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- Maslow on Dealing with Authoritarians - unfortunately we have far too few people willing to stand up to the bullies ripping apart our companies. Respect for people, doesn’t mean letting people get away with bad behavior.
- Society is being shaped for us while we are busy making other plans - "It is not that we need to eliminate the legal system. We need to fix it so it works to make society better and not so often to do damage to society instead."
- Avoiding Tragedy of the Commons for Software Development - "If people can just treat a resource as though it was suppose to just serve them and the resource is overwhelmed I see that as tragedy of the commons."
- The aim of leadership is not merely to find and record failures of men - "Far too many leaders think their role is to hold people accountable. Such thinking shows much that is wrong with those that seek simple answers instead of improvement."
- Respect People by Creating a Climate for Joy in Work - Creating a climate where people can take pride in what they do everyday is the key. It isn't being "nice" to everyone. What matters is providing a workplace where intrinsic motivation flourishes.
- Gravity and the Scientific Method - Science is not about current beliefs. Science is about seeking knowledge. If the search for knowledge leads to evidence that old ideas were wrong those ideas are overturned. Since people are involved that process isn’t as clean as it sounds above.
- Government Debt as Percent of GDP 1998-2010 for OECD - There has been a dramatic increase from 2008-2010. The USA is up from 41% of GDP to 61%. Spain is up from 34% to 52% (but given all the concern with Spain this doesn’t seem to indicate the real debt problems they have. (As I say in the post these percentages are lower than other sources show...).
- Understanding Technology and Programing is Vital - The world has changed from 50 years ago. It is hard to imagine making serious decisions about priorities for most any organization without a basic appreciation of programing (understanding the basics of how we can use computers effectively).
- Problems with Management and Business Books - The effectiveness in marketing a book, or consultant, has very limited correlation to their ability to improve management, in my experience.
- Personal Finance Basics: Long Term Disability Insurance - Most people know living without health insurance is very risky (and shouldn't be done). But people are much less aware of the importance of long term disability insurance. The census bureau estimates that you have a 20% chance you will be disabled in your lifetime...
- Engage in Improving the Management System - This requires doing the hard work of challenging complacency... Instead it seems to me, most of the time, the focus is on spinning what is being done to convince others that what is being done is good. This is not helpful and not useful.
- Finding, and Keeping, Good IT People - the same need for respect for people is the core issue - with some others though they will put up with bad management practices for far longer than good IT people.
- Executives Again Treating Corporate Treasuries as Their Money - The lack of honor of these men is amazing. And the lack of honor of those who continue to treat these people as anything but pariahs is amazing. That we continue to pursue policies that enable and enrich too big to fail financial companies, on the backs of those that save - and in so doing provide billions in profits for the executives to treat as their personal bank accounts is sad.
- Google Art Project - View Art from the Hermitage, the Met... - Google Art Project lets you view art from the Hermitage, Van Gogh Museum, the Met, Tate Britain, National Gallery and more museums around the world.
- Top Countries For Renewable Energy Capacity - The largest increases in renewable energy capacity by country from 2005 to 2010 are: China (up 106%), South Korea (up 88%), Turkey (up 85%), Germany (up 67%), Italy and Japan (up 45%).
- Is Using the Words Resources or Assets When Talking About People the Problem? - What I care about is behavior and organizational systems that embody respect for people. I have never seen much correlation between those and the use of the words resource and asset for discussing the role of people in organizations.
- Productivity Improvement for Entrepreneurs (and Everybody Else Really) - Going and seeing what is really going on with your own eyes takes time, but trying to save time by acting based on reports results in ineffective and therefore unproductive action.
- Oil Production by Country 1999-2009 - The 3 clear leaders in oil and gas production are Russia, Saudi Arabia and the USA (with the USA firmly in 3rd place). Those 3 were responsible for approximately a third of the total oil production in 2009.
- Learn by Seeking Knowledge - Not Just from Mistakes - Being open to new ideas and new knowledge is what is needed to learn. Experimenting, seeking out new knowledge is even better.
- Investment Risk Matters Most as Part of a Portfolio, Rather than in Isolation - It is not less risky to have your entire retirement in treasury bills than to have a portfolio of stocks, bonds, international stocks, treasury bills, REITs... This is because their are not just risk of an investment declining in value. There are inflation risks, taxation risks...
- USA Spends Record $2.5 Trillion, $8,086 per person 17.6% of GDP on Health Care in 2009 - The broken USA health care system costs twice as much as other rich countries for worse results. And those are just the direct accounting costs... [not counting] millions of hours spent on completing forms to try and comply with the requirements of the health care system's endless demand for paperwork, lives crippled by health care bankruptcies...
- Robots That Start as Babies Master Walking Faster Than Those That Start as Adults - "Bongard created both simulated and actual robots that, like tadpoles becoming frogs, change their body forms while learning how to walk. And, over generations, his simulated robots also evolved, spending less time in 'infant' tadpole-like forms and more time in 'adult' four-legged forms."
- Continual Learning - Look at people like Ackoff and Deming. They knew more than pretty much anyone about management. Yet both continued learning until the day they died. They were quick to credit others. They were quick to challenge people but also had an obvious respect and compassion for people.
- Respect for People Doesn't Mean Avoiding Any Hint of Criticism - Personal attacks are not useful. Attacking bad practices and bad thinking is showing respect for people. An environment that is so emotionally immature that criticism of bad practices and ideas is seen as disrespectful is an environment that is in need of improvement.
- Top 15 Manufacturing Countries in 2009 - The big, long term story remains the same. China has continued to grow manufacturing output tremendously. I see very little data to support the stories about manufacturing having to leave China to go elsewhere (especially when you look at the "lower wages" counties mentioned in news stories). The USA is still manufacturing a huge amount and that production has steadily grown over time...
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John Hunter has experience in management improvement (customer focused continuous improvement, process improvement, systems thinking) and related areas. Since 1995, I have used the internet and internet technology to improve the results of management improvement efforts.
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