John Hunter

"Safari literally ships with a fake Chrome user agent string, ready to deploy when sites refuse to work otherwise. Firefox does the same thing, and many of its about:compat interventions are user agent spoofs telling sites “yes, I’m Chrome” because those sites actively block or break on non-Chrome browsers. The Mozilla wiki explains that some sites “block access completely, display a different design, or provide different functionality” based on browser detection..."

https://denodell.com/blog/browsers-treat-big-sites-differently

Another enjoyable short video from John Green

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6N16afnPRs

#memory #psychology

"Good documentation is a tell-tale sign of a great product and a company that puts users first. There exist good products with bad or no documentation, but there are very few poor products with great documentation."

https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/05/12/kagi-snaps

I hadn't thought of that before but it makes sense.

#usability #customer_experience

"The quality of a product or service alone is no longer a differentiator; instead the overall quality of the experience is now the differentiator for customers..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2018/03/14/quality-of-the-entire-customer-experience/

#management #leadership #customer_experience

Ich bin im 69‐Stunden-Marathon-Stream von @orkenspaltertv ab heute 18 Uhr bei DSA/Namenlose Nacht dabei, moderiere morgen ab 13 Uhr das Erzählrollenspiel Scrimshaws & Seemannsgarn und leite am Sonntag ab 14 Uhr das Telenovela #PbtA Pasión de las Pasiones.

So viel Rollenspiel-Vielfalt in nur drei Tagen! 💖 Seid ihr im Chat dabei? #pnpde

Das ganze Programm findet ihr hier: https://rollenspiel.social/@orkenspaltertv/116398214765156302

Good #process_improvement practices include:

standardized improvement process (pdsa, or whatever)
Going to the gemba – improvement is done where the work is done. You must go to the where the action is. Sitting in meeting rooms, or offices, reading reports and making decisions is not the way to improve effectively.
evidence based decision making
...

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/11/08/good-process-improvement-practices/

#management #leadership

Another interesting video from John Green.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQVPgELGG48

The Vlogsbrothers channel has long provided me endless (well English is weird not really endless...) happiness and thoughts and ideas.

200 million neurons in our guts; I did not know that. Lots of other interesting ideas; like you should eat more #fiber
I have long focused on eating food with fiber, it works for me, but more importantly based on lots of scientific studies.

#science #biology

Excerpts from The Deming Library Volume XXI, Dr. W. Edwards #Deming Dr. Russell Ackoff and David Langford demonstrate that educators can begin a quality transformation by developing an understanding of the properties and powers of systems-oriented thinking...

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/10/25/a-theory-of-a-system-for-educators-and-managers/

#management

The Leader's Handbook Study Series

https://www.in2in.org/shop/p/the-leadership-handbook-study-series

In his forward to the Leader’s Handbook Ackoff offers a format to study the book which we will follow in these sessions:

“I suggest a small group of managers or students of #management read each chapter separately but simultaneously, and then gather to discuss what they have read. They should discuss what they agree with, what they disagree with, and, most important, how what they have read will affect their behavior...

#Deming

"Our key insight is that, despite being imperfect, such quasi-realistic data still provide priors about human primitive skills in tennis scenarios.... We also propose a series of designs for robust sim-to-real transfer and deploy our policy on the Unitree G1 #humanoid_robot . Our method achieves surprising results in the real world and can stably sustain multi-shot rallies with human players."

Videos on the site are cool. Primitive, sure, promising...

https://zzk273.github.io/LATENT/

#technology

RE: https://rollenspiel.social/@Seba/116178639069746398

Ich bin diesmal an zwei #GRT Projekten beteiligt:

- Scrimshaws & Seemannsgarn, ein Erzählrollenspiel über die Kunst von Seeleuten (geschrieben mit @BratApfel , erscheint bei @plotbunnygames )

- Ziemlich zufälliges Zine, Foliant F: Finstere Flüche und herrliche Hexen (kollektiv erstellt von der @steinbruch Community)

#pnpde Einen ersten Einblick gibt es hier:

RE: https://mastodon.pnpde.social/@plotbunnygames/116177170474146118

Only 3 hours left! And just 47 € missing until 7.500 € and 300% funding! Can we knock down this last unofficial goal?

#TTRPG #ZineMonth

"Old-school computing has a term 'molly guard': it’s the little plastic safety cover you have to move out of the way before you press some button of significance.

Anecdotally, this is named after Molly, an engineer’s daughter who was invited to a datacenter and promptly pressed a big red button, as one would.

Then she did it again later the same day."

https://unsung.aresluna.org/molly-guard-in-reverse/

#mistake_proofing #management #engineering

"If #police leaders step up now... this could be their finest hour. But it requires action, not neutrality:

- No participation in raids lacking warrants, transparency, or legal authority.
- Intervene when any agency uses excessive force or violates rights.
- Protect every resident, regardless of immigration status.

These are not radical principles. They are the minimum standard for policing in a constitutional democracy."

https://improvingpolice.blog/2025/12/07/a-new-kind-of-courage-why-police-must-confront-federal-overreach/

#rule_of_law #society

@Bartimaeus Ich habe Spieltischvorlagen für playingcards.io für viele der @plotbunnygames Spiele angelegt. Es ist so cool, was man damit alles machen kann!

Manchmal ist es einfach ein Kartendeck (#VivaLaQueerBar, #GegenDasMonster), andere sind komplexer (#Follow, #Catcrawl, #ParanormalInc). Auch #Stewpot und #DetekteiMonster bekommen wieder eine.

(Die Vorlagen gibt's alle kostenlos unter https://plotbunnygames.com/downloads/)
#pnpde

"What can #managers learn from Duke and Wisconsin’s basketball teams?
...
The lesson many people miss is that college teams are mostly about developing a team that wins. Developing individual players is a part of that, but it is subordinate to developing a team..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2015/04/06/lessons-for-managers-from-wisconsin-and-duke-basketball/

#teams #management #leadership #coaching

Great seminar: Understanding Statistical Process Control by Donald Wheeler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP3i97Q6XjM&list=PLUeXRJ5a5UC1cDLxbZPs6Jg_d9m-nvIjO &index=2

#management #data #Deming

@realn2s

Here are a bunch of quotes from W. Edward #Deming
Many have sources. I don't think your quote is included though.

https://management-quotes.net/authors/W._Edwards_Deming

My belief is Deming’s ideas work extremely well in a #SoftwareDevelopment context. The main issue is often unlearning some assumptions that people might have about what the #Deming #management system is.

... many “knowledge workers” respect Deming’s ideas but then say his attempts to treat factory workers as thoughtful people who should be respected and involved in improving their processes doesn’t make sense for them because they are “knowledge workers.”

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2014/03/17/deming-and-software-development/

"you have to try to build that strong organizational structure; one that isn’t so fragile that when one or two senior leaders change, things fall apart. But it’s very difficult and many organizations have weak management systems..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2014/10/29/a-strong-management-system-handles-the-transition-of-leaders-with-ease/

#Leadership #organization_as_a_system

I see that agile is very consistent with Deming. Agile has all sorts of variants, so to different extents, they fit in. But one of the things I find really interesting is the agile folks, and of course the lean software folks, they much more than any other group of people I’ve seen traced the #agile ideas back to find Deming’s ideas.

So it seems to me many of the leading agile and lean folks have tracked it back to #Deming and then incorporated some Deming’s thinking...

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2014/10/02/agile-software-development-and-deming/

"In the past 10 weeks America has witnessed an extraordinary outpouring of decisions from its highest...

The six rightwing justices who control the court – three of them given their lifetime seats by Trump himself – have effectively greenlighted the president’s explosive and law-busting agenda.

The supermajority has granted Trump 18 straight victories in the administration’s requests for emergency relief...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/aug/21/justice-john-roberts-supreme-court

Destroying the #rule_of_law #society

...John says if you focus on building the capability in the organization to understand variation and to appreciate how to use #data - then you are on the right path, and can increase your influence in addition.

“You need to build into the organization things like a focus on pleasing the customer instead of pleasing your boss.” When combining all of these methods, that is when your #leadership is going to be most effective...

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2016/09/13/lead-by-building-organizational-capability/

#Management #systems_thinking

John Willis interviewed me for his Profound podcast series

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2022/02/18/profound-podcast-john-hunter-curious-cat/

“Dr. #Deming ’s personal aim was to advance commerce, prosperity and peace.” I also mentioned that I have seen software developers, more than any other group, seek out the original source of management ideas...

#Management #Leadership #Data

"Too often I see simplistic thinking used to accept that the results were good so what we did was wise or the results were bad so what we did was unwise. Sometimes those conclusions have merit. Sometimes they don’t. The results matter but understanding the nature of those results is important..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2017/05/30/new-lessons-on-competition-from-mother-nature/

#Management #Leadership #critical_thinking #systems_thinking

USA EPA plans to ignore science, stop regulating greenhouse gases

"Largest deregulatory action" in the history of US would be one of the unhealthiest.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/07/epa-plans-to-ignore-science-stop-regulating-greenhouse-gases/

The USA keeps harming the health of its citizens, increasing the costs people must pay for healthcare and increasing costs (such as high homeowners insurance costs) due to #climate_change (caused by human actions, such as this extremely foolish policy).

#healthcare_system #Government

"What you want is not just to fix the bugs software testers catch but figure out the reasons those bugs were created and improve you process so you create fewer bugs in the future."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2016/05/09/software-testing-and-the-impact-on-quality/

#Management #SoftwareDevelopment #software_testing #organization_as_a_system

Part 3, Improve the System of Quality is a Journey to Excellence seminar by Bill Hunter

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2025/07/22/quality-is-a-journey-to-excellence-improving-the-system/

#Management #Deming #organization_as_a_system #respect_for_people #Leadership

"Using the tools is a necessary but not sufficient part of the process to improve.

What is needed is to use the tools with engaged people that are continually learning and adjusting the management system based on their increased understanding of the organization as a system..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2017/05/10/improvement-management-with-tools-and-knowledge/

#Management #Leadership #organization_as_a_system

"It is important to study choices customers make and learn from them. But being deceived by what their choices mean is easier than is usually appreciated.
...
It can be frustrating to be questioned about the evidence and reasoning behind the proposed actions you support. But you really should be in the habit of doing this to yourself before you make a decision..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2017/07/12/the-importance-of-critical-thinking-and-challenging-assumptions/

#Management #Leadership #critical_thinking

“Toyama’s research reminds us that there are few one-size-fits-all solutions. If technology is going to improve the lives of the world’s poorest, it must be grounded in a deep understanding of human behavior and an appreciation for cultural differences.”

— Bill Gates

https://deming.org/creating-technology-solutions-that-are-appropriate-given-the-system-context/

#appropriate_technology #systems_thinking

Permaculture Instructor Andrew Millison visits a site in Oregon that has installed an series of built ponds that have renewed the water supply in a dry valley. Thinking systemically to use the water falling from the sky to enrich land (instead of just quick runoff wasting all the water).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ3DUI7NvNk

#Science #engineering #systems_thinking

"Good process improvement practices include:

- standardized improvement process (pdsa, or whatever)

- Going to the gemba – improvement is done where the work is done. You must go to the where the action is. Sitting in meeting rooms, or offices, reading reports and making decisions is not the way to improve effectively.

- evidence based decision making..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/11/08/good-process-improvement-practices/

#Management #process_improvement #continual_improvement #systems_thinking #Leadership

Ich freue mich sehr, dass ich mir Frl. Bernburgs Pensionat für junge Damen jetzt nochmal mit neuen Augen anschauen kann und dabei den Grusel der 1950er Jahre (und den Grusel moderner Business-Weiterbildung) betonen kann! 👻 🏫 📈

Danke auch an @Rollenspielblog der mich fragte, ob es auch ein Fräulein-Bernburgs-Mysterium geben wird, wenn es auch eins gibt, das in Brindlewood Bay spielt - war eine sehr gute Initialzündung!

https://www.gameontabletop.com/cf5121/paranormal-inc.html#item-updates-75651

#pnpde #FrlBernburgs #ParanormalInc

"Having a group of internal experts in #Deming lean thinking, six sigma, etc. can be an good way to help the organization transform but they must
1) practice respect for people and
2) focus on building organizational capacity..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/11/03/management-improvement-internal-experts/

#Management #Leadership #organization_as_a_system

"In Clayton Christensen’s book, Competing Against Luck, the authors delve into the importance of gaining a deep understanding of what your customers desire. The book lays out a Theory of Jobs to be Done in a very compelling way. This is a great example of extending #Deming ’s ideas with a great deal of useful content on how to effectively become more customer focused."

https://deming.org/jobs-to-be-done/

#Management #customer_focus #CustomerCentricity #Leadership

"To be effective you need to learn to think about not what is printed on the page but what lies behind the numbers you see. The numbers are just proxies for the real situation."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/05/09/understanding-data/

#data #Leadership #Management #critical_thinking

Heute Abend spiele ich bei 3P das erste Mal live im Stream eine Runde #Catcrawl - unser neues Spiel zu den #Gratisrollenspieltagen!

Um 20:00 Uhr gehts los - seid ihr im Chat dabei, wenn wir reihum als Katze unser neues Zuhause erkunden?

https://www.twitch.tv/drei_pe

#GRT #Gratisrollenspieltag #pnpde

"Mistake proofing in no way should limit focusing on improving the process. #mistake_proofing a process both improves it (many poka-yoke solutions make the process easier to use) and prevents an error in case you still try something wrong. So I see the automated tests as a way to serve as a backstop, in case the process improvement you made to the #softwaredevelopment process failed in some form."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/05/19/mistake-proofing-deployment-of-software-code/

#Management #organization_as_a_system

"give them enough rope and well designed systems that give them freedom, but also use rope to provide support. You can use rope to help people get themselves to new heights, not just to hang themselves. And you can use rope to give people freedom but also safety.

You want systems that let people take on challenges without too many restrictions but with enough support and training that you don't leave them hanging..."

https://evop.blogspot.com/2013/06/give-people-enough-rope-and-right-rope.html

#Management #Leadership #systems_thinking

"It is a shame so many think lean is equal to “reducing staff.” Lean is about removing waste. Removing waste might mean that fewer people are needed but no real #lean_thinking organization aims to reduce staff..."

It is true most organization don't think systemically or respect people. Some of those companies may use the term "lean" but that is not what they are doing.

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/05/05/lean-thinking-misconception/

#Management #Leadership #respect_for_people

"If you have customers that see you as adequate you will keep customers based on inertia.

But you have several big problems awaiting you. Those trying to win your customers business only have to overcome inertia – which can be very low hurdle..."

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/07/26/delighting-customers/

#Management #Leadership #customer_focus #CustomerCentricity

...The reason the blaming a person is a bad idea is that your organization will improve much more effectively if you keep asking why.

Why did they make that error? Why did the process let them make that error? When you follow the why chain a couple more steps you can find root causes that will allow you to find a much more effective solution...

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/05/03/find-the-root-cause-instead-of-the-person-to-blame/

#Management #Leadership #blame #systems_thinking

#ClimateChange is driving increasing non-renewal rates in the USA for homeowners insurance.

https://www.budget.senate.gov/chairman/newsroom/press/new-data-reveal-climate-change-driven-insurance-crisis-is-spreading

#personal_finance

Interruptions can severely degrade your performance. The type of work you are doing impacts the cost greatly. I have spent some of my time programming web applications. When I am doing that interruptions are a huge drain on my performance (for me the costs of interruptions while programming are far higher than any other type of work I have done – many times higher). If the interruption disrupts my flow...

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/05/12/interruptions-can-severely-damage-performance/

#management #psychology #systems_thinking

Heute Abend gibt es Halloween im Mädchenpensionat - denn @Bratapfel bietet bei 3P im Stream eine Runde Fräulein Bernburgs Pensionat für junge Damen an, mit ihrer herbstlichen Halloween-Erweiterung "Die Angst geht um in Fräulein Bernburgs Pensionat"!

Freue mich schon sehr aufs Zuschauen! Um 20 Uhr geht's los!

https://www.twitch.tv/drei_pe #pnpde #FrlBernburgs

Using data to understand the system and validate our theories and successful improvements is an important part #managing well. In some cases it is fairly easy to understand and collect #data that provides a clear and accurate measure of what we care about. But getting data that helps can also be very challenging...

https://deming.org/understanding-data-is-often-challenging/

#Management

Gefällt euch "Gegen das Monster"? Mögt ihr "Follow"? Seid ihr Fans von originär deutschsprachigen Rollenspiel-Erweiterungen wie "Die Angst geht um in Fräulein Bernburgs Pensionat" oder "Neue Questen für Follow"? Findet ihr, dass Verlage wie @plotbunnygames Anerkennung verdient haben?

Dann schnell zum Goldenen Stephan und bis heute um 23:59 Uhr abstimmen! Ihr habt 1 Stimme pro Kategorie und es zählt wirklich jede Stimme! https://goldenerstephan.de/abstimmung/

#pnpde #GegenDasMonster #FollowRPG #FrlBernburgs

Combinatorial Testing – The Quadrant of Massive Efficiency Gains

Creating software test to test complex software with many factors that interact in ways that create bugs is quite challenging. But there are tools that are extremely useful.

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/05/17/combinatorial-testing-the-quadrant-of-massive-efficiency-gains/

#softwaredevelopment #software_testing

I have been spending my time and energy on the Curious Cat Management Improvement Institute recently.

The Curious Cat Management Improvement Institute is dedicated to furthering the education, professional growth and development of current and future managers and the practice of management in organizations.

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2024/09/24/curious-cat-management-improvement-institute/

Please let me know if you have suggestions, comments or questions.

#management #respect_for_people #customer_focus #continual_improvement