Management Improvement Blog Carnival #159

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March 2012 marks the 2-year anniversary of My Flexible Pencil.  Although I’m certain he was unaware of that, I am still honored that John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement blog is helping me to celebrate this milestone, by asking me to host the Management Improvement Blog Carnival #159.

The Carnival, begun by in 2006, is published 3 times a month and serves to provide a selection of links to posts on a number of blogs. The carnival covers management improvement: Deming, lean manufacturing, six sigma, innovation, customer focus, leadership, systems thinking, continuous improvement, respect for people…

Thanks to everyone for 2 great years.

ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) & Flexible Work 

• Lately on this blog, I’ve been discussing ROWE and how it relates to Lean concepts.  This post: Raising Awareness of ROWE and Lean sparked a bit of a discussion, with significant contribution from Mark Graban, Matt Wrye and Joe Dager.  Thanks to all.
• For those who are interested in ROWE, you should check out the blog from its creators.  They frequently have strong posts on people-first management practices, such as this one: 3 Ways to Go Agile in Your Workplace in the New Year
• Over on Tim McMahon’s A Lean Journey site, Mark Hamel wrote a great guest post exploring the relationship of ROWE to the Shingo model, with some very pointed concerns on how ROWE addresses leveling of workloads and an over-reliance on individual high performers at the expense of the system.
• At the blog for the Boston College Center for Work and Family, they share some alarming statistics on Employee Engagement in Taking Charge of Your Career and Life, and offer advice on how to take responsibility for your own work/life fit.

• In addition to his guest spot on A Lean Journey, I also enjoyed Mark Hamel’s post on his own site: 12 Narrow Lean Gates, that discusses the trials leaders encounter as they go along on their Lean journey.
• Speaking of Mark Graban, if you haven’t seen his post: Weekend Fun – Quality Related Band Names (#QualityTermBandName), you need to click that link and go have a laugh!
• Matt Wrye is looking for help on expanding his reading list.  Apparently, he’s a little too Lean-focused and needs some recommendations.
• And Joe Dager is exploring the relationship between Appreciative Inquiry and Continuous Improvement.  You can learn more about that in a podcast he conducted with Ankit Patel.
• Bill Waddel gives us a great set of examples (and a funny Will Ferrell video) on Value and Waste in Necessary and Valuable are not the same thing
• Dan Markovitz reminds us that people, while infinitely capable of adapting, have their limits, too: Let’s treat our employees more like machines.

Project & Business Management

• Tim McMahon wrote a great post himself that resonated greatly with my background in project management, planning & analysis: 10 Characteristics of a Good Measure and 7 Pitfalls to Avoid
• Gina Abudi has some advice for small business owners who find themselves successful and, perhaps, growing too fast in her post Managing Your Logistics as You Grow Your Business:  Evaluate and update your processes frequently.  The way you work must change as the organization changes.

I hope this selection gives everyone a few things to enjoy, to think about, and to laugh at.  Thanks again to John Hunter for allowing me to be a part of the Carnival.  Hopefully, I’ll come back and host another edition very soon.

Until then……stay thirsty, my friends.