Six Sigma Blog by Jay Arthur

Improvement Insights Blog

Latest "Six Sigma" Posts

Learn to Ask for Help!

Even with QI Macros, people sometimes try to do things the hard way without thinking there might be an easier way. One user waited until the ASQ WCQI convention to ask for help. We could have saved her a lot of time if she had emailed or chatted months ago.



“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].

“I was out at the American Society for Quality conference this last week and one of our groups of users came up and one of the women said, “Well, I update these 91 control charts every week and it takes me like a day and a half, and isn’t there an easier way?”

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, QI Macros, Six Sigma.

2/14/23 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar

Over 140 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to implement Healthcare Data Analytics to save time, save money, and (most importantly) save lives.



You can view a short two-page illustrated guide to the Zero Harm – Trillion Dollar Prescription by clicking HERE. If you’ve never used QI Macros and would like to try it out, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial at THIS link. If you are a QI Macros user with an older software version, and you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the Templates Wizard, the Fixed Limit indicator or the automated Process Change Wizard), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

1/17/23 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar

Over 250 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to implement Healthcare Data Analytics to save time, save money, and (most importantly) save lives.



You can view a short two-page illustrated guide to the Zero Harm – Trillion Dollar Prescription by clicking HERE.

If you’ve never used QI Macros and would like to try it out, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial at THIS link.

If you a QI Macros user with an older version, and you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the Templates Wizard, the Fixed Limit indicator or the automated Process Change Wizard), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

Lean Six Sigma Implementation – Top Down or Middle Out?

Traditional Lean Six Sigma wisdom says to start top down, but that’s a sure fire way to fail. Here’s why:



“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and the QI Macros [software].

“I think there’s a lot of conventional wisdom in in Six Sigma and Lean and Six Sigma that says, “Oh, you must start with the leadership team.” Well, I was reading this book that was recommended to me, “Creating A Lean Culture.” This was used by Virginia Mason up in Seattle to transform how they deliver health care. I thought this was interesting about how Lean typically starts and grows.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog, Lean, Six Sigma.

Is Decision Fatigue Hindering Your Improvement Projects?

People make 30,000 decisions a day! Too many choices makes decisions even more difficult. Knowing too much about Lean Six Sigma can hinder your success at problem solving. Here’s why:



“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].

“You know, you probably have experienced this, but we all make something like 30,000 decisions a day… a day! Oh my gosh, right? My friend Bob Wendover wrote a book called “Beating Burnout,” how top thinkers overcome overwhelm. He talks about what he calls “decision fatigue,” when you start making poor choices because your brain is overloaded due to the overwhelming demands of modern life.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma.

Why Are We Still Talking about Cp/Cpk and Pp/Ppk Formulas?

I found a discussion on MyASQ’s Website about Cpk formulas. Why is anyone talking about how to calculate formulas by hand? It’s a waste of time. Here’s why:



“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].

“This morning I was out on the myASQ website, and there was a question about Cp and Cpk and Ppk formulas and stuff like that. And there was, you know, “Well, standard deviation” and “Why do we have to do R Bar over D2?” or whatever it was, you know. The answers were like, “Well, you know, standard deviation is pretty close to whatever…”

“I was [thinking], “What is the question here?

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Statistics.

Seeing the Invisible

Absence blindness means that you can’t see what isn’t there. The tools of quality can help you see the invisible so that you can do something about it. Here’s how:



“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].

“There’s a concept called “absence blindness,” and basically what that says is you can’t see what isn’t there. That’s why it’s kind of difficult to see things that are working well, because they just work well, but a defect or some sort of complication or issue raises this ugly head and you can see that one.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog, Six Sigma.

11/29/22 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar

Over 130 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to implement Healthcare Data Analytics to save time, save money, and (most importantly) save lives.

https://www.qimacros.com/pdf/Zero-Harm-Trillion-Dollar-Prescription.pdf If you saw a feature demonstrated in the webinar that might have been added to QI Macros after the version you’re using (for instance, the Templates Wizard, the Fixed Limit indicator or the automated Process Change Wizard), you may need to purchase an upgrade to bring your QI Macros to the current version. Send an email to support@qimacros.com and we can help to generate a quote to upgrade all the users at your organization or by just guiding you through the purchasing process.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

Use Just-In-Time Training to Accelerate Lean Six Sigma Results

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.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.

Is Lean Six Sigma Just an Ukulele?

Have you ever made a judgement and discarded an idea before you realize how valuable it could be? Here’s how it applies to Lean Six Sigma and ukuleles:



“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].

“This is an ukulele, and most of you probably think, “Well, that’s for Hawaiian music, isn’t it?” I’ll tell you; no, it’s a very versatile instrument. You can do lots with it. If you don’t believe me, go watch Jake Shimabukuro do Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen; it’s on YouTube.

“You know, with this this instrument we can do lots of things.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, Six Sigma.