Home »
Blog
Improvement Insights Blog
Latest Posts
Quality management systems have lots of forms. Don’t complain, just do it.
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“When I was at US West (the phone company), it seemed like every week, somebody would come up with some new standardized form that we had to fill out to get something done. Everybody else would bitch and moan about it, and I would just go grind my way through it, and fill it out and be done with it.
Continue Reading "Just Fill Out Those Forms"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Over 20 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to teach Lean Six Sigma in one day and generate results, while also answering questions asked by attendees.
Jay Arthur is the author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” which is now in its 2nd edition.
You can learn more about Jay’s Agile Lean Six Sigma Trainer Training by clicking HERE.
If you’re interested in learning more about Jay’s ideas on Agile Lean Six Sigma, you can download a free brief summary of Jay’s ideas in his “Agile Lean Six Sigma Manifesto,” available at THIS link.
Continue Reading "5/28/26 Agile Lean Six Sigma Webinar"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Webinar.
A recent issue of Harvard Business Review had an article about what makes a CEO a top performer. This trait is key to quality improvement and Six Sigma.
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation – Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“I was reading the November / December 2025 issue of Harvard Business Review, and it talks about top performing CEOs. They have people in here like Jeff Bezos from Amazon, Toyota of course, and some other companies as well.
Continue Reading "Top Performing CEOs Share This Trait"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
10-15 people out of 100 are misdiagnosed leading to waste, rework and patient harm. It’s a mistake to say “To Err is Human.” Blame the System, not the person. Here’s why:
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation – Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“I was recently at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement conference, and I went to a session where they talked about diagnostic error. It turns out that 10 to 15 people out of every hundred are misdiagnosed, which means they are treated with the wrong stuff and they don’t get better and they might have other complications from the treatment.
Continue Reading "Diagnostic Error – Blame the System"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Over 80 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating some of the software’s most frequently used tools and answering questions asked by attendees.
If you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the Improvement Project Wizard or the automated Process Change Wizard), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version.
Send an email to support@qimacros.com and we can help, for instance in generating a quote to upgrade all the users at your organization or just guiding you through the purchasing process.
Continue Reading "*Latest webinar: 5/14/26 QI Macros webinar"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.
Over 70 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to implement Healthcare Data Analytics to save time, save money, and (most importantly) save lives.
Books that Jay may have mentioned in the video:
You can view a short two-page illustrated guide to the Zero Harm – Trillion Dollar Prescription by clicking HERE.
Continue Reading "5/12/26 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Data Mining, Excel, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.
Is it possible to vaccinate your healthcare facility, your hospital against mistakes and errors that cause patient harm?
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, people resist getting vaccinations. But why do hospitals resist using Smart Performance Charts (control charts, Pareto charts, histograms) to start to improve the quality of care?
“You know, a control chart is like a heart monitor… you know, it measures the performance of the heart.
Continue Reading "Vaccinate Your Hospital Against Mistakes and Errors"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Seems like everywhere I shop, employees are more comfortable fixing stuff than fixing the process. Does this sound familiar?
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation – Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“Have you ever gone somewhere and watched how the business works and [thought], “Why? Why do they do it that way? That’s sort of silly. Why don’t they do it a faster, better, simpler, cheaper way?” But people seem to be more attracted to spending their time continuing to fix things that are broken.
Continue Reading "Are You Too Comfortable Fixing Stuff That Shouldn’t Be Broken?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Six Sigma can go wrong. An article I read suggested at least five limitations of Six Sigma.
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation – Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“I was reading an article that was published talking about the limitations of Six Sigma. It had a bunch, but here’s five that I thought stood out for me.
- High failure rate. That’s right. A lot of these implementations don’t work, and it puts a bad color on Six Sigma.
- The high cost of implementation.
Continue Reading "Five Limitations of Six Sigma"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Six Sigma dogma says you need Green and Black Belts, but you might be a lot better off with Yellow Belts. Here’s why:
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, there seems to be a lot of discussion in Six Sigma about whether you need Green Belts or Black Belts or Yellow Belts. I believe the correct answer is Yellow Belts.
“I just spoke with a company, a worldwide manufacturing company, and they train people.
Continue Reading "Yellow Belts or Green and Black Belts"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
