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Six Sigma Beyond the Factory Floor by Ronald D. Snee and Roger W. Hoerl, 2004. From the publisher: "Nonmanufacturing organizations are rapidly discovering Six Sigma's immense potential to reduce costs, improve performance, grow revenue, strengthen focus, and empower people. To achieve these results in your organization, start right here. Drawing on new case studies, renowned practitioners Ron Snee and Roger Hoerl cover up-front planning and strategy... team building and executive sponsorship... project execution... methods, statistical tools, and metrics... overcoming obstacles... and much more. Their advice and best practices can guide you through any stage of the process, whether you're just starting out or extending an existing initiative. With their help, scores of world-class enterprises have delivered on the promise of Six Sigma. With this book, you can, too." |
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Box on Quality and Discovery with Design, Control and Robustness. By George Box. Edited by George C. Tiao, Bill Hill, Soren Bisgaard, Daniel Pena and Stephen Stigler. An excellent new book by one of the most important figures in the Quality movement. This books includes articles written by George Box over the last 15 years. Many of the articles should be read by any leader serious about Quality Improvement (a portion of the articles - maybe 50% include more advanced concepts that may be beyond the scope of most managers interested in Quality improvement). Paperback edition released October, 2005 |
| Beating the System: Using Creativity to Outsmart Bureaucracies by Russell L. Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin. From the publisher: "The authors begin by exploring how systems function and malfunction, where their weaknesses are, and what drives them. They show that much of bureaucratic power is based on unchallenged assumptions--assumptions systems make about themselves and us, and assumptions we make about these systems and ourselves, and that challenging these assumptions is the essence of creativity and the first step in system beating. Ackoff and Rovin use stories to illustrate successful strategies and tactics for defying these assumptions and turning the tables on the many bureaucracies that frustrate us." | |
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Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future by Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers, 2004. From the publisher: This book gives the reader an intimate look at the development of a new theory about change and learning. In wide-ranging conversations held over a year and a half, Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, and Flowers explore their own experiences and those of one hundred and fifty scientists and social and business entrepreneurs in an effort to explain how profound collective change occurs. Their journey of discovery articulates a new way of seeing the world, and of understanding our part in creating it-as it is and as it might be. Radical and hopeful, Presence synthesizes leading-edge thinking, first-hand knowledge, and ancient wisdom to explore the living fields that connect us to one another, to life more broadly, and, potentially, to what is "seeking to emerge." Seven capacities underlie our ability to see, sense, and realize new possibilities. Developing these capacities accesses a deeper level of learning that is the key to creating change that serves the whole-ourselves, our organizations, and the communities of which we are a part. |
| Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 2004. "Csikszentmihalyi applies the proven principles of Flow to the business world, revealing the specific values that have served visionary leaders who have succeeded in running businesses that are both successful and humane." | |
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Team Handbook, 3rd Edition, 2003 by Peter Scholtes, Brian Joiner and Barbara Streibel. This update to the the classic "includes a brief description of the Six Sigma improvement method DMAIC, and also highlights the methods and strategies that are useful in Lean." "Book purchasers will also be able to download electronic versions of forms and templates found in the book." |
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Always Think Big: How Mattress Mac's Uncompromising Attitude Built the Biggest Single Retail Store in America. Read about Jim McIngvale's management ideas (Read an excerpt from the book). Jim is, of course, very well known to the Deming community for his leadership at Gallery Furniture. |
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Profit Beyond Measure: Extraordinary Results Through Attention to Work and People By H. Thomas Johnson and Anders Broms, forward by Peter Senge, 2000. Details how two extremely profitable manufacturers, Toyota and the Swedish truck maker Scania, have rejected the traditional mechanistic mindset of managing by results that generates waste. Johnson and Bröms explain how Toyota and Scania achieve their legendary cost advantage through a revolutionary concept they call managing by means. Instead of being driven to meet preconceived accounting targets, the production systems of Toyota and Scania are governed by the three precepts that guide all living systems: self-organization, interdependence, and diversity. Read more including a review by Tom Coens and online articles by H. Thomas Johnson. |
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Even if you are not able to make the decision to eliminate performance appraisals for your organization, this book is helpful in shedding light on the problems of the current system and opening eyes to possible alternatives. This book will help you reduce (or eliminate) the damage performance appraisals are causing and take steps to move your organization in the right direction. |
