... it seems to me that the visible waste (time and money spent on the #hiring process) is seen as the only waste and the much more difficult to see waste of hiring the wrong people is ignored...
#management
management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/10/07/h...
photo of a foggy trail with trees in the background
Foggy alpine trail
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
See more photos curiouscat.com/travel/photo...
9 CDC Directors going back to 1977 speak out. What RFK Jr has done to our nation’s public health system "should alarm every American."
It "is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
“I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health,” wrote Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
"When people mistake the data proxy for the thing to improve... they focus on improvement of how the #data looks not of the system. That is the wrong strategy. The correct strategy is to focus on improving the system and as a way…"
management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/08/19/d...
#management
Read a parenting book recently (stay with me here) that completely changed how I think about management.
Turns out the most important skill isn't avoiding mistakes, it's what you do after making them.
terriblesoftware.org/2025/08/22/t...
Excerpts from The Deming Library Volume XXI, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Dr. Russell Ackoff + David Langford demonstrate that educators can begin a quality transformation by developing an understanding of the properties+powers of systems-oriented thinking...
management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/10/25/a...
I am so embarrassed for humanity.
We had this disease eradicated. The process of keeping it that way was SO SIMPLE.
And because of a bunch of idiots, and bunch of grifters making public health into an ideological football, here we are.
Just a faceplant. A completely unforced error.
"to create a system where the vast majority of people can have #joy_in_work most of the time requires a deep understanding and application of modern #management improvement practices (Deming, lean thinking, etc.)…"
management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/10/14/p...
#leadership #respect_for_people
say it again:
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
"Far too often, companies promote employees into #management positions and expect them to fulfill the obligations of their new position without helping prepare them to meet their new responsibilities. People who excelled at doing their non-supervisory..."
deming.org/educate-new-...
#leadership
You want to optimize your life and your children's lives. That isn't the same thing as avoiding any things that might have some negative aspects...
curiouscatlinks.blogspot.com/2025/07/i-wa...
The USA has many assets: transportation infrastructure, banking... huge market, engineering education… The key will be to keep focusing on the whole system (and fix things like huge budget deficient... health care costs, excessive executive pay…).
management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/06/29/i...
The Curious Cat Management Improvement Institute has partnered with William Scherkenbach to make his files on management improvement available on their website. These files provide great value to those seeking to improve the practice of management in their organizations
ccmii.org/files/ws/
We use #data to act as a proxy for some results of the system. Often people forget that the desired end result is not for the number to be improved but for the situation to be improved. We hope,if the measure improves the situation will have improved...
management.curiouscatblog.net/2004/08/29/d...
when we fail to value the best ideas, instead valuing new ideas, we are not as effective as we could be. We often accept pale copies of good old ideas instead of going to the good old ideas – which will often lead to a much richer source of knowledge...
management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/06/10/m...
"Effective use of data is an important part of management improvement. Emphasis is needed on “effective”; data misuse is rampant and creates problems. Use of data by itself is not sufficient."
management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/05/09/u...
#data #management #leadership #critical_thinking
And many people will die "Air pollution accounted for 8.1 million deaths globally in 2021, becoming the second leading risk factor for death, including for children under 5 years"
www.unicef.org/press-releas...
If you only care about USA annual deaths the total is 200,000 lae.mit.edu/2024/06/28/a...
Here are some George Box quotes to chose from
management-quotes.net/authors/Geor...
More on George Box
management.curiouscatblog.net/2013/03/28/g...
John Green explains how $20/year (from you and every other USA citizen) has helped save 91 million lives since 2000
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJW2...
Calling your representatives to let them know you care about saving over 3 million lives a year can make a difference.
Please watch the video + call
"When encountering a problem or defect the inclination of many is to find a person to blame. W. Edwards Deming believed that the system was responsible for 93% of the problems and over time he increased that number to at least 97%..."
#management
management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/05/03/f...
Personal blogs, for over 20 years. I haven’t posted much the last few years… management.curiouscatblog.net
Having your own blogs (on your own domain) is the best long term option in my opinion. Though it does have some challenges. Related post from 2013 management.curiouscatblog.net/2013/07/17/y...
How much would Germany, Japan, China, Canada, Singapore… pay for Stanford, MIT, Princeton… if they could buy and move them, then fund research as the USA government funded over the past 50 years? Not actually possible, but I believe they would “sell” for more than nearly all companies would.
If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow.
The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.
"having processes that create defects and then use inspection to catch them is certainly something to avoid… code reviews should be geared toward capturing learning that can be applied to current processes to improve them so fewer bugs are created in the future…"
deming.org/software-cod...
its crazy how dominant germany was in science (especially chemistry) in the 19th century, it was basically the international language for scientists, people came from all over the world to train at heidelberg etc, and then....
Everyone involved in trying to pass off that ChatGPT-extruded disinformation manifesto as a scientific report should be, at the very least, barred from public office for life. The MAHA report is dangerous criminal misconduct and an offence to the process of science.
Nature ran a piece finding that 25 million people could die as a result of ending USAID. This puts Trump and Musk in the category of the most brutal leaders of the 20th century in terms of unnecessary lives lost.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
SPACENEWS: NASA budget would cancel dozens of science missions, lay off thousands (But sets aside nearly $2 billion effectively earmarked for SpaceX)
spacenews.com/nasa-budget-...
"The difference between respect and disrespect is not avoiding avoiding criticism. In fact often if you respect someone you can be much more direct and critical than you can with someone you treat as though they don’t have the ability to listen…"
management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/05/08/r...