Tag Archives: Quality tools

Design of Experiments: The Process of Discovery is Iterative

This video is another excerpt on the design of experiments videos by George Box, see previous posts: Introduction to Fractional Factorial Designed Experiments and The Art of Discovery. This video looks at learning about experimental design using paper helicopters (the … Continue reading

Posted in Design of Experiments, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Stated Versus Revealed Preference

My father provided me a good example of the flawed thinking of relying on stated preference when I was growing up. Stated preference is, as you might deduce, the preferences voiced by customers when you ask. This is certainly useful … Continue reading

Posted in Customer focus, Popular, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Management Blog Review 2012: Gemba Walkabout

This is my second, of two, 2012 management blog review posts. In this post I look back at the last year on Mike Stoecklein’s Gemba Walkabout blog. Mike is the Director of Network Operations at Thedacare Center for Healthcare Value. … Continue reading

Posted in Carnival, Deming, Health care, Process improvement | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Special Cause Signal Isn’t Proof A Special Cause Exists

One of my pet peeves is when people say that a point outside the control limits is a special cause. It is not. It is an indication that it likely a special cause exists, and that special cause thinking is … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Manufacturing, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote, Six sigma, Statistics, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Special Cause Signal Isn’t Proof A Special Cause Exists

5s at NASA

NASA did some amazing things culminating with landing on Moon. Much of what they did was doing many small things very well. They used 5s, checklists, gemba thinking, usability, simplicity, testing out on a small scale and much more. Here … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Value Stream Mapping for Fun and Profit

Guest post by Evan Durant, author of the Kaizen Notebook blog [The broken link was removed]. I tend to get a little preachy about the importance of value stream maps, but they really can be useful tools not only to … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Quality tools | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Moving Beyond Product Quality

This month Paul Borawski (CEO of ASQ) has asked the ASQ Influential Voices to share their thoughts on moving beyond product quality. The opening paragraph of the Quality Council’s perspective is, “For some organizations, ‘quality’ remains a set of tools … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Richard Feynman Explains the PDSA Cycle

Ok, really Richard Feynman Explains the scientific method. But his thoughts make the similarity between the PDSA cycle and the scientific method obvious. 1) Plan, hypothesis. You make a guess about a theory (in using the PDSA cycle this step … Continue reading

Posted in Process improvement, Quality tools, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Management Blog Posts From November 2006

I have selected a few great posts from the Curious Cat Management Blog back in November 2006. What Could we do Better? – There are many important ideas to improve management. This is one of the most important tips to … Continue reading

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Keys to the Effective Use of the PDSA Improvement Cycle

The PDSA improvement cycle was created by Walter Shewhart where Dr. Deming learned about it. An improvement process is now part of many management improvement methods (A3 for lean manufacturing, DMAIC for six sigma and many other modifications). They are … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Popular, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments