming’s management system. In this context, the most common item to think of is Deming’s diagram of an organization as a system. That is a powerful diagram. When thinking of appreciation for a […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More