QI Macros Tagged Improvement Insights

Improvement Insights Blog

Posts tagged "QI Macros"

What Kind of Statistical Horse Are You?

Shunryū Suzuki said there are four kinds of horses: excellent, good, poor and bad horses. When it comes to statistics, the bad horse may be the best horse. Here’s why:



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

Shunryū Suzuki said there are four kinds of horses: Excellent ones, good ones, poor ones and bad ones. Now everybody wants to be the excellent horse or the good horse, but nobody wants to be the dead-last, bad horse. He suggests that the bad horse has to work extra hard to learn how to run, to learn how to do things, right?

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.

Kodachrome and Quality Charts

The gold standard of photography when I was growing up was Kodachrome, but you had to carefully compose your shot to get the best photos. Then you had to wait to get it developed only to discover that most of your photos were poor. Digital cameras changed all that. The same applies to Six Sigma Charts. Here’s why:



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

Paul Simon wrote a song about Kodachrome; when I was a kid, originally it was black and white film, but then we got Kodachrome color film that you could make really beautiful slides and everything with.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.

To P or Not to P

Most Six Sigma statistics rely on p values. But statisticians have been raising alarm about the problems with p values. Here’s what’s going on:



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

“I get these emails about different courses that are being offered (I think one on Coursera) but it was one on statistics and it was “To P or Not to P That is the Question.”

“Have you been watching anything in the statistics world? Statisticians think that P values can be misleading and potentially dangerous.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.

Does QI Macros® Compete with Minitab?

People often ask if QI Macros is in competition with Minitab. No, I tell them. We are both in competition with a common enemy. Here’s why:



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

“I was at the American Society for Quality Lean Six Sigma conference, and my booth for QI Macros was right next to Minitab. You know, people are always asking me, “Jay, do you guys compete with Minitab?” I say, “No, we compete with ignorance and apathy.”

“Number one, people don’t know how these tools could help them, whether it’s me or Minitab.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.

PDCA PDSA DMAIC Whatever!

Some people use PDCA, some use PDSA, some use DMAIC. It doesn’t matter what alphabet system you use. Here’s why:



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

“When I started out (this was back in the 90s), it was Total Quality Management; the process was PDCA. Then later it was PDSA, and then it became DMAIC, and I’m sure there’s some new iteration of that that’s going to come out at some time.

“Don’t let these words freak you out: it’s just that it’s pretty much all the same process, pretty much all the same tools in the same order, right?

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.

Are High School and College Learning Experiences Hindering You?

After high school and college, people seem hesitant to learn anything. That probably isn’t the best choice. Here’s why:



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

“Have you noticed after high school and college, nobody is really in a big hurry to run out and try and learn something new, right? You’re exhausted from learning something new, right? But if you want to succeed in the world, you have to start to learn stuff. I’m learning stuff all the time from customers: things that I have to research, all of those kinds of things.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.

2/14/23 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar

Over 140 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to implement Healthcare Data Analytics to save time, save money, and (most importantly) save lives.



You can view a short two-page illustrated guide to the Zero Harm – Trillion Dollar Prescription by clicking HERE. If you’ve never used QI Macros and would like to try it out, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial at THIS link. If you are a QI Macros user with an older software version, and 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 Agile Lean Six Sigma, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

Crazy Cool Improvement Projects

At the IHI conference, many people told me stories of their crazy, cool improvement projects done with QI Macros. I asked them a simple question for which they had no answer. Here’s why:



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

“I was at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement conference out in Orlando at the beginning of December. I was there and people were coming by and they were talking about QI Macros at the exhibit booth. You know, a number of them came up and told me a story.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog.

1/17/23 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar

Over 250 people signed up for this webinar, with Jay Arthur demonstrating how to implement Healthcare Data Analytics to save time, save money, and (most importantly) save lives.



You can view a short two-page illustrated guide to the Zero Harm – Trillion Dollar Prescription by clicking HERE.

If you’ve never used QI Macros and would like to try it out, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial at THIS link.

If you a QI Macros user with an older version, and 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 Agile Lean Six Sigma, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

Deming’s Insights on Control Charts for Workers

I was rereading Deming’s book “Out of the Crisis,” and discovered a way to use control charts that is new. Deming uses control charts to compare individual worker performance. Deming often asked leaders to drive out fear, but comparing individuals seems like a way to create fear unless you use the results to help train individuals to higher standards of performance. Here’s how:



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

“I don’t know about you, but every once in a while I go back and re-read books about Quality.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog, QI Macros, Statistics.