Home »
Blog » Improvement Insights
Improvement Insights Blog
Latest "Improvement Insights" Posts
Don’t try and invent new data. There’s a lot of data out there you can use right now, today, to make an improvement. Here’s how:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“All too often, I see people try to follow DMAIC: “Well, we’re going to Define, and then we’ve got to go find some Measurements and spin up some measurements…”
“I’m telling you that every company in this world is awash in data about how things work. There’s tons of data out there, okay? Go find data that exists about a problem that you have, and use the data that’s already there to solve [that problem] and improve that process.
Continue Reading "You Already Have All The Data You Need"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Much of Six Sigma is focused on quantitative data (numbers). But what about qualitative data (text)? How can you use it to improve?
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, most of Lean and Six Sigma is focused on quantitative data: numbers, things you can count, right? But there are qualitative data that we need to analyze. You need a little different toolkit for some of those things.
“For example, if you have a call center and reps are typing in comments from customers, that’s all words, right? How do we analyze words?
Continue Reading "Qualitative Data Analysis"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Some people lord their knowledge of Six Sigma and statistics over those who don’t have their depth of knowledge and that’s bad for the planet. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“One of the things I see out there in the world is people want to lord their knowledge of Lean and Six Sigma and statistics and whatever over those people who were unwashed and uneducated. That’s bad, right?
“We want to be an invitation; we want to get everybody doing it, right? Those people that do that, I call them ‘Stat Bastards’ because… what are they doing?
Continue Reading "Create a Safe Space for Lean Six Sigma"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Control charts have been around for 100 years. Why isn’t everyone using them?
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“I was at the American Society for Quality World Conference on Quality and Improvement and some guy came up to me and started wanting to argue with me about how you can’t use control charts for non-normal data. He was ranting about that… and by the way, Donald Wheeler has already answered that question: Yes you can; shut up. All right?
“But, you know, control charts have been around for 100 years.
Continue Reading "Control Charts are 100 years old"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
A restaurant refused to add two people to a reservation. What did our daughter Tina say? What can you learn from this?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“Our daughter Tina… one of our granddaughters graduated from college at DU and Tina had scheduled a lunch at a local restaurant, but she needed to add two people. She’d [made the reservation] online; she called in and said, “I’d like to add two people.” They said, “We can’t do that.” She said “What?” “We can’t do that because you made it online so we can’t adjust it here.”
Continue Reading "You’re Dead to Me"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
In college, I spent four years studying Systems Engineering. The methods and tools of quality improvement are what I use instead. Here’s why:
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“When I went to college I studied systems engineering, which is the mathematical optimization of systems, operations research (things of that nature), which is for solving very complicated problems like transportation or whatever. It wasn’t until I got into Quality Improvement, where I found a simplified set of tools that I could use in everyday life, that I really started to figure out how best to start to simplify, streamline and optimize systems: Better, faster, cheaper; free, perfect and now.
Continue Reading "You Can Use the Methods and Tools of Quality Improvement Anywhere"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Learning Lean Six Sigma is slow and often confusing. How do you overcome the frustration barrier?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified,” “Agile Process Innovation” and QI Macros [software].
“In the book “The First 20 Hours” Josh Kaufman talks about how in any learning thing there’s a frustration barrier, and it can take 20 hours to break through that frustration barrier.
“I see that very often in Lean and Six Sigma where you’re learning this stuff and then starting to apply it. There’s a frustration, right? Learning how to use some tools, there’s a frustration barrier.
Continue Reading "Overcoming the Frustration Barrier"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
My local Taco Bell uses one-piece flow, but is it working for customers?
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, in Lean we talk about the idea of “One Piece Flow”: You have one thing and it gets all the way through the process. I noticed this in action at my local Taco Bell, and I think it may not be the best way to go about it.
“When you come in, if you place an order at the drive-through window, if there’s somebody in front of you they fill that order before they take your order.
Continue Reading "Taco Bell One-Piece Flow"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
The book, The Lean Startup, explains how to startup a business, but what then? How do you stay up?
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“Years ago there was a book that came out about the “Lean Startup,” or how to start up a business using kind of a Lean principle. You know, bootstrapping everything.
“I want you to think about the idea of a “Lean Stay Up.” Once you’ve started a business and it’s going, you’re going to need to Lean the thing out. You need to simplify, streamline, optimize the whole thing to stay up, right?
Continue Reading "The Lean Stay Up"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Should you implement Six Sigma top down or middle out? HBR says:
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“If you know anything about Six Sigma, everybody’s always talking about “top-down” and… you know… blah blah blah blah blah… But there was a very interesting article in a recent issue of Harvard Business Review and it found some interesting things: “Only 12% of major change efforts produce lasting results…” … produce lasting results. I’ve seen a lot of data here and there, but most Six Sigma programs do not survive more than about three years.
Continue Reading "Middle Out, not Top Down"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
