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Posts tagged "Lean"
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.
Continue Reading "FOLB – Fear of Looking Bad"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Healthcare, Improvement Insights, Lean, Manufacturing, Six Sigma.
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.
Continue Reading "5/14/20 QI Macros Webinar"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.
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.”
Continue Reading "Stop Projecting the Past Into the Future"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
The busiest day of the year for long distance calling is Mother’s Day. The recent COVID-19 pandemic revealed the inability of our systems to handle the load. Is your business ready for Mother’s Day?
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software].
“When I worked in the phone company they were very proud of the fact that they had engineered the entire switching system to handle one day out of the year. That one day out of the year was Mother’s Day, because everybody called their mother on Mother’s Day. If we didn’t have ways of switching and routing things and [finding] an empty trunk line… If I was going to call my mom in Tucson from Denver, guess what?
Continue Reading "Are Your Systems Ready for Mother’s Day?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.
We know that Lean can collapse cycle time by 75% or more. Here’s what that means for COVID-19:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“If you’ve ever done any Lean projects, you know pretty much if the process is this long {gestures}, with Value Stream Mapping and Spaghetti Diagramming, you can collapse that by maybe 75%, 80%, 90%. You can actually reduce the cycle time for almost anything and do it easily.
“One of the things that is creating optimism for me is that a few years ago I worked with an aerospace manufacturing company, and typically to get a Request For Proposal through, it was 1.9 years for any new part.
Continue Reading "Lean Response to COVID-19"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Healthcare, Improvement Insights, Lean.
There are COVID-19 hot spots and cold spots. How do we keep the cold spots open and detect and quarantine warming spots? Maybe statistical process control can help.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals” and QI Macros [software].
“Back in the mid 1800s there was a cholera outbreak in London, and John Snow (not of Game of Thrones, but Dr. John Snow) said, “I think there’s a pattern here.” He went out and figured out that everybody who had cholera was getting water from the Broad Street pump. Back then, there was no indoor running water so you had to take your pail, go out to the pump and get your water for your home or your business or your restaurant.
Continue Reading "Cholera and COVID-19 Hot Spot Detection and Quarantine"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Six Sigma.
Should a project take 4-16 months or 4-16 hours? Should you measure projects with a calendar or a stopwatch? I think the answer is obvious, but here’s my take on it.
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur. Every year, we exhibit at lots of conferences with QI Macros so I get to go to presentations by all kinds of folks. Now, last year I saw a presentation by some consultants who said they’d done some research into how long Six Sigma projects take. They found Six Sigma projects take anywhere from four months to 16 months.
“I [thought], “What? How’s that possible?” That makes no sense to me, because I’ve done multimillion-dollar projects in between 4 and 16 hours.
Continue Reading "How Long Should Lean Six Sigma Projects Take?"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Data Mining, Improvement Insights, QI Macros.
More than 40 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.
Continue Reading "4/9/20 QI Macros Webinar"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Data Mining, Excel, QI Macros, Webinar.
Webinar 3 of 3: April 8, 2020 More than 40 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur first doing an overview on the IHI’s goal, and then going into more detail and highlighting examples on how implementing Agile Lean Six Sigma can speed an organization’s improvement process and better sustain results.
Continue Reading "IHI Trillion Dollar Checkbook Webinar, 3 of 3"
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Data Mining, Healthcare, Webinar.
COVID-19 has slowed business for much of the nation. Here’s how you can make use of the time:
“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma Demystified” and the QI Macros [software].
“I don’t know about you, but with this COVID virus thing going around, business has slowed a little bit, but that’s great! That gives us an opportunity to start to focus and work ON our business, not IN our business. Now is the time to start to find ways to simplify, streamline, optimize everything that you do so that when things come back on you’ll be ready for it and you’ll be faster, better, cheaper than you ever were before.
Continue Reading "Work ON your business, not IN it."
Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights.
