Improvement Insights Blog
Defects Aren’t Spread All Over Like Butter On Bread
People often think defects are spread evenly all over the business, like butter on bread. Not true. Here’s why:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and QI Macros [software].
“I’ve said this before, but people out there seem to think that defects and mistakes and errors are like butter spread on a slice of bread. It’s just, like, everywhere in your organization, right?
“Not true. It’s more like mold somewhere on a loaf of bread. All you have to do is fix that little piece that’s in trouble in that one [slice] of bread and that’ll keep it from spreading to the rest of the organization.
“So that’s my Improvement Insight for this week: Look for the little bit of mold; don’t look for things that don’t exist… but they are tasty.
“Let’s go out and improve something this week.”
