article-one:
Pop Goes the Quiz Weasel
Thanks to all who entered the quiz.
Answers appear here.
Below are two lists consisting of names, terms and other
things relating to product development. For each item in list 1, find it’s "most
appropriate" match in list 2. Each item can only be matched to one other item. The
first person to email the most correct answers to me (gregg@roundtable.com) by December 14th will win a
free copy of MRT's "Product
Development Metrics Handbook".
Hint: Most (but not all) of the
answers can be derived from past issues of this
newsletter :
Match each item in LIST ONE to it's
most appropriate partner in LIST TWO
| LIST ONE |
LIST TWO |
| 1. Taichi Ohno |
a. Statistical Process Control |
| 2. Six Sigma |
b. Charlie Fine |
| 3. Kaikaku |
c. QFD |
| 4. The Goal |
d. Revolutionary Improvement |
| 5. Clayton Christensen |
e. R&D Effectiveness |
| 6. PDM |
f. JIT II |
| 7. Fruitflies |
g. Herbie the Boy Scout |
| 8. Balanced Scorecard |
h. Toyota Production System |
| 9. W.E. Deming |
i. Rapid Prototyping |
| 10. Kano Analysis |
j. Kanban System |
| 11. Don Reinertsen |
k. Critical Chain |
| 12. Project Buffer |
l. Robert Kaplan |
| 13. DFMA |
m. Snap-Fit Assembly |
| 14. Selective Laser Sintering |
n. Lead Users |
| 15. CYSDTPRITPNY |
o. Queueing Theory |
| 16. Eric von Hippel |
p. Black Belt |
| 17. Product Architecture |
q. Fuzzy Front End |
| 18. Co-Location |
r. Design Structure Matrix |
| 19. House of Quality |
s. Moore’s Law |
| 20. Inventory |
t. Metaphase |
Answers to this quiz will be published in
next month’s issue of The Critical Path. In the event of a tie-score, the winner
will be randomly selected from all high score submissions. Anyone who submits a perfect
score will receive a special prize. Performance on this quiz has been scientifically
proven to indicate absolutely nothing at all about the subject's knowledge or intelligence
at an unprecedented level of accuracy.
We
share reader reactions to TCP articles on our website.
Please send any feedback to gregg@roundtable.com
article-two:
On the Web: Two Thumbs Up!
Some readers have told me that they think I have a
bias against Apple Computer and the iMac, telling me that I overly pick on them in
editorials and top ten lists. While methinks they dost protest too much, the only thing I
do freely admit to is taking advantage of easy targets for otherwise scarce comic
material. In truth, like many others, early in my PC life I was weaned on the Macintosh,
and have spent considerable hours on a Mac+ and MacSE, back when 4 meg of RAM was a
powerful machine. Sadly playing right into the Microsoft strategy, I converted to PC
literacy because no prospective employers provided Macs unless you were an administrative
assistant.
Where am I going with all of this? Well, to provide some "equal
time," this month we share with you some very unflattering quicktime videos of
certain Microsoft Sr. Executives caught in, well, somewhat embarrassing situations. Click
the titles below to view the movies:
Video #1: "Dance,
Monkey Boy, Dance!" Starring Steve Ballmer
Video #2: "Blue
Screen of Death" starring Bill Gates
Look at these mini-movies, and then be amazed that we
all made these folks billionaires. Steve Ballmer - business genius or lottery winner? You
decide.
Know a website we should review? Send the
url to gregg@roundtable.com
Interested in sponsoring this newsletter?
For a list of terms and rates, send an e-mail to gregg@roundtable.com or
click here.
article-three:
Top Ten 2001 Product Development Christmas
Carols
...from the MRT satellite office in Bethleham
(...as sung by Mr. Burl Ives)
| 10. |
Finance
Roasting Over an Unpaid Invoice |
9. |
God Rest Ye
Furloughed Engineers |
8. |
Have Yourself a
Stress-Free On-Time Launch Date |
| 7. |
O Fix All Ye
Defects |
| 6. |
I Saw Mommy
Kissing Supplier Reps |
| 5. |
Deck the
Auctions with Chairs of Aeron |
| 4. |
We Wish You a
Measurable Process |
| 3. |
Six Sigma
Quality’s Coming to Town |
| 2. |
Frosty the
Sales Forecast |
...and the No. 1
product development Christmas carol: |
| 1. |
Rudolph
the Brown Nose Yes Man |
Send
me your Top Ten List suggestions - gregg@roundtable.com
article-four:
MRT News - Metrics Handbook Now Available
The Metrics Handbook was produced in conjunction with MRT's
sixth annual conference on product development and R&D metrics. With the subtitle of "What
Every Manager Needs to Know About Measuring Product Development", the
handbook is compiled from the best metrics content previously published in our newsletter,
the Product Development Best Practices Report.
The handbook contains tremendous wisdom, advice and real-world case examples of how to
implement successful metrics and performance measurement systems. Here are just a few
excerpts:
"Metrics alone are useless. A metric is a
piece of a control system. The selection of a metric is a crucial decision in the design
of such a system."
"...we expect to see a shift in product
development metrics from measuring 'what happened?' to predicting what 'will
happen.'"
"Metrics are now taking their place
alongside other actively pursued topics such as VOC, Product Definition, and Teams, to
name a few."
"We use measurement to help the business
decision making process, not to perform it."
Additional handbook excerpts, table of contents and order
form can be reviewed here.
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A D M I N I S T R I V I A
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Gregg Tong
Management Roundtable, Inc.
92 Crescent Street, Waltham, MA 02453 USA
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Gregg@roundtable.com
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