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6/9/20 QI Macros Webinar

Over 140 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to use some of the useful features of QI Macros, as well as some of the new features introduced in recent releases of the software.

Some attendees were familiar with the software and already use it, some had only begun to use it; all were interested in learning new ways that QI Macros can help them with their Agile Lean Six Sigma and Quality Improvement efforts. (You can hear him answering questions and comments typed in by webinar attendees.)

  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.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.

Root Cause Analysis in the Time of COVID-19

That's root cause analysis: What are the common patterns? Where's the Pareto principle?

Posted by Jay Arthur in Healthcare, Improvement Insights, QI Macros.

Cards and darts and XmR charts…


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One great thing about the past few months – with in-person socializing limited, that means that you can connect with friends who live far away from you just as easily as those who live a mile away. Because of this, some friends of mine from our Midwestern high school re-started our weekly Euchre game from long ago, but this time via webcams and a forum where the card game can be hosted online.

I was preparing for just such an evening when I got a notification that the first of my friends had logged in to our online meetup space.

“Hey, Kokomo!”

Posted by Jay Arthur in QI Macros Monthly Newsletters.

Let’s Work Together

This is a fun thing we did last week. While Watching the movie “Forrest Gump,” Jay heard this song and had the idea that this song is particularly applicable to our current situation. Several of the people that work for QI Macros are musicians, so we tried to do something fun while we’re working remotely. This was recorded in 4 separate homes and then assembled and arranged by Nicholas. We hope you enjoy it:

Posted by Jay Arthur in Jay Arthur Blog.

Six Sigma Success Metrics

Most companies measure success of Six Sigma using simple, easy to understand metrics. Are you using these measures of success?

“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals” and QI Macros [software]. Today I want to talk to you about success metrics.

“Back in the late 60s I was in high school. I had a paper route and this was during the Vietnam War, and every day I would fold 120 papers and deliver them. The headlines always on the Tucson Daily Citizen was that we’d killed so many Viet Cong and so many Americans had died, so we had this body count metric every single day, Monday through Sunday.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Six Sigma.

Tools to Monitor Your Own Health

Even before COVID-19, I gave my staff digital thermometers, oximeters and blood pressure cuffs to help them monitor their health. You can too. Here’s how:

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

“I don’t know about you but when I was a kid growing up and my mom needed to take my temperature we used something called a thermometer. This is actually the original box that it was in, but that’s no longer necessary right? Now we have these kind of tools which you can just buy at your local store. Once you press it and turn it on you just scan it across your head and it’ll read your temperature.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Healthcare, Improvement Insights.

FOLB – Fear of Looking Bad

Humans, by nature, have a fear of looking bad (FOLB). And we have a fear of looking stupid (FOLS). These are slowing COVID-19 response and quality improvement. Here’s why:

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

“You’ve all probably all heard some of these acronyms that are running around like FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. Well, I wanted to introduce you to a couple more that I’d like you to consider. FOLB: Fear Of Looking Bad.

“Now when I’ve gone out to work with companies in consulting roles, some of these managers think, “I’m supposed to be in charge of fixing everything.

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

5/14/20 QI Macros Webinar

Over 120 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to use some of the useful features of QI Macros, as well as some of the new features introduced in recent releases of the software.

Some attendees were familiar with the software and already use it, some had only begun to use it; all were interested in learning new ways that QI Macros can help them with their Agile Lean Six Sigma and Quality Improvement efforts. (You can hear him answering questions and comments typed in by webinar attendees.)

  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.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.

Stop Projecting the Past Into the Future

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we can’t keep doing things the same old way. The status quo isn’t working for us anymore. We have to stop projecting the past (the way we’ve always done it) into the future. The future doesn’t have to be an endless rerun of the past.

“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Agile Process Innovation”and QI Macros [software]. Here’s my Improvement Insight for this week: Stop projecting your past into your future.

“Way too many people do this, right? We start thinking, “Well, we’ve always done it that way so we have to always do it that way.”

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.

The lines on the road…


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Like a lot of you, I’ve gotten really good at some things I wasn’t very good at a couple of months ago. From a personal perspective, my cooking has gotten much better (thanks to online cooks I found such as Chef John). From a business standpoint, I’ve gone from meeting clients face-to-face to becoming good at conducting most of my business via online video meetings with clients. The online video meeting has its ups and downs, but it sure is nice to be able to meet with someone on the other side of the country without having to spend time traveling.

Posted by Jay Arthur in QI Macros Monthly Newsletters.