Tag Archives: Process improvement

Video Overview of the PDSA Cycle

Posted on December 20, 2009 by John Hunter

Robert Lloyd, PhD From the IHI Open School‘s, presents a nice overview of the PDSA Cycle (plan-do-study-act). The webcast includes an example of using PDSA to improve the discharge process for a hospital. As I have said many times the … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Health care, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Science, webcast | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Making Better Decisions

Posted on November 24, 2009 by John Hunter

I think the most important thing you can do to make better decisions is to learn from the decisions you make. It sounds easy, but very few people do so effectively. The best strategy to learn from decisions is to: … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Lean Inventories Do Not Excuse Failing to Deliver

Posted on November 20, 2009 by John Hunter

Low inventory levels do not mean failing to have products available for customers. Now, if you manufacturing in huge batches and can’t respond to customer feedback then it might mean failure to predict customer demand does mean failure to deliver. … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

If Your Staff Doesn’t Bring You Problems That is a Bad Sign

Posted on June 15, 2009 by John Hunter

The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Why Setting Goals can Backfire

Posted on April 27, 2009 by John Hunter

Dr. Deming long ago stated in his 14 obligations of management: “Eliminate numerical goals, numerical quotas and management by objectives.” I think he was right then, and is right now. A goal can help set the scope of the effort. … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

More Management Blog Posts From January 2006

Posted on April 25, 2009 by John Hunter

Great Charts – The lack of such effective visual display of information is another example of how much improvement could be made just by applying ideas that are already published. Change is not Improvement – if you have to document … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Checklists in Software Development

Posted on April 7, 2009 by John Hunter

Verify your work with checklists WHO has recently shown that surgical deaths can be reduced by a third when hospitals follow their Surgical Safety Checklist. The checklist is very low tech. It includes questions like whether the patient has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Software Development | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Jeff Bezos Spends a Week Working in Amazon’s Kentucky Distribution Center

Posted on March 28, 2009 by John Hunter

Photo of Jeff Bezos during the 2005 O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference by James Duncan. Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, is working for a week in Amazon’s Kentucky distribution center. I hope, and based on his past, I believe, that he is … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creativity, Customer focus, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Combinatorial Testing for Software

Posted on March 26, 2009 by John Hunter

Combinatorial testing of software is very similar to the design of experiments work my father was involved in, and which I have a special interest in. Combinatorial testing looks at binary interaction effects (success or failure), since it is seeking … Continue reading →

Posted in Design of Experiments, Process improvement, Quality tools, Software Development | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

How to Create a Control Chart for Seasonal or Trending Data

Posted on March 25, 2009 by John Hunter

Lynda Finn, President of Statistical Insight, has written an article on how to create a control chart for seasonal or trending data (where there is an underlying structural variation in the data). Essentially you need to account for the structural … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Science, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments