Ever wonder why so many of the top executives of corporations are similar in character? Why is it that many accept a huge compensation package while at the same time communicate that it is necessary to cast off many people for the sake of competitiveness? Why is it that many CEO’s seem disconnected from the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Statistical Thinking’
We Shape The Leaders We Get
Posted in Leadership, Life, Morality/Ethics, Progress, tagged Business of business, Change, Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Development of Self, Economy, Ethical Principles, human spirit, Leadership, Moral Values, Progress, Statistical Thinking on December 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Act on Causes not Outcomes
Posted in Economy, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, tagged Critical Thinking, Decision-making, Economy, Problem Solving, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking, Variation on September 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Properly reporting and interpreting the movement in the monthly unemployment rate requires one to have an understanding of variation. Yes, while it may be a surprise to many, monthly outcomes do vary from month to month irrespective of whether there is an identifiable cause—you can call this random noise. There are also variation patterns that [...]
Leading With Vision
Posted in Leadership, Management, Progress, Quality, tagged Change, Complexity, Critical Thinking, Leadership, Learning, management, Progress, Quality, Statistical Thinking, Systems Thinking on June 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »
A New York Times article, Lessons in Longevity From I.B.M., by Steve Lohr used IBM reaching the 100-year old mark to call attention to practices that contribute to an organization’s longevity. A noteworthy point made is that past success can impede future success. The article seems to suggest that all companies will lose their dominance [...]
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!
Replace Performance Reviews with Leadership for Quality
Posted in Leadership, Management, Quality, tagged Development of Self, human spirit, Leadership, Learning, management, Quality, relationships, Statistical Thinking, Variation on May 3, 2011 | 3 Comments »
A recent issue of Knowledge@Wharton indicates, that while 91% of companies worldwide have performance appraisals only 35% to 40% do performance reviews well. The question remains, what does doing them well mean? What are the criteria for the performance of performance reviews? Can performance reviews (as we’ve come to know and love them) really be [...]
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.
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 [...]
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