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I just got an email from a guy trying to sell his IT department on Lean Six Sigma and SPC for software development and maintenance. Needless to say the main developers were not too pleased, but basically made the argument that SPC cannot be applied to software cycle development because there are no repetitive processes involved, but rather it is reactionary to external (or unassignable events). He wondered: How would I be able to apply control charts to this environment. Maybe such an environment cannot be ‘controlled’?
This is actually the lame argument that every so called “artist” uses to explain why they shouldn’t have to learn how to monitor and improve their processes.
Continue Reading "SPC for Software Development"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Six Sigma.
The Six Sigma community seems to be obsessed with whether their data is normal or non-normal. If you’re using the data for control charts, normality is overrated.
Donald J. Wheeler, author of Advanced Topics in Statistical Process Control, just published an insightful paper on what he calls, Leptokurtophobia–the abnormal need for normal distributions–at http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/quality-insider-column/do-you-have-leptokurtophobia.html.
Wheeler says: “We do not need to check the data for normality, nor do we need to define a reference distribution prior to computing limits. Anyone who tells you anything to the contrary is simply trying to complicate your life unnecessarily. ”
“Transforming the data prior to using them on a process behavior chart is not only bad advice, it is also an outright mistake.”
Continue Reading "Normality is Overrated"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Six Sigma.
In The Element, Author Ken Robinson says that “One of the enemies of creativity and innovation is common sense. As soon as something seems the most obvious thing in the world, it means that we have abandoned all attempts at understanding it.”
What are the enemies of improvement?
- Common Sense
- Gut Feel
- Trial and Error
Most businesses grow from startups to profitability using these three “methods.” At some point, these methods start to fail, but most businesses just redouble their efforts to use them. Instead of looking for a better method of problem solving, the sucess of these methods blinds most people to possibility of a better way.
Continue Reading "The Enemies of Breakthrough Improvement"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Six Sigma.
The Denver Post reported that the Colorado Orthopaedic and Surgical Hospital was shut down this week after a patient’s death. What went wrong?
- Patient was given a a pain killer in too high a dose.
- Patient was left alone for 15 minutes after receiving the drug.
- Staff was unfamiliar with the crash cart.
- The rapid reponse team had trouble reaching the patient’s room.
The nurse involved resigned.
What did the hospital pledge to do? Increase training on emergency response.
All too often, managers think that better training will lead to better results. Unfortunately, employees come and go. Training degrades over time (you lose 90% of what you learn if you don’t use it in 72 hours after training.)
Continue Reading "Surgical Hospital Shut Down"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Service, Six Sigma.
Recently at a conference, I saw a noted Six Sigma practitioner use Minitab to generate data for analysis.
In that moment it struck me: colleges have been training students to manufacture “real-looking” data for class assignments. All you have to do is enter some parameters and out pops data that varies with whatever distribution you assign it.
Isn’t this what got us into trouble in this economy: creating data that justified our behavior and inflated results?
I’d like you to consider that seemingly innocuous behaviors like this can lead to catastrophic results: market crashes, inflated bonuses and general stupidity.
If teachers want to generate data for students, that’s probably a good idea.
Continue Reading "Making Up Data"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Six Sigma.
