Actionable Metrics
Metrics are valuable when they are actionable. Think about what will be done if certain results are shown by the data. If you can’t think of actions you would take, it may be that metric is not worth...
View ArticleDelighting Customers
If you have customers that see you as adequate you will keep customers based on inertia. But you have several big problems awaiting you. Those trying to win your customers business only have to...
View ArticleDon’t Treat People Like You Want to be Treated
I have never understood the logic behind the idea that you should treat people like you want to be treated. I know I am different; I don’t want what lots of other people seem to want. If I treat them...
View ArticleManagement Blog Posts From November 2006
I have selected a few great posts from the Curious Cat Management Blog back in November 2006. What Could we do Better? – There are many important ideas to improve management. This is one of the most...
View ArticleLeading Improvement and Enjoying the Rewards
The better job you do of managing the easier your job becomes. As a manager your primary responsibility is to improve the system: both the systems within your sphere of control and those outside of it....
View ArticleCustomer Focus
Customer Focus is at the core of a well managed company. Sadly many companies fail to serve their customers well. To serve customers, a thorough understanding of what problem you solve for customers is...
View ArticleProcess Thinking: Process Email Addresses
This is just a simple tip. When providing email address think about what the purpose is. If it is to contact a specific person then an individual’s email address makes sense. But if you are really...
View ArticleWhat is the Explanation Going to be if This Attempt Fails?
Occasionally during my career I have been surprised by new insights. One of the things I found remarkable was how quickly I thought up a new explanation for what could have caused a problem when the...
View ArticleResources for Using the PDSA Cycle to Improve Results
PDSA Improvement cycle graphic from my book – Management Matters Using the PDSA cycle (plan-do-study-act) well is critical to building a effective management system. This post provides some resources...
View ArticleUse Urls – Don’t Use Click x, Then Click y, Then Click z Instructions
In the 1980s software applications had to use click x, then click y, then click z type instructions to get you to a specific location in a software application (or at least they had a decent excuse to...
View ArticleMagnetic White-Board Kanban Card Options
Just some quick ideas for Kanban whiteboard magnetic card options from a question I answered on Reddit. Here is the best lean solution: Trying Out My Agile Kanban Board from Jon Miller. Magnetic kanban...
View ArticleThe Aim Should be the Best Life – Not Work v. Life Balance
My father had the most job satisfaction of anyone I have known. He had no separation between work and life. We toured factories on vacation. I visited Davidson College in North Carolina because he was...
View ArticleSeek to Improve How You Learn, Don’t Just Accept That You Can’t Do Better
Red Squares exercize at the 2 1/2 Deming Seminar in Hong Kong (2014). As a speaker or coach or teacher it is wise to learn what impacts how people absorb information and learn. Factoring those ideas...
View ArticleAdd Constraints to Processes Carefully
Take great care in adding constraints to processes to avoid doing so needlessly. Online you will frequently find forms that have required fields that needn’t be. Certainly if you were designing with...
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