Improvement Insights Blog

Control or Sustain to Ensure Improvement Sticks

Teams often fail to implement the Control Phase of DMAIC. That results in waste on a grand scale. Here’s why:

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

“I don’t know about you, I talk to people all the time and they say “Jay, I made this great improvement and 6 months later it was gone…” Made this great improvement; six months later, it was gone. I say, “Did you implement the Control phase of DMAIC?

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Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.

Outstanding Improvement Posters at Colorado Lean Network Conference

At the Colorado Lean Network (CLN) Conference, Children’s Hospital put up seven outstanding improvement project posters. They all used control charts, histograms and the tools of quality to tell the story. There were more control charts on those seven posters than in the 100s at last years IHI–Institute for Healthcare Improvement conference.

Some exemplar hospitals are using the tools of quality to improve healthcare. Most are not. It’s time to stop admiring the problem. Start using the tools of quality to save time, save money and save lives.

Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation – Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.

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Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.

Are Line and Bar Charts Harming Your Customers and Company?

Most people are still using line and bar charts to measure performance. Line and bar charts, especially ones with trendlines harm your customers and your company. They harm patients and hospitals. Here’s why:

Download my free ebook, Agile Process Innovation-Hacking Lean Six Sigma for Results.



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

“Are line and bar charts harming your company, your hospital, your whatever (your country, even)? Line charts are really good for tracking overall trends like reduction in infant mortality, increase in world literacy rates, but [they’re] not very good for detecting what’s going on in your company.

Continue Reading "Are Line and Bar Charts Harming Your Customers and Company?"

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.