QI Macros

Improvement Insights Blog

Posts tagged "QI Macros"

Watch Out for Hollow Easter Bunnies

One of the biggest impediments to quality improvement could be the “Hollow Easter Bunnies” in your organization. Here’s how to spot them and what to do about it.



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

“When you were a kid, did you get an Easter bunny and you were all excited because it was “chocolate chocolate chocolate”? Then you bite into it and you discover it’s hollow, right? It’s an external skin of chocolate but it’s not a chocolate Easter bunny, it’s a hollow Easter bunny.

“I was reading this book called “The Friction Project” and they were talking about how it was difficult to reduce friction in organizations.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.

4/8/25 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar

Over 80 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.



Books that Jay may have mentioned in the video:

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

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Data Mining, Excel, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

Use Excel PivotTables to Find the Invisible Low-hanging Fruit

Everyone talks about low-hanging fruit, but only a few find it. Here’s why:



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

“I find that a lot of people are afraid to use Excel pivot tables to summarize data. Every company has raw data about mistakes and errors and defects and whatever it is, but it’s all individual events. People are afraid to learn how to use pivot tables to summarize that.

“I’m telling you what, that’s where the ‘invisible low-hanging fruit’ lives. Everybody talks about ‘low hanging fruit,’ but this is where the ‘invisible low hanging fruit’ lives.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.

Weibull (Bathtub) Curve and Extended Warranty

Companies always nag you to buy the extended warranty for everything from teapots to computers. Is it worth it? Not if you know the Weibull (bathtub) curve.

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



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

“I don’t know about you, but if you bought anything electronic, they always try and sell you a maintenance agreement on it, even if it’s a $27 electric teapot. Right? It’s like, WHAT?

“If you know anything about the Weibull curve, it’s called a bathtub curve.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.

3/13/25 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar

Over 100 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.



Books that Jay may have mentioned in the video:

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

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Data Mining, Excel, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

*Next Free QI Macros Live Webinar: Thursday, May 14th, 2026

Register for the upcoming FREE QI Macros Live Webinar, happening Thursday, May 14th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. MDT.

Learn how to automate Lean Six Sigma and Quality Improvement. Learn more in the video below, and register at THIS link.



What:  FREE QI Macros – Lean Six Sigma SPC Software for Excel Webinar.

When: Thursday, May 14th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. MDT.

Where:  Join online from wherever you are.

How:  Register for the webinar HERE.

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

Are You Using the Available Tools of Quality 2025?

Too many people are using unsupported, home-grown tools to improve quality. Or using none at all. That’s a problem. Here’s why:

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



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

“In the old days, pharmacists used to grind up and mix chemicals by hand to make prescriptions, right? And graphic artists used to hand draw everything, right? And opticians used to grind lenses by hand to make glasses. So all those people… all those jobs are still needed, but they don’t do them the way they did 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 years ago, right?

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.

*Next Free Healthcare Data Analytics Live Webinar:

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

Here’s what I’ve learned from 25 years of working with healthcare–three key charts will help diagnose mistakes and errors, waste and rework in healthcare. Just as there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for each patient’s illness, there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for the issues that each hospital faces. Diagnosis and treatment must be done hospital-by-hospital, and the most effective diagnoses are made by first running tests and trusting what the data is telling you. Once you understand the 4-50 rule and its implications, you’ll see how easy this process will be.

Join me, Jay Arthur, author of Lean Six Sigma for Hospitals, to learn how to use healthcare data to save time, save money, and (most importantly) save lives.  

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Data Mining, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

2/20/25 Healthcare Data Analytics Webinar

Over 80 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.



Books that Jay may have mentioned in the video:

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

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Data Mining, Excel, Healthcare, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma, Webinar.

I’m Lazy and That’s a Good Thing

I’m lazy and that’s a good thing. It might be good for you too. Here’s why:



 

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

“I want to tell you: I’m lazy. I don’t want to spend any more time doing anything that I have to, right? When we started up, [the standard was] week-long trainings for teams. I eventually boiled that big binder down into about a 16-page handout (which I now use) and train people in in a day or less and get results. I wanted to collapse the curve between learning and implementation of results so that people got that hit of “This is what we can do quickly.”

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights.