The recent recall by Toyota is apparently causing gloating among some and anxiety among others —there’s back-biting and nail-biting going on. Though the incidence of failure and fatality are rare, for those experiencing the accelerator malfunction it is significant.
Apart from the priceless human cost, why is it a big deal for Toyota (and seemingly bigger [...]
Archive for January, 2010
Eye on Quality
Posted in Progress, Quality, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, Progress, Quality on January 28, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Profit isn’t Enough for Progress
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, partnership, Progress, Systems Thinking on January 22, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Just what is the business of business? What should be the primary focus of decision-making in business? If you are like most then you likely agree with Milton Friedman’s thinking—which many graduates of business school tacitly learn—that the clear-cut answer is profit. After all, we have a free enterprise private property self-interest maximizing economic system, [...]
Connect The Dots
Posted in Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, organizational design, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, Learning, management, organizational design, Problem Solving, Quality, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking on January 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Christmas Day terrorist attempt on a flight to Detroit highlighted an all too common problem in organizations. Information may exist but knowledge is not always developed. Business organizations are not immune to the design and management problems we often see in government. You’ve probably heard, if not your self said, the left hand doesn’t [...]
What Americans fear most
Posted in Economy, Progress, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Problem Solving on January 12, 2010 | 1 Comment »
In surveys administered by Gallup since 1965, “big government always wins—by a lot” (Thank you Wall Street, may we have another? ). Initially I was surprised by the fact that the American people believe the biggest future threat to the country is not big business, or big labor but rather it is big government. Even [...]
Afraid to Innovate
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Quality, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, Progress, Quality, Systems Thinking on January 8, 2010 | 4 Comments »
The fear associated with creative development can often be devastating to an enterprise. As a case in point “G.M.’s biggest failing, reflected in a clear pattern over recent decades, has been its inability to strike a balance between those inside the company who pushed for innovation ahead of the curve, and the finance executives who [...]
By The Numbers
Posted in Leadership, Progress, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, tagged Decision-making, Leadership, management, Problem Solving, Progress, Systems Thinking on January 1, 2010 | 4 Comments »
The economic system has a considerable influence on the way business is conducted since it encourages enterprises operating within it to align with its material growth maximization maxim. Consequently, economic enterprises are expected not only to seek but to maximize (their) material gain. Accordingly, those with administrative authority over the enterprise pursue material growth, monetizing [...]
