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Matrix diagrams are one of the most common tools in Six Sigma. Once you learn how one works, you know how to use all of the others!
“Hi, this is Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software.]
“One of the tools that I think people don’t think about too much are Matrix Diagrams. A matrix diagram is essentially anything divided up into rows and columns. Now, these can be as simple as an action plan, it might be how you put all your countermeasures and prioritize them, so there might be some column for prioritizing things in some sort of fashion.
Continue Reading "Matrix Diagram Magic"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, QI Macros.
In the early 1990s, I took a control chart class that lasted five days. We learned decision trees and how to calculate control chart formulas with a calculator. I knew that the phone company would never tolerate five-day trainings for 70,000 employees and I knew that few of our employees would tolerate calculating these formulas manually. The only way to remove this barrier was to automate it. Here’s how I did it.
Let’s stop teaching people things they don’t need to know. It’s waste. When I automated everything, it shortened the training and increased retention and results. You can too.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur.
Continue Reading "Hacking Lean Six Sigma Training"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma.
This phrase popped up at the Lean Six Sigma World conference. Here’s what it means: Don’t be a “one-trick pony.”
“Hi, this is Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software].
“I was down in San Antonio for the Lean Six Sigma World Conference and I heard a phrase that I don’t think I’ve ever heard before. The phrase was, “One and done.” “One and done.”
“Now, it turns out what they were talking about was people were getting their Green Belt training and guess what? They do one project and then they’re done. They got their certificate… you know, they’re certified, and that gives them a little bit better job, but then they don’t go on to do any more projects.
Continue Reading "One and Done"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
Agile Lean Six Sigma approach will rapidly answer this question. One-day Yellow Belt problem solving will get results where Green Belt and Black Belt training may not.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals” and the QI Macros [software].
“I was out at the Lean Six Sigma World Conference in San Antonio there was a very interesting presentation about Yellow Belt trainings. What they found was that if they did it a certain way (which is the way I’ve been doing it for the last twenty years) that they got better results. Well, that’s kind of cool, right?
Continue Reading "Will It Work Here?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
If you have to throw a birthday party for your improvement project because it isn’t complete, you’re not alone, but you’ve lost sight of the outcome.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software].
“At the Lean Six Sigma World Conference I heard another phrase that I had never heard before: “Project Birthdays.” What? A project that has lasted so long, a year later it’s having a birthday and it’s still not done yet. In one of the studies the Green Belt teams had as long as 16 months to complete a project.
“Now, I hate to tell you this but if you have something that looks like it might have a project birthday, somehow you didn’t laser focus your improvement and get it improved, because with the right kind of data, the right kind of focus, you can do that in a day or sometimes a week.
Continue Reading "Six Sigma Project Birthdays"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
One session at the Lean Six Sigma World conference presented findings from of a study of successful Lean Six Sigma implementations. If you think your company can become a unicorn, watch now:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals” and the QI Macros [software].
“I was in San Antonio at the Lean Six Sigma World Conference and there was a presentation by a couple of consultants about a study they’d done on successful Lean and Six Sigma deployments. Now, unfortunately it was a little skewed, because the minimum size of the company was 150 million dollars going up to about 750 million dollars, so you have Fortune 500 companies with deep pockets.
Continue Reading "Six Sigma Unicorns"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
Everyone has limiting beliefs and they could be stopping your improvement projects. Here’s why and what to do about it.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals” and the QI Macros [software]. I want to talk to you about something that sounds a little bit out of the Six Sigma ballpark.
“One of the things I’ve noticed is people will develop limiting beliefs about what’s possible. They’ll say, “Well, I can’t fix that because…” or “I can’t do this because my boss won’t let me,” or “I can’t do this because management doesn’t understand control charts, performance charts,” …or whatever.
Continue Reading "Are Limiting Beliefs Stopping Your Improvement Projects?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
How to create a Hassle-Free work experience for everyone without spending too much time or money.
“Hi, this is Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software].
“One of my favorite shows on television is Guy Fieri’s Triple D: “Diners Drive-ins and Dives”, and I just enjoy watching him eat other people’s cooking… I can’t explain it to you. My Triple D is “Delay, Defects and Deviation,” and if you do nothing but focus on eliminating delay, defects (mistakes and errors), and deviation (the variation of things), if you do nothing but do that for an hour per week for the rest of your life you will spontaneously figure out a way to make everything hassle-free for yourself, your customers, your suppliers, your boss, your subordinates… whoever it is.
Continue Reading "Triple D – Delays, Defects, Deviation"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean.
How can you help people learn Lean Six Sigma quickly and easily? It’s a simple three step process that will slash the learning curve for everyone.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software].
“In a recent video I talked to you about the whole idea of “minimally invasive training.” How do we teach people in an hour everything they need to know to start solving problems? To do that you have to think about all the advances that we know about in speed learning.
“If I’m teaching Lean what do I do? First I tell them a story of how I’ve used post-it notes to reduce cycle time by 50%, 60%, 80%, 90% in something.
Continue Reading "Speed Learning for Minimally Invasive Training"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma.
One big pharma company embraced a more Agile approach to implementing Lean Six Sigma and achieved quick results. How did they do it?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software].
“I was at the Lean Six Sigma conference for ASQ in Phoenix and Novartis gave a whole presentation about implementing Lean and Six Sigma around their sales process. It turns out they didn’t actually apply Lean and Six Sigma to the sales process, they simply optimized everything around it that supported their reps going out into the field and how the reps got paid, but they didn’t really do anything about the sales process.
Continue Reading "Minimally Invasive Lean Six Sigma Training"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.
