Many will acknowledge that while we may not measure what’s important, the important thing becomes what we measure. Why? It keeps us exclusively focused on what in-practice we (often tacitly come to) value.
Posts Tagged ‘Problem Solving’
Cheating Is No Surprise
Posted in Education, Management, Quality, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Leadership, management, Problem Solving, Quality, Systems Thinking on July 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Lean Understanding
Posted in Quality, Systems Thinking, tagged Business of business, Critical Thinking, Leadership, Learning, management, organizational design, Problem Solving, Progress, Quality, relationships, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking on May 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »
It is estimated that about 70% of organizations initiating lean programs don’t realize the promised or anticipated success. So it would seem that either lean is a bad idea or lean is not properly understood. Given Toyota’s notable success, I think we’ll go with the latter!
When the First Step is a Misstep
Posted in Problem Solving, Systems Thinking, tagged Complexity, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Problem Solving, Systems Thinking on April 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Problem solving involves many steps, with each requiring decision-making before proceeding to the next toward ultimately resolving the issue. While each step is important, when problems are complex the most critical is the first because it is among the most difficult. In simple or structured problem situations the issue is quite self-evident, but in complex [...]
Statistically Speaking
Posted in Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, tagged Change, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Education, Leadership, Learning, management, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, Variation on March 26, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Quantum physicists tell us that at the subatomic level there is indeterminacy to the interactions and interconnections of particles—that they do not take place at a definite place and time—and thus (they) exhibit a likelihood of occurring; reality is associated with a statistical probability distribution. In other words, variation is an inherent phenomenon characteristic of [...]
The Worker Is Not the Problem
Posted in Education, Leadership, Quality, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Leadership, Learning, management, Problem Solving, Quality, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking on March 11, 2011 | 6 Comments »
If the education system wasn’t designed to consistently produce the results that it is producing then we wouldn’t be getting the results we are getting! Yet again and again the focus of the reformer is on the teacher, not the system itself. Why? Because it is far easier to turn attention away from what the [...]
Want to Improve Quality, Listen Up
Posted in Problem Solving, Quality, tagged Critical Thinking, Leadership, Learning, management, organizational design, Problem Solving, Progress, Quality, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking on March 7, 2011 | 17 Comments »
Often those with authority over a system/organization—frequently referred to as ‘the leadership’—use the thing they believe is valued by most as a way of resolving a complex problem such as quality. That is, they throw money at it! Since money is the thing we greatly value, then what better way to demonstrate commitment to quality [...]
Insights from the Impoverished
Posted in Education, Life, Problem Solving, Progress, tagged Change, Development of Self, Economy, Education, human spirit, Problem Solving, Progress, Quality, relationships, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking on March 3, 2011 | 2 Comments »
In a recent HuffingtonPost article David Chura brings to light the affect that poverty, despair and hopelessness have on people, especially during the formative years. When individuals grow up in an environment within which such dark currents flow, they feel trapped and, as David Chura relates, a way out is likely imperceptible.
Take the Education Reformers to Task
Posted in Education, tagged Critical Thinking, human spirit, Learning, management, Problem Solving, Progress, Quality, Systems Thinking on February 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »
In a recent Huffington Post article, Diann Woodard argued for designing an educational system “to equip all children with the skills to exercise sound, independent judgment as workers and citizens will they be successfully educated” and challenged the data-driven business model reformers who advocate for vouchers, charter schools and test scores as the measure of [...]
Data Should Lead to Understanding
Posted in Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, tagged Complexity, Decision-making, Learning, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, Variation on February 16, 2011 | 2 Comments »
In a Baseline Scenario article titled Bad Data James Kwak stated, “to make a vast generalization, we live in a society where quantitative data are becoming more and more important. Some of this is because of the vast increase in the availability of data, which is itself largely due to computers. Some is because of [...]
Better Thinking Leads To Better Solutions
Posted in Education, Problem Solving, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, human spirit, Learning, Problem Solving, Progress, Quality on February 10, 2011 | 1 Comment »
What might be the cause of the misuse or misinterpretation of research about education recently brought to light by Alfie Kohn in his January 28th article “Do tests really help students learn or was a new study misreported?” Could this be evidence of what is being learned or not learned in the educational system? Might [...]
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