Improvement Insights Blog

Hand Tools or Power Tools? What will you use to maximize productivity and profitability with Six Sigma?

“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].

“Now, out there in the world there are things called force multipliers. If you think about it, if you’ve ever done a little improvement project, would you rather use a handsaw or a power saw, right? Would you rather use a screwdriver or would you rather use a little power drill, right? These are the kinds of things that make life easy and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get them, right?

“Would you rather use a hand calculator or Microsoft Excel? Would you rather use long hand arithmetic or something like the QI Macros, which will automate all of the all of the documentation, all the charts and graphs? The Improvement Project Wizard will go build entire improvement projects for you in seconds. Are you going to let the force multiplier help you improve things wicked fast? Wicked fast.

“So would you rather use a shovel or a steam shovel, right? These are the kinds of things that I want you to think about. Would you rather use a post-hole digger or some sort of auger that goes down into the ground? Those are force multipliers, and I think all too often we don’t spend a few bucks to buy the force multiplier we need. I’ll tell you, I have lots of power tools and I love them. I don’t use them a lot, but when I do use them… oh my gosh, they make my life so easy.

“So that’s my Improvement Insight for this week: What force multiplier do you need to start making dramatic improvements? Let’s create a hassle free America, hassle free healthcare. Let’s go out and improve something this week.”