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Defects, Mistakes and Errors

At the Institute for Healthcare Improvement conference in Orlando last December, one of the presentations covered the application of the Toyota Production System (TPS) to a hospital. The presenter opened by saying that healthcare, in general, was a "poor quality product that cost too much for the value delivered." I was immediately struck by the guts it took to make that statement. The presenter went on to repeat that thought many times throughout the presentation. I doubt that many people caught it.

The reason for his comments? The 1999 study that found that as many as 100,000 people a year die due to preventable medical mistakes in American hospitals.

One of the biggest challenges to Lean Six Sigma is not the use of the methods or tools, but creating a mindset that loves to find and fix defects and delays. Not everyone thinks of these issues under the banner that I call defects and delays. So I got into the Synonym Finder to look for other words that mean the same thing. It's amazing how many words exist in the English language to describe mistakes and errors. Here are just a few:

blemish	fallacy	misprint
blooper	false step	misstep
blot stain	fault	mistake
blotch	faulty	muff
blunder	flaw	off the beam
bobble	flub	omission
boner	foul-up	oversight
boo-boo	fumble	rough spots
botch	goof	scare deformity
breach	human error	scratch
bugs	illogical	screw-up
bungle	imperfection	shortage
clinker	imprecise	shortcoming
clunker	inaccuracy	slip-up
cockeyed	inadequacy	snafu
crack	incomplete	snags
defect	incorrect	spot
deficiency	inexact	tear
drawback	kinks	trip
error	leak	unsound
failing	louse-up	weak point
failure	miscue	weakness

If you continue and look at words that describe how people make these mistakes, you'll find another group of words dedicated to describing the activities that lead to poor quality products and services.

misapply	misdoing	mismanage
misapprehend	misestimation	mismatch
miscalculation	misguided	misplace
misconceive	mishap	misreading
misconception	misidentification	misreckon
misconstruction	misinterpretation	misspend
misconstrue	misjudgment	misstep
miscount	mislay	mistaken
misdirected	mislead	misunderstanding
		misuse

Here's my point:
Until you're willing to stop congratulating yourself for what's working and start looking at the misses, mistakes, errors, omissions, defects and delay that are irritating customers, demotivating employees, and devouring your profit margins, all of the Lean Six Sigma methods and tools will not help you.

Once you view every mistake as an opportunity to mistake-proof and improve the delivery of your product or service, you'll get hooked on Lean Six Sigma. Until then, the methods and tools will just be another burden in an already crisis-managed world.