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Latest "Improvement Insights" Posts
Some people think humans will always make mistakes and there’s nothing we can do about it. I disagree. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and the QI Macros [software].
“Back in 1999, the Institute of Medicine published a book called ‘To Err is Human’ which showed that healthcare kills about a hundred thousand people a year unnecessarily. Since then, we’ve gotten better at measuring that, and it’s probably three to five times that much, give or take a few hundred thousand… But my thing about this was it presupposes that humans will make mistakes and that’s not preventable; not preventable.
Continue Reading "To Err is Human?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
Few people take the time to learn how to use even basic formulas in Excel. I even found data to prove it. How much more effective could you be if you learn a little bit more about Excel?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“Many years ago I went to an Excelapalooza conference. I know, ‘Excelapalooza’ sounds funky, doesn’t it? But it was interesting.
“We had one of the leaders of the Excel development team there and she was talking about all the new features and everything else that they’re plugging in, but she gave me some startling statistics.
Continue Reading "Do You Have A Love-Hate Relationship with Excel?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Excel, Improvement Insights.
I didn’t know I couldn’t see that well until 5th grade. I didn’t know I couldn’t see how businesses worked until I learned three key tools.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“I grew up in Tucson, Arizona and went to Peter E. Howell elementary, for those of you who might have gone there. I remember in classrooms from first grade on, they sorted us in alphabetical order. Well, my first [letter] is A, so I was always right in the front row. That continued all the way through second grade, third grade, fourth grade…
“And then in fifth grade they said, “No, you need to randomize how you see everybody,” so I ended up in the back of the classroom.
Continue Reading "5th Grade Vision Problems and Six Sigma"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
If your leadership isn’t committed to Quality, you only have one choice and it will be great for your career.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified”.
“I talk to people very often and they’re frustrated because their leadership team really isn’t committed to quality. What I want you to do is think about what do you do if your leadership team isn’t committed to quality?
“Simple answer: Start improving. Do it anyway, right? Maybe you’re just working inside of your department, you can’t work cross-functionally. Maybe you collect some data that says that somebody who supplies you with stuff is causing you problems.
Continue Reading "If Leadership Isn’t Committed to Quality"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
On a recent vacation, my wife and I missed two connecting flights because of missing paperwork. It’s the 21st century. How much of your customer’s time are you wasting looking for paperwork?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and the QI Macros [software].
“My wife and I finally took a trip we were going to take to Europe in 2020; we took it this year. We got off at the airport and of course, our airplane was late arriving. We had a pretty tight connection in Frankfurt, Germany. Anyway, United loads us all in the plane and the pilot came on and said, “We’re waiting for the manifest so that we can fly to Germany, because without the manifest we can’t land there.”
Continue Reading "Mistake Proof Paperwork"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
One hour, just-in-time trainings get students to results faster than week-long, in-depth trainings. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and the QI Macros [software].
“Back when I got started, we had week-long trainings for teams and team leaders and everything else, and I found that it was a problem. People took this long training and then they decided, “Well, Quality Improvement takes a long time.”
“Over the years I started shifting, and back in the late 90s I went to one-hour, just-in-time trainings. I actually have a little booklet which you can download from our website which is my Agile Lean Six Sigma Money Belt Action Plan.
Continue Reading "Use Just-In-Time Training to Accelerate Lean Six Sigma Results"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
Are old policies making your business sluggish and irritating customers?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“Some years ago I worked with a credit union. They were having trouble because on Friday nights there were really long lines [with] everybody trying to cash their paychecks and everything else. They were struggling. They also had a problem because when they lost a teller it took them 80 days to get a new teller in.
“We started looking at the process for doing that [with a] little value stream map. The very first thing they did was they offered that job to the rest of the company.
Continue Reading "Policies are Barriers to Performance Success"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
To make your Excel data usable, it can’t be chopped up like sushi. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“I look at a lot of Excel data that people send me, and unfortunately most of them have been trying to make their spreadsheet pretty so that humans can read it. No, that’s dumb, all right?
“Very often they chop it up into little bits and they either spread it out all over the spreadsheet or they spread it out in separate worksheets because this is May, June, July… and so there’s no way to take that data and turn it into a performance chart: a Control Chart, a Pareto Chart.
Continue Reading "Data is Like a Salmon"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Excel, Improvement Insights.
Force multipliers help you get more done with less effort. Are you using this one?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“In different arenas, often in the military, they talk about things that are force multipliers: Things that make your force better, faster, more agile, more everything. I want you to consider that the QI Macros is a force multiplier. It can take somebody and make them wildly more successful and productive rapidly. If I had that tool back in the 90s, I’d have gone through the telephone company like with a chainsaw, and maybe the company would not have been acquired and gone into bankruptcy (or almost gone into bankruptcy).
Continue Reading "Are You Using Force Multipliers to Maximize the Results from Lean Six Sigma?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, QI Macros.
Most of the business world deals with consultants. I’d like you to consider becoming a resultant. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“Forever, business has hired consultants, and I think the operational word in there sometimes is “CON-sultant,” right?
“When I think of myself, I think of myself as a “resultant.” My job is to help people get results, not to come up with big PowerPoint presentations and keep the meter running for weeks and months and years on projects. No! Let’s get some results!
Continue Reading "Are You a Consultant or a Resultant?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
