Management Improvement Carnival #144

By Kevin Meyer

Evolving Excellence is proud to host this edition of the Management Improvement Carnival.  You can find past carnivals at the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog.

In this roundup of interesting blog posts over the past couple weeks:

• Being Resourceful is a Matter of Curiosity – David Kasprzak compares the apparent problem-solving creativity of our ancesters to the current generation and concludes that the key ingredients still exist – curiosity and persistence.
• Snowflakes, Structural Collapse, and the Simplification of Lean – Jon Miller warns us against the natural desire to simplify systems and processes, such as lean.
• The Real Lesson of Moneyball – Wally Bock tells us how even the most innovative competitive advantage is still temporary, and we must leverage human knowledge and creativity on an ongoing basis to stay in front.
• Inspiration Doesn't Come from a Box of Cocoa Puffs – Dan Markovitz takes on those silly stories of the ridiculous perks at companies like Google.  Knowledge workers are motivated by autonomy, mastery, and purpose – not free cafeterias and yoga classes.
• Call Firefighting and Band-Aids What They Are, But Do Them in a Structured Way – Jamie Flinchbaugh acknowledges that those terms have a negative stigma, but tells us how they also have their place – if performed correctly.
• The Conversations You Are Not Having Are Killing Your Business – Art Petty describes ten key conversations or difficult decisions most organizations never get the guts to confront.
• The Last Step to 5 Whys – The So What Test – Ron Pereira helps us effectively perform a validation on the root cause identified by the classic 5 Whys RCA process by having us go backwards, up the chain.  Interesting and powerful.
• "Lack of Time" for Kaizen is a Problem Statement, not an Excuse – Mark Graban digs into the unfortunately common perception that there is not enough time to create change.  The lack of time, for kaizen and other worthwhile activities, is a problem in itself… that needs to be changed.
• The Need to Improve Management While Building Organizations Fit for Human Beings – John Hunter comments on a video by Gary Hamel, arguing that innovative management systems that promote knowledge have been around for a long time, we just fail to execute them.
• The Elusive Value Thing – Bill Waddell once again wades into the morass of "what is value?" in an organization.  Strict definitions, especially from the customer's perspective, can be disconcerting.