By Kevin Meyer
Evolving Excellence is proud to be part of the 2009 Management Improvement Carnival, coordinated by John Hunter at Curious Cat. Several of us are reviewing a variety of 2009's best posts from some of the best blogs. Links to all carnival participants and the summary can be found here.
This year we'll be taking a look back in time at TimeBack Management, Lean Six Sigma Academy, Curious Cat Management Improvement, A Lean Journey, and Stats Made Easy.
Let's start with Dan Markovitz' TimeBack Management.
- Standardized Work: The Source of Creativity - There is often a perceived conflict between structure and creativity, especially with knowledge work. Dan describes how standardization can actually create the ability to be more creative.
- The Calendar as Kanban - Using the calendar as your scheduling tool, instead of LIFO email processing, can make you more effective and organized.
- Visual Management, Production Schedules, and the Tyranny of the Urgent - It is very critical to consciously schedule time for improvement.
Now on to Ron Pereira's Lean Six Sigma Academy.
- Seven Practical Ways to Respect People - A favorite topic of ours as well, as most supposed lean-oriented companies completely forget this second pillar. Here are some ways to truly respect people every day.
- The Complete Meaning of Shitsuke - No it's not a mushroom, but Ron gives some thought to the importance of using Japanese lean terminology.
- Knowledge and Thinking - Lean and six sigma, can't we just get along?
And of course John Hunter himself at carnival coordinator Curious Cat Management Improvement.
- No More Executive Bonuses! - More commentary on Henry Mintzberg's article on bad compensation systems.
- Five Managerial Fallacies Concerning Layoffs - Layoffs should be the last resort, not the first.
- Management by IT Crowd Bosses - How often do we see this? Find an ineffective tool and then have it forced on us?
Scooting over to Tim McMahon over at A Lean Journey.
- No Fat Behavior Please - Why hasn’t the concept of waste been extended to the behaviors of individuals and groups within the workplace?
- The Rudolph Factor and the Eighth Waste - Finding and nurturing the stars that will drive change in your organization.
- Sustainability - Ten Factors for Making a Culture Change Stick - Keep an eye on these factors to avoid slipping backwards.
And finally we have Mark Anderson's Stats Made Easy.
- New Math Sums Digits from Left to Right - Talk about teaching an old dog new tricks... or fundamental change?
- Experiments for School Now Safer, But Less Educational - Besides dumbing down experiments, isn't learning about safety also a worthwhile goal?
- An Ideal World: Ball Park Beer Cost Correlated Completely with Quality of Baseball - Unfortunately it's not... yet.
Thanks to all of you for taking the time to pen your thoughts... and teach us all something new.