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Latest "Improvement Insights" Posts
The answer to almost any question about Lean Six Sigma methods and tools can be found on the internet. When you learn how to use Google or Bing search, you can cut the time to do almost anything. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“One of the things I think everybody should do is learn how to use Google to look stuff up. It may take you a little time to start to learn how to string words and phrases together; if you just start typing in your menu bar, Google will start feeding you things that you might want to choose that are things other people have already asked for, so you don’t have to know everything to do anything anymore, right?
Continue Reading "Learn To Use Google To Look Stuff Up"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
The best approach I’ve found to ongoing improvement and innovation. Use SSOI-the Agile Process Innovation methodology.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Agile Process Innovation: Hacking Lean And Six Sigma For Maximum Results.”
“Now in here I describe my process and I’ll call it “soy”: S.S.O.I. which stands for “Simplify, Streamline, Optimize and Innovate.”
“Now to Simplify, what do we use: 5S. Go clean all the debris and stuff that’s collected over the years and get all that junk out of the way.
“After we Simplify, we Streamline, so we use Value Stream Maps and Spaghetti Diagrams to figure out how to simplify flows, connect them better so we get rid of all the delays that are slowing us down and slowing down customers and making them unhappy, right?
Continue Reading "SSOI – Simplify, Streamline, Optimize and Innovate"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights.
Jack Welch made Six Sigma big. Now it’s fading. How can we bring the sparkle back to Six Sigma?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“When I got started in my business back in the late 90s, Jack Welch was the CEO to copy. When he got dipped in Six Sigma, guess what? Every other CEO wanted to get dipped in Six Sigma too. This is what I call the Jack Welch Effect.
“Since then, Jack retired and [CEO] went over to [Jeff] Immelt and some other people, and now GE has fallen into some disarray, (not necessarily because of Six Sigma, I think because they let go of some of that), but other forces in the world were pushing them.
Continue Reading "The Jack Welch Effect"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Six Sigma.
People think you have to know statistics to do Statistical Process Control (SPC). Not true, here’s why.
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“I’ve noticed that whenever I say the phrase “Statistical Process Control,” people start to freak out. It’s unnecessary because guess what? You don’t need to know statistics to do Statistical Process Control.
“Shewhart was a statistician, he figured out how to calculate the variances and… how to calculate the upper and lower control limits and what that all means. Then Nelson expanded all of that stuff, so the statisticians did the statistical part.
Continue Reading "You Don’t Need to Know Statistics to Do Statistical Process Control"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, QI Macros.
The nightly news reports unemployment statistics, not employment statistics. There’s a lesson here for Six Sigma.
“Have you ever noticed that when the nightly news comes on they always report unemployment rates, not employment rates? “The unemployment rate is five or six percent,” they don’t say “94 or 95 percent of America is employed.” No, they focus on the problem: the problem is the unemployment rate.
“Well, this holds true also in all things Quality related. Once when I was first being trained they said, “Once you get above 80 percent compliance, what you want to do is focus on the 20 percent non-compliance,” so you want to focus on the defects, the mistakes, the errors, the waste, the rework.
Continue Reading "Unemployment Rate Lessons for Six Sigma"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Six Sigma.
Medical doctors (M.D.) help people heal. In Lean Six Sigma, we help companies heal. Be a Process Doctor(P.D.).
“Medical doctors diagnose and then treat patients. I think of myself as a Process Doctor: a P.D.; not an M.D., a P.D. I work with companies and I try and figure out why their systems are not working the way they ought to and remove blockages to speed things up. You know, get the electrical systems working better. It’s the same idea. So I think you and I are all Process Doctors.
“Now, I think the metaphor about this is great because we’re in the helping profession and we help things get better and stay better; stay healthy, just like a medical doctor.
Continue Reading "Be A Process Doctor"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Statistics.
My apple tree had hundreds of apples this year. I invited people to pick some and leave some. Soon, all of the low-hanging fruit was picked, but there were still hundreds of apples in the tree. Maybe you need a fruit picker to get to the rest of the fruit in your company.
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“We have an apple tree in our front yard (I think it’s Jonathan apples), and this year in an unusual fit of luck, we got a giant crop. I bet we had a thousand apples on that tree.
Continue Reading "My Apple Tree Reminded Me About Low-Hanging Fruit"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Improvement Insights, QI Macros, Six Sigma.
After weeks of Six Sigma Green or Black Belt training, many people are still confused about what to do and where to start. These people tell me: “Jay, I read your Lean Six Sigma Demystified or Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals book and it clarified Six Sigma. I felt like I finally knew what to do.”
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of Lean Six Sigma Demystified and Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals
“Over the last decade, I’ve been at conferences and talking to people on the phone, and they say, “Jay, I got my Green Belt training and my Black Belt training (or whatever it was), and I was still confused until I read your Demystified book.”
Continue Reading "Books to Simplify and Clarify Lean Six Sigma"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
Programmers often think they need to rewrite software systems to fix the problems in an existing system. This is the wrong approach. You can tune up an existing system with a lot less effort using the 4-50 Rule.
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified,” “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software]. I spent most of my life working in IT, from mainframe systems to minicomputer systems to microcomputer systems, which led me into the QI Macros. I’ve worked with software my entire life, and there’s something I’d like you to get an idea about.
Continue Reading "Applying the 4-50 Rule to Software"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Six Sigma.
People are error prone. If you want to lock in improvements, use your existing technology to mistake-proof the change. Here’s how:
“I was working with one group of folks in a hospital, and they were complaining about the fact that the doctors were doing these electronic medical records, but they couldn’t get them to complete all the forms and all the fields that were needed to be able to bill the insurance company for the services provided. I was listening to them talk, and they were talking about how they were going to try and train the doctors to do all these things and do all this stuff, and I said, “Wait.
Continue Reading "Use Technology to Lock In Quality Improvements"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, QI Macros.
