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Latest "Improvement Insights" Posts
Minimum Viable Training (MVT) is a quick way to implement Six Sigma. Here’s why:
“Well hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software]. I’m here at the beautiful Maui Kaanapali Villas on Kaanapali beach in Maui, and my friend and I are just kind of hanging out here.
“I had this fascinating thing happen: one of our users, Jiri, went out and got onto our website and did a mind map of all of the training that’s out there and I was kind of blown away by how much stuff is out there.
Continue Reading "Minimum Viable Training – MVT"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Most companies start their Six Sigma implementation by training a few Green and Black Belts. That works some of the time, but it’s the wrong way to go. Start with Yellow Belts. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, a lot of companies start up their [Quality Improvement program] and they go out and they train a Black Belt and a few Green Belts and try to get things going. Then like many companies, they discover that they’re not getting the results that they want.
Continue Reading "Would You Rather Have 100 Yellow Belts or 2-3 GBs or BBs?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
I’m lazy and that’s a good thing. It might be good for you too. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“I want to tell you: I’m lazy. I don’t want to spend any more time doing anything that I have to, right? When we started up, [the standard was] week-long trainings for teams. I eventually boiled that big binder down into about a 16-page handout (which I now use) and train people in in a day or less and get results. I wanted to collapse the curve between learning and implementation of results so that people got that hit of “This is what we can do quickly.”
Continue Reading "I’m Lazy and That’s a Good Thing"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
There’s a lot of acronyms in mental health. Here’s one for business. Do You Have APDF?
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“You know, we’ve heard people talk about ADD or ADHD… all these little acronyms for sickness. I think too many companies have APDF.
“APDF, which stands for Analysis Paralysis Decision Fatigue… Analysis Paralysis Decision Fatigue. They hesitate to look at their data and do anything, and then they get tired of trying to make decisions and they don’t make any progress.
“Does your company have APDF? I wish it was a better acronym, but Analysis Paralysis Decision Fatigue.
Continue Reading "Do You Have APDF?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Struggling to get a good Cp and Cpk? It might be your data. Here’s why:
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“We had a guy call in the other day and he was trying to determine the capability of his process. Unfortunately, he’d taken [measurements of] everything from his startup to his shutdown scrap and ran that as a capability study, and he wasn’t capable. I said, “Well, there you go…” But if you run a control chart of that, you can see the wiggly startup and the wiggly shutdown and then there’s this nice stable process in the middle.
Continue Reading "Capability Analysis Issues"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Are you still using last century tools in the 21st Century?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“When I was a kid growing up in in the 60s, my mom had this old wringer washing machine. Back in the day, there was a washing machine where you washed all your clothes and there was a wringer on top. You would take the clothes out and you’d feed it in the wringer, which would squish all the water out of it. There weren’t any electric dryers… I’m sorry. She would wring her washing and then she would go out and hang it on a clothes line where it would dry in the Tucson sun, and then she’d bring them in fold them and whatever.
Continue Reading "Mom’s Wringer Washing Machine"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Harvard Business Review (Jan 2025) argues for a renaissance, a rebirth of process management and quality improvement. Here’s why:
You might want to order reprints of these articles and forward them to your leadership. (HBR Reprint S25011)
Download my free eBook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.
“I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“In the most recent issue of Harvard Business Review (I think this is January 2025), shockingly enough, what did I discover? An article about Process Management! Oh my gosh!
“The closing argument in here from these folks is:
“It’s time for senior management to put process back on their radar screens and begin to sort out how to make it better in their departments.”
Continue Reading "Process Management Rises from the Ashes"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.
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.
