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At the Colorado Lean Network (CLN) Conference, Children’s Hospital put up seven outstanding improvement project posters. They all used control charts, histograms and the tools of quality to tell the story. There were more control charts on those seven posters than in the 100s at last years IHI–Institute for Healthcare Improvement conference.
Some exemplar hospitals are using the tools of quality to improve healthcare. Most are not. It’s time to stop admiring the problem. Start using the tools of quality to save time, save money and save lives.
Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation – Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
Continue Reading "Outstanding Improvement Posters at Colorado Lean Network Conference"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.
Employees often try to make do with whatever they have instead of asking for the tools the need. Here’s what to do about 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].
” One of my employees was having trouble with her computer, but for some reason she was afraid to ask, and she kept trying to fiddle with it, to figure out whatever was going wrong. And she drug one of our other employees who’s more technical in on it… and I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’
Continue Reading "Ask for the Tools You Need to Do Quality Improvement"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
People are often confused about the difference between variable and attribute data. Here’s a simple way to tell which is which:
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].
“Over the years, I’ve found one of the things people get confused about is what’s ‘variable’ and what’s ‘attribute.’ Those words, for some reason, strike terror in the hearts of newbies, so I’m going to give you my short way of figuring this out: It has to do with decimals and integers.
Continue Reading "Confusion about Variable and Attribute Data"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Feel like you’re working in a Soul-Sucking Job? Here’s what to do about it:
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].
“My wife and I were talking, and a lot of people talk about how they don’t want to work in a soul-sucking job… a soul-sucking job. And I will tell you, the only soul-sucking jobs I ever had were working for a manager that I just couldn’t get along with, or I was being forced to do something, that was contrary to serving the customer I was supposed to be serving.
Continue Reading "The Antidote to a Soul-Sucking Job"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
The time and effort we spend on something seems to make us value it more. But what if there’s an easier way? It applies to Six Sigma more than you might think.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, we celebrate Labor Day, and it’s all about workers. I was reading a book called ‘The Friction Project,’ which was recommended by a friend; [in that book] they talk about ‘the Ikea effect.’ If you know anything about Ikea, you go in, you shop around, you look for something, you see a nice bed… well, you buy a kit and then you assemble it.
Continue Reading "The IKEA Effect"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
All too often companies waste too much money, time and resources on waste and rework. Maybe it’s time to whittle it down.
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].
“When I was a kid, my mom and I went back to visit her mom and dad, my grandma and grandpa in Fairborn, Ohio, right outside of Dayton. My grandpa would sit on the front porch, and he would take twigs, and he would just sit there and whittle those twigs down.
Continue Reading "The Essence of Waste and Rework"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Ever used a microwave? Easy, isn’t it? Six Sigma should work the same way. 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 grew up in the 50s and 60s, and if my mom wanted to reheat leftovers she had to turn on the oven, put the food in the in the oven and wait 15-20 minutes for it to come up to temperature. I don’t know about you, but I use a microwave; I use it almost every day.
Continue Reading "Six Sigma as Easy as Using a Microwave"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
In Seoul, South Korea, I realized I was born during the Korean war. WWII affected my life. Having been to the sites of major attacks, there are lessons to be learned. Here are my thoughts.
“Well hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“I’m here in Seoul, South Korea. We just finished up a cruise of Japan, which was very interesting. I realized my wife and I were both born in 1951, which was right in the middle of the Korean War. That was 70-plus years ago. I think because we were born 6 years after World War II, it was very impactful for me, anyway; I don’t know about my wife.
Continue Reading "Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80th Anniversary"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
You don’t always need to do a big Lean Six Sigma project. Maybe it’s enough to make things faster and easier, but in some cases, slower and harder. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“A friend of mine recommended this book called “The Friction Project,” and they talk about how in companies… Arthur’s Law [applies]: ‘The unexamined process gets even slower, [more] sluggish, more error-prone with time.’ They talk about the idea of becoming a friction fixer.
“Now, this isn’t like the deep nested stuff that we would think about in Lean Six Sigma, but it’s how we think about every day; every day when we’re working with someone.
Continue Reading "Become a Friction Fixer"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Arthur’s Law: The unexamined process becomes increasingly sluggish and error-prone.
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 want to introduce you to what I call ‘Arthur’s Law.’ That’s my law, which is ‘The unexamined process becomes increasingly sluggish and error-prone.’
“Things don’t just stay [static], they just get more sluggish and more error-prone. People add more workarounds, and the workarounds cause more defects and mistakes and errors and waste and rework and lost profit and patient harm and whatever it is.
Continue Reading "Arthur’s Law of Process Improvement"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
