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Latest "Improvement Insights" Posts
Someone recently asked: “What kind of data should I use for control charts and Pareto charts.” The answer is simple. Here it is:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“I got a call from someone last week who was talking about how they’ve been a longtime user of QI Macros, and then how educated they were… and then they asked me, “Uh, Jay… I’m not quite sure how to set up… what kind of data should I use for a control chart, and what kind of data should I use for a Pareto chart?”
Continue Reading "What Kind of Data Should I Use?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
The May-June issue of Harvard Business Review reported that leaders need to take a scientific approach to decision-making. Here’s how Six Sigma can help:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“I was looking through the May/June 2022 issue of Harvard Business Review, and I know this will come as a shock to you, but there’s a whole article in here about how many leaders overuse gut instinct and that they should use a scientific approach to making decisions. Right? They should learn how to use data and testable hypotheses to come up with solutions.
Continue Reading "Use a Scientific Approach To Making Decisions"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
At a recent ASQ Webinar on Agile Lean Six Sigma, someone asked what I thought the number one soft skill would be for quality improvement professionals. Here’s my answer:
“I was doing an Agile Lean Six Sigma workshop for one of the ASQ sections, and in the question and answer part somebody [asked], “What do you think is the number one soft ‘people skill’ that change management agents need?” I thought about it for a second; I thought, “Well, listening.” Listening. You have to learn how to listen to what your people are saying.
“I remember I went to the first hospital that I ever worked with, and they said, “We have a problem with nosocomial infections.”
Continue Reading "Number One Soft Skill for Quality Improvement"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
When asked how he tackled writing books, Twain replied with his simple secret to success. Here’s how it applies to quality improvement:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“Mark Twain said the secret to being successful is to get started, and to get started you have to take your huge, potentially impossibly unmanageable thing – a project – and break it down into smaller chunks, and then you start on the first one. You just chunk it down, start on the first one and work your way through.
Continue Reading "Quality Improvement Insight from Mark Twain"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
When I got my first dog, Tai, I had to let him in and out until I discovered dog doors. Here’s how that lesson applies to quality improvement:
“A few years after I got my first house, I got a dog. He was the cutest little mixed breed rescue. His name was Tai, and it was a fun time, but I realized that whenever that dog had to go out I had to open the door and let him out to the back yard. Then when he wanted to come back in, I had to open the door and let him back in.
Continue Reading "Lessons from My First Dog Door"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
When I bought my first house, it didn’t have a garage door opener. I thought I couldn’t afford one. I was wrong. Here’s how that applies to quality improvement:
“Back in 1978, I bought my first house; it was a three bedroom, one and three quarter bath ranch with a two car attached garage. I’d spent most of my money on the down payment, but then I had a few more dollars so I got a refrigerator and a washer and dryer. Unfortunately, my garage did not have a garage door opener [and] I didn’t have the money to go get one, so I just started coming in.
Continue Reading "Garage Door Insight"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Consultants spend a lot of time teaching people how to create run charts. This assumes you’re starting up a new measurement from scratch. Not true. There’s more than enough data laying around to use with control charts which tell you so much more about performance. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“When I attend some of these meetings, people spend a lot of time trying to teach run charts. “Well, when you have fewer than 15 data points, use a run chart.” Well, I want to suggest to you if you don’t have 15 data points, go find some data that does, all right?
Continue Reading "Run from Run Charts to Control Charts"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Six Sigma.
Ever wondered why it’s so hard to propagate improvements from one group to the next? Here’s why and what to do about it:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“I was recently at one of the IHI presentations at their conference and they mentioned… “How long does it take for medicine to adopt a new practice?” On average it’s 17 years… 17 years. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? I think penicillin was 25 years, and some of the other things… but 17 years?
“They say, “Well, you know, we haven’t peer reviewed that, so we have to peer review it so we can confirm that your hypothesis is correct and that we can actually…” Right?
Continue Reading "How to Ensure the Adoption of Countermeasures"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
Thrillers and detective novels always have two villains – -the bad guy and the internal bureaucracy. As a Quality Improvement hero, you will face the same problem. Here’s why and what to do about it:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“I’ll admit it: I like to read thriller novels. I do, right? I just find them terrific… or detective mystery novels. Invariably the good guy has to go combat some bad actor somewhere. It could be the murderer, it could be a terrorist, it could be whatever it is, but the good guy almost invariably also has to fight the bureaucracy of his police department, the CIA, the FBI, the… whatever the heck it is, right?
Continue Reading "Thriller Novel Insights for Improvement"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
Some people think that Quality Management is an all or nothing event. Not true. Here’s why and how:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“Very often, people talk about creating a quality management system, but it’s as if you can create one from whole cloth. No, you can’t, right? Very often, most of your organization does not need full-blown quality management yet. I always say “start with the worst first,” and there’s a lot of research; Diffusion Of Innovations suggests that four percent of your business (or four steps out of 100, one step out of 25) is causing most of the mistakes, errors, waste, rework, lost profit, patient harm, whatever it is, right?
Continue Reading "Creating a Quality Management System Piece by Piece"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
