• The Lazy Man’s Guide to Getting Things Done | Zen Habits

November 21, 2008

• Six Life Lessons Learned from Triathlon Training | Zen Habits

November 21, 2008 - Triathlons are a satisfying, challenging, addictive sport that attracts a fun, adventurous, open, and interesting kind of person. I’m a triathlete in my second year, and was right were you are last January. I can tell you unequivocally that you can do it, that any and all technique and gear problems can be surmounted by just - keeping - going, and that the whole journey is fun.

I’m giving you the single best resource out there for someone at your stage:

Beginner Triathlete (http://www.beginnertriathlete.com)

This is a comprehensive, free website that has an amazing number of functions. Training plans for all distances and levels of experience. Articles on specific performance/workout/training issues by elite athletes. Active, useful message boards on which you can ask any of the types of questions you’re asking here, and more. A daily training log where you can track your workouts and let others leave you feedback and encouragement. Regional meetups and training sessions. Race-day coordination so you can connect with people you’ve been in touch with on the site at your events. I can’t say enough about this site: it got me through season one with flying colors, and I met some wonderful people and made a commitment to stay with the sport. Enjoy it.

As to books: Most triathletes really favor the Triathlete’s Training Bible. It’s a one-stop book, but very technical. Don’t let it scare you, take what you need. I also really enjoyed Triathloning for Ordinary Mortals. That’s an older book, but very simple and low-stress for newbies.

There are a lot of fine points and finesse to triathloning, and a million questions to ask. And you’re going to need to ask every one throughout this first season. But at the end of the day, remember — what we now call a “Sprint Triathlon”, and train for over the better part of the year, is also what at the age of 10 I called “a normal summer day” — swim a half mile, bike 12, run 3. It’s doable. You don’t need to spend a fortune and you don’t need to obsess. It can be fun to do so, but at the most basic level, start with confidence. You can do it.

• 35+ Social Media Tools That Make Life Easier | Freelance Tools, Advice, and Resources | Freelance Folder

November 20, 2008 - 35 tools that can help you do more with social media in less time.

• MSN Careers - 10 Interview Questions Decoded - Career Advice Article

November 20, 2008

• YouTube - Merlin Mann on Time and Attention (Getting Things Done)

November 20, 2008 - Google asked productivity blogger Merlin Mann to visit their campus and share some insights into getting things done. His presentation covers several interesting aspects of time management and productivity including renegotiating your commitments, controlling who has access to your limited resources like time and output, and qualifying how your commit yourself to tasks to create a more sane work environment. The video is thirty five minutes and worth the watch for a solid set of productivity principles to help you start this coming week on the right foot.

• 8 Simple Ways To Get On Track And Keep Your Focus - Practical advice on personal development, productivity and GTD

November 20, 2008

• Ten Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills | Dumb Little Man

November 20, 2008 - You can improve your listening skills. By learning about the process and putting forth a conscious effort, you can become an effective listener.

• 15 Tips for Writing Effective Email | ThinkSimpleNow.com

November 20, 2008 - 1. Determine Your Desired Outcome

There are 4 types of email:

1. Self Fulfilling Email - The email itself is the point. You want to tell the receiver something, either a compliment or information. No reply is necessary.
2. Inquiries - You need something from the receiver in the form of a reply. For example, advice, or questions answered. The reply is your desired outcome.
3. Open-Ended Dialog - to keep communication lines open, for the purpose of some future result or benefit.
4. Action Emails - The goal is not the reply, but some action on the part of the receiver. For example, a sales pitch, or asking for a website link exchange.

2. Quickly Answers, “What’s the Point?”

People want to know “what do you need from me?” And if no action or reply is expected, say that! “No reply necessary.”

3. State Benefits Clearly
Too many pitchy emails focus solely on the sender and why the action will benefit the sender. If you don’t present incentives, or they are difficult to understand, the receiver will say no - resulting in a waste of time for both.

4. Remember to KISS

KISS = Keep it simple, stupid

Using as little words as possible, introduce who you are, context if necessary, and why you are emailing.

5. Save the Whole Story - Stick to the Facts.

Simply stick to the facts - it’ll help you keep your message short.

6. Pretend Face-to-face Intro

Treating email introductions as if you are meeting them in person is another trick to keeping messages short.

7. Text Message Trick

Pretend you’re on a mobile device.

8. Avoid Excessive Compliments

Compliment only if you really mean it. And remember to be brief if you need action from the receiver.

9. Be Personal and Personable

Personalize email with relevant remarks to the receiver, put in a quick comment about their site, product or work. Address the person by name, sign email with your own name, and a friendly comment like “Enjoy your weekend!”

10. Make it Easy to Be Found

In your signature, include appropriate URLs for your website, blog, portfolio or product. Make sure the links are functional so they can read more about you in one-click.

11. Use Simple English

Write like you talk, using conversational English. Be authentic and realistic.

12. Font Matters

Do not bold the entire email, use easy to read fonts (ie. Arial), and use a standard size.

13. Formatting Matters

Make emails easy to read and quick to scan by using bullet points, numbered lists, and keeping paragraphs short. Highlight keywords (bold or italic) for emphasis, without over doing it.

14. Minimize Questions

Ask questions that matter, and limit the number of questions and favors you ask in an email (one or two max). The more questions (especially open-ended ones) asked in one sitting, the less likely you are to get a response, and the less likely all your questions will be answered.

Also, ask specific questions instead of a general open-ended ones. Be reasonable and thoughtful when asking.

15. Trimming of Words

Like grooming a garden, read through the finished email and trim out words, sentences, and paragraphs that do not contribute towards your desired result.

Check for potential ambiguities and unclear thinking. Can you rephrase sentences for clarity using fewer words? Check for excess commentary that doesn’t add to the email’s main point. Remove extra details disclosed, unnecessarily.

Take Home Points:

* No rambling stories or long intros.
* Get to the point quickly.
* Next action clearly stated.
* Present benefits.
* Fonts and formatting matter.
* Review for conciseness, simplicity and clarity.
* One question per email.
* Be yourself - that is, the concise version of yourself.

• Part II: Action Support Folders and Tickler Lists: 2 GTD Tools We Hardly Ever Discuss

November 20, 2008 - A new folder: the Action Support folder, which is not the same as a Project Folder. Apparently.

• The Lazy Man’s Guide to Getting Things Done | Zen Habits

November 21, 2008

• Six Life Lessons Learned from Triathlon Training | Zen Habits

November 21, 2008 - Triathlons are a satisfying, challenging, addictive sport that attracts a fun, adventurous, open, and interesting kind of person. I’m a triathlete in my second year, and was right were you are last January. I can tell you unequivocally that you can do it, that any and all technique and gear problems can be surmounted by just - keeping - going, and that the whole journey is fun.

I’m giving you the single best resource out there for someone at your stage:

Beginner Triathlete (http://www.beginnertriathlete.com)

This is a comprehensive, free website that has an amazing number of functions. Training plans for all distances and levels of experience. Articles on specific performance/workout/training issues by elite athletes. Active, useful message boards on which you can ask any of the types of questions you’re asking here, and more. A daily training log where you can track your workouts and let others leave you feedback and encouragement. Regional meetups and training sessions. Race-day coordination so you can connect with people you’ve been in touch with on the site at your events. I can’t say enough about this site: it got me through season one with flying colors, and I met some wonderful people and made a commitment to stay with the sport. Enjoy it.

As to books: Most triathletes really favor the Triathlete’s Training Bible. It’s a one-stop book, but very technical. Don’t let it scare you, take what you need. I also really enjoyed Triathloning for Ordinary Mortals. That’s an older book, but very simple and low-stress for newbies.

There are a lot of fine points and finesse to triathloning, and a million questions to ask. And you’re going to need to ask every one throughout this first season. But at the end of the day, remember — what we now call a “Sprint Triathlon”, and train for over the better part of the year, is also what at the age of 10 I called “a normal summer day” — swim a half mile, bike 12, run 3. It’s doable. You don’t need to spend a fortune and you don’t need to obsess. It can be fun to do so, but at the most basic level, start with confidence. You can do it.

• 35+ Social Media Tools That Make Life Easier | Freelance Tools, Advice, and Resources | Freelance Folder

November 20, 2008 - 35 tools that can help you do more with social media in less time.

• MSN Careers - 10 Interview Questions Decoded - Career Advice Article

November 20, 2008

• YouTube - Merlin Mann on Time and Attention (Getting Things Done)

November 20, 2008 - Google asked productivity blogger Merlin Mann to visit their campus and share some insights into getting things done. His presentation covers several interesting aspects of time management and productivity including renegotiating your commitments, controlling who has access to your limited resources like time and output, and qualifying how your commit yourself to tasks to create a more sane work environment. The video is thirty five minutes and worth the watch for a solid set of productivity principles to help you start this coming week on the right foot.

• 8 Simple Ways To Get On Track And Keep Your Focus - Practical advice on personal development, productivity and GTD

November 20, 2008

• Ten Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills | Dumb Little Man

November 20, 2008 - You can improve your listening skills. By learning about the process and putting forth a conscious effort, you can become an effective listener.

• 15 Tips for Writing Effective Email | ThinkSimpleNow.com

November 20, 2008 - 1. Determine Your Desired Outcome

There are 4 types of email:

1. Self Fulfilling Email - The email itself is the point. You want to tell the receiver something, either a compliment or information. No reply is necessary.
2. Inquiries - You need something from the receiver in the form of a reply. For example, advice, or questions answered. The reply is your desired outcome.
3. Open-Ended Dialog - to keep communication lines open, for the purpose of some future result or benefit.
4. Action Emails - The goal is not the reply, but some action on the part of the receiver. For example, a sales pitch, or asking for a website link exchange.

2. Quickly Answers, “What’s the Point?”

People want to know “what do you need from me?” And if no action or reply is expected, say that! “No reply necessary.”

3. State Benefits Clearly
Too many pitchy emails focus solely on the sender and why the action will benefit the sender. If you don’t present incentives, or they are difficult to understand, the receiver will say no - resulting in a waste of time for both.

4. Remember to KISS

KISS = Keep it simple, stupid

Using as little words as possible, introduce who you are, context if necessary, and why you are emailing.

5. Save the Whole Story - Stick to the Facts.

Simply stick to the facts - it’ll help you keep your message short.

6. Pretend Face-to-face Intro

Treating email introductions as if you are meeting them in person is another trick to keeping messages short.

7. Text Message Trick

Pretend you’re on a mobile device.

8. Avoid Excessive Compliments

Compliment only if you really mean it. And remember to be brief if you need action from the receiver.

9. Be Personal and Personable

Personalize email with relevant remarks to the receiver, put in a quick comment about their site, product or work. Address the person by name, sign email with your own name, and a friendly comment like “Enjoy your weekend!”

10. Make it Easy to Be Found

In your signature, include appropriate URLs for your website, blog, portfolio or product. Make sure the links are functional so they can read more about you in one-click.

11. Use Simple English

Write like you talk, using conversational English. Be authentic and realistic.

12. Font Matters

Do not bold the entire email, use easy to read fonts (ie. Arial), and use a standard size.

13. Formatting Matters

Make emails easy to read and quick to scan by using bullet points, numbered lists, and keeping paragraphs short. Highlight keywords (bold or italic) for emphasis, without over doing it.

14. Minimize Questions

Ask questions that matter, and limit the number of questions and favors you ask in an email (one or two max). The more questions (especially open-ended ones) asked in one sitting, the less likely you are to get a response, and the less likely all your questions will be answered.

Also, ask specific questions instead of a general open-ended ones. Be reasonable and thoughtful when asking.

15. Trimming of Words

Like grooming a garden, read through the finished email and trim out words, sentences, and paragraphs that do not contribute towards your desired result.

Check for potential ambiguities and unclear thinking. Can you rephrase sentences for clarity using fewer words? Check for excess commentary that doesn’t add to the email’s main point. Remove extra details disclosed, unnecessarily.

Take Home Points:

* No rambling stories or long intros.
* Get to the point quickly.
* Next action clearly stated.
* Present benefits.
* Fonts and formatting matter.
* Review for conciseness, simplicity and clarity.
* One question per email.
* Be yourself - that is, the concise version of yourself.

• Part II: Action Support Folders and Tickler Lists: 2 GTD Tools We Hardly Ever Discuss

November 20, 2008 - A new folder: the Action Support folder, which is not the same as a Project Folder. Apparently.

Anybody with expertise using SPC in a healthcare/hospital setting?

Perhaps you need to read the articles/books via the attached links?

A basic guide to introduction of the technique is in three chronological phases:

* Phase 1: Stabilisation of the process by the identification and elimination of special causes:
* Phase 2: Active improvement efforts on the process itself, i.e. tackling common causes;
* Phase 3: Monitoring the process to ensure the improvements are maintained, and incorporating additional improvements as the opportunity arises.

• http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=379&pid=13438
• http://www.amazon.com/Statistical-Process-Control-Health-Care/dp/053437865X

I’m amazed at how rapidly lean six sigma is spreading across non-traditional industry sectors, rather like a particularly virulent case of chicken pox. Firstly, in aviation: for example, the is the fastest-selling new airplane in aviation history and uses composites on the airframe to allow the huge structure to be built in just one piece. This means essentially there are six major end items coming together in final assembly — the forward, centre and aft fuselage sections, the wings, the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fin.

Since the 787 is assembled from these large assemblies rather than many smaller pieces, traditional monument assembly tools are not necessary. Portable tools, designed with ergonomics in mind, move the assemblies into place. No overhead cranes are used to move airplane structure. A composite airframe also means less waste in production and fewer hazardous materials used during the assembly process. Boeing aims to improve the production time from seven weeks to one airplane every three days.

Still on aviation, Mark over at Lean Blog has spotted a great story relating to kaizen-type activities at Southwest Airlines.

Next to pharmaceuticals, Meikah at sixsig.info reports that Sanofi Aventis are deploying six sigma and are so proud of it they have produced a case study to download. A summary of the key points are:

• Training, facilitated by Motorola, of employees to be Six Sigma Black Belts.
• Broadening of Six Sigma activities by incorporating Lean Six Sigma Tools.
• Boost of the morale of employees when they saw Six Sigma as part of their job to continuously improve processes. Six Sigma has pervaded the whole organization as employees took ownership of the initiative and got rewarded by their efforts.

Finally, six sigma is also making gains in financial services however the focus here is on revenue enhancing projects and not just cost reduction initiatives, why? –

Labour and material are some of the largest cost contributors in manufacturing. Compare that to a lending institution or a bank: their largest expense is not labour or material, but cost of funds. So, the key is to focus on occurrence - once you get a customer in-house, how to make sure that you keep them and get the most value from the relationship.

Do you work in a market sectors where lean or six sigma is being deployed? Leave a comment below.

The originators of the Six Sigma initiative use a unit of measurement, a ‘Sigma’, to measure performance, the higher the value of Sigma the better the performance. For example, a 6 Sigma process is rated better than a 5 Sigma one. This meaning contrasts with the standard statistical meaning and usage of the term, sigma. The symbol, sigma, a Greek letter symbolizing a statistical measure of variation, termed the standard deviation is in universal use. The lower the value of the standard deviation, ‘sigma’, the less the variation present and the better the performance of a characteristic. The opposing meanings inevitably cause confusion. This confusion can be compounded as the internationally accepted standard ‘sigma’ provides the derivation of the Sigma metric used in Six Sigma projects and also the relationship between non-conformities per million opportunities and the Six Sigma, Sigma.

Thoughts
An advantage of the Sigma measure is its simplicity and practicality. This appeals to all those who do not wish to get too embroiled in statistical niceties but just want a simple readily understandable scale of performance measurement. The fact that 6 Sigma denotes something better than 5 Sigma and that 5 Sigma is better than 4 Sigma, and so on makes good practical sense to them and they are quite prepared to run with it. Others, who are already actively engaged in the application of statistical process control, will readily understand the use of Sigmas in a different way to sigmas but may feel uncomfortable and uneasy with both the frailty of the underlying concept and the outcome. This is because an alternative soundly based approach is available with the use of the internationally defined measured data process capability indices such as Cp. A Cp of 3 indicates less variation than a Cp of 2, and so on. Such measures require the pre-establishment of both process stability and a knowledge of the underlying pattern of variation.

Do you have any suggestions to help the project manager with scoping a project and getting the team working together right from the start of a project? [link]

Project managers obviously face many issues when starting a project. Gaining appropriate sponsorship, acquiring necessary resources, and determining correct customer requirements are the kinds of issues that if not handled correctly can easily result in eventual project failure. Additionally, two important issues project managers face on just about every project have to do with determining the correct project scope and quickly getting the project team working together. Fortunately, there is an effective and often used Six Sigma tool which addresses those two very issues. Project managers can greatly benefit from using the “SIPOC” diagram at the start of every project

Basically loans don’t require a lot of effort to turn into bad credit loan category, especially with a bad track record of home equity loans as well as other personal loans being borrowed in place of car loans, something that is forbidden in the debt relief guide.

[link]

Leadership Tips
#L1 Fix The Problem, Not The Blame.
#L2 Tell People What You Want, Not How To Do It.
#L3 Manage the function, not the paperwork.
#L4 Don’t DO Anything.
#L5 You never have to make up for a good start.
#L6 Get out of your office.
#L7 Lead by example.
#L8 Delegate the easy stuff.
#L9 Don’t get caught up in looking good.
#L10 Quality is just conformance to requirements.
#L11 Learn from the mistakes of others.
#L12 Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals.
#L13 Set an example.
#L14 Know Your GPM.
#L15 Train Your Supervisors.
#L16 You Can’t Listen With Your Mouth Open.
#L17 Practice what you preach.
#L18 Leaders create change.
#L19 Don’t Limit Yourself.
#L20 Anyone can steer the ship in calm waters.
#L21 You have to make a difference.

[link]

Six Sigma uses a number of specialized measures (metrics). The most fundamental is the Defects Per Million Opportunities (DOMO) measure. The aim of six sigma is to achieve less than 3.4 DPMO. A process that gives 3.4 DPMO has achieved ’six sigma’.

The Rolled Throughput Yield (RTY) is a key tool in achieving this. The individual yields at each process step might look, at first site, quite good, but the First Pass Yield might be significantly lower. Even when the First Pass Yield at each process step looks satisfactory the overall or Rolled throughput Yield may be low.

The sigma metric is an alternative to the traditional process capability and process performance measures used in Statistical Process Control.

• Defects per Million Opportunities
• Defects per Unit
• DPMO
• DPU
• First Pass Yield
• Rolled Throughput Yield
• Sigma
• Sigma Level
• Yield

Related articles

• Six Sigma metrics overview
• TQM -v- six-sigma
• 3 steps to statistical thinking
• Why you don’t need six-sigma
• Levels of Six Sigma strategy deployment: part 3
• Overview of Six Sigma
• Dumb Leaders Destroy Six Sigma
• Six sigma leadership
• 5 things a black belt needs
• IBM tackles energy waste with Green Sigma

Here’s a question:

Wouldn’t it be interesting to have a Six Sigma exercise to measure a person’s innate aptitude and passion for a customer-facing role from pre-sales, to sales, through service, at all management levels?

Erm, not to me but possibly to some (but not all) dumb leaders. They may read in a book, understand what R-Squared is and then think they get the concept of variation. Whilst I’m all for a bit of guidance I’m a great believer in “education through action”. Learn the basics from a great sensi, roll-up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand” - that’s what its about!!

Some companies believe that existing lean six sigma initiatives are not good enough and others stress that six sigma reduces innovation and as innovation relies on variation (what Six Sigma is supposed to remove), so therefore organisations who adopt six sigma are doomed never to product innovative products or services. This is baloney of the highest order and I’m sick of hearing this. What all of this shows is that some companies clearly don’t get six sigma while some do.

I stress again: six sigma is not about tools or even statistics its about adopting the right philosophy in the business. This is about training, understanding its fundamental principles and avoiding the most common types of failure.

In fact, lean six sigma, applied successfully, is being increasingly adopted outside of manufacturing. In healthcare for example:

You could say that, where a manufacturer seeks to produce quality products, a hospital seeks to produce healthy patients. If a patient falls victim to an infection while in the hospital, that is a defect that undermines the hospital’s mission and causes rework (having to cure the infection, in addition to the original illness). Therefore, reducing or eliminating infections is equivalent to eliminating waste in the form of defects and rework. And that is fundamentally lean.

What’s your understanding of lean and six sigma?

Like this post? Be sure to subscribe

Related articles

• Dumb Leaders Destroy Six Sigma
• Why you don’t need six-sigma
• TQM -v- six-sigma
• Six Sigma doesn’t work?
• 6 killer tips to sell lean, six-sigma or TQM
• 3M: Six Sigma vs Innovation
• IBM launches ‘Green Sigma’ business consulting

There are a number of games which can be played in a classroom to simulate or teach lean principles:

The Nickel Game and the Dollar Game are useful in demonstrating some of the principles of the Theory of Constraints (ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=TOC&btnG=Search&cx=partner-pub-3820832056591464%3A8vu6mif8mj7">TOC) — also useful for some related Lean principles …

Here here are videos (in “RealPlayer” format) that describe the Games:

• Nickel Game
• Dollar Game

The Dice Game can be useful in explaining variability as well as several other Lean Six Sigma concepts, such as Kanban and the Theory of Constraints (ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=TOC&btnG=Search&cx=partner-pub-3820832056591464%3A8vu6mif8mj7">TOC).

There is also a short video (in “RealPlayer format) showing how to do the Dice Game, at this link

The Bean Game can be completed in as little as an hour, and is useful for demonstrating some of the concepts of the Theory of Constraints.

Any more games to share?

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• Lean Games
• Dumb Leaders Destroy Six Sigma
• Global Leader in LeanSigma? Consulting and Training Selects Crossbow Group for Brand Development
• Six Sigma doesn’t work?
• Joseph Juran, 103, Pioneer in Quality Control, Dies
• IBM tackles energy waste with Green Sigma

Toyota Motor has 10x the market value of the Big Three combined. Toyota’s management system is one of the most studied and emulated in North America, yet no other company is as highly revered for their management style as Toyota is, with the exception of perhaps, GE. The question is what company will be the next Toyota and why? In this post I present my ideas:

From the perspective of an individual company: Oticon

Oticon’s culture is based on the philosophy that an individual’s point of view is more important than his or her title. With independent, responsible employees and colleagues, managerial responsibilities are incorporated at ground level.

Since Oticon’s style of working is project-based, managers are there to clear the track of any obstacles and make sure the individual and the team as a whole are achieving both personal and corporate goals.

At Oticon it is people’s talents and expertise that govern the tasks they are asked to fulfil. Those who are professionally competent will gain plenty of influence and great responsibility in a company that offers independent jobs full of challenging assignments.

Oticon revolutionized management through a change programme that basically turned the company from being a loss to becoming one of the best performing companies in Denmark..

The trick was to turn the company from being a highly traditional engineering company into a consumer driven company, so the entire innovation process was remodelled. At the same time working stations were abolished in favour of dynamic workplaces - the virtually paperless office with no fixed place, and the entire organisation operated as “Spaghetti”. In fact that term, spaghetti organisation, gained fame globally. The operation began involving every function at every step of the entire supply chain - thus being able to cut back on unnecessary functions, effectively creating a very powerful, lean operation.

From an alternative perspective: The United Arab Emirates development in Dubai

This has to be the most remarkable success story in modern times. Using their resources and the income earned from oil, the UAE is transforming Dubai into the premiere city in the modern world. The number of projects going on in Dubai is so numerous and so large that no single corporation on earth could match it.

Image via Wikipedia

The management in the UAE and Dubai under the current leadership of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum have focused on transforming their small desert area into the number one business, shipping, technology and financial destination in the world. Even if they do not achieve everything that they had set out to do, if you just view their current accomplishments, it should make them worthy of being the premiere business entity in the modern world.

Here is an example of some of the multi-billion dollar projects: Al Ghurair City, Burj Dubai, City of Arabia, Dubai International Airport (expansion), Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai Marina Masterplan, Dubailand, Hydropolis, Palm Island Masterplan…just to name a few.

Systems Thinking

Another way of looking at this question is to establish when will systems thinking really take hold? I believe the transformation is already underway. Case in point, the MIT Lean Aerospace Initiative is re-positioning itself to focus on Lean and strategic systems thinking. Companies are focusing on the next hot wave, “innovation” only to find that the foundation is process/system thinking. This is further fuel to the fire of enterprise alignment and systems thinking.

I believe that the next major world wide transformation will come from outside of manufacturing. Companies are struggling to achieve a balance between shareholders, customers, and employees. Many have come to the realization that the value of human capital is the single largest investment and a primary foundational element of long term success. A well trained aligned workforce focusing on value and continuous improvement is at the heart of successful systems thinking.

Many people think about the tools of the Toyota Production System but fail to understand that real enterprise alignment begins with senior management, (vision) the development of the portfolio, (allocation of resources) infrastructure systems, (performance management systems) and enterprise knowledge systems (continuous improvement and communication). This includes the enterprise road map – typically a twenty to thirty year vision of the future, the management measurement systems, and the true alignment of the corporate goals and objectives down to the lowest level within the organization. Without this alignment, any process changes will not be sustainable as the infrastructure and culture will not be in alignment. Like any living organism, things that are not in alignment are destroyed as they threaten the existence of the enterprise.

To deeply embed the PDCA (continuous learning cycle) senior management must utilize within the strategic planning process. The true value of the enterprise portfolio/roadmap is to allocate resources and transform the long-term corporate vision into reality. Like the architect, the building plans integrate all systems into alignment to accomplish the goals and objectives.

I believe that as Lean Transformation Leaders it is our obligation to work with senior management to help the understand the power and potential of Lean/Six Sigma/Systems thinking. We can no longer “delegate upward” and ask for direction but rather leverage our position as enterprise change agents.

What do you think? Please leave your comments below:

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• Integration of A3 into the DMAIC framework

What’s the link between beer and statistics? Ans: William Sealy Gosset

I recently visited the Guinness brewery whilst in Dublin to run the marathon for Cancer Research. Whilst there I happened across this plaque - check out the photograph above. It commemerated the life and work of William Sealy Gosset who was best known by his pen name Student and for his work on Student’s t-distribution.

It’s listed in Minitab as the paired t-test procedure is used to compare the mean difference between two populations when you believe that some dependency exists. Is a hypothesis test for the mean difference between paired observations that are related or dependent. The paired t-test is useful for analyzing differences between twins, differences in before-and-after measurements on the same subject, and differences between two treatments given to the same subject.

Image via Wikipedia

Born in Canterbury, England to Agnes Sealy Vidal and Colonel Frederic Gosset, Gosset attended Winchester College, the famous private school, before reading chemistry and mathematics at New College, Oxford. On graduating in 1899, he joined the Dublin brewery of Arthur Guinness & Son.

Guinness was a progressive agro-chemical business and Gosset would apply his statistical knowledge both in the brewery and on the farm-to the selection of the best yielding varieties of barley. Gosset acquired that knowledge by study, trial and error and by spending two terms in 1906-7 in the biometric laboratory of Karl Pearson. Gosset and Pearson had a good relationship and Pearson helped Gosset with the mathematics of his papers. Pearson helped with the 1908 papers but he had little appreciation of their importance. The papers addressed the brewer’s concern with small samples, while the biometrician typically had hundreds of observations and saw no urgency in developing small-sample methods.

Another researcher at Guinness had previously published a paper containing trade secrets of the Guinness brewery. To prevent further disclosure of confidential information, Guinness prohibited its employees from publishing any papers regardless of the contained information. This meant that Gosset was unable to publish his works under his own name. He therefore used the pseudonym Student for his publications to avoid their detection by his employer. Thus his most famous achievement is now referred to as Student’s t-distribution, which might otherwise have been Gosset’s t-distribution.

Image via Wikipedia

Gosset’s interest in barley cultivation led him to speculate that design of experiments should aim, not only at improving the average yield, but also at breeding varieties whose yield was insensitive (robust) to variation in soil and climate. This principle only occurs in the later thought of Fisher and then in the work of Genichi Taguchi in the 1950s.

In 1935, he left Dublin to take up the position of Head Brewer, in charge of the scientific side of production, at a new Guinness brewery at Park Royal in North West London. He died in Beaconsfield, England of a heart attack.

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Why we are the enemy when it comes to healthcare process improvement.

I originally posted this article as a comment here and it won me a copy of Lean Hospitals.

Healthcare organisations in Canada and the US have been the first to introduce lean thinking, and there is top management support for it in some of the major healthcare organisations in these countries such as the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, and the University of Colorado. There is also a plethora of practical case studies from them that demonstrate lean thinking’s successes.

As a result, several NHS trusts such as Wirral Hospital NHS Trust, Merseyside, are currently introducing lean thinking in their efforts to streamline services.

In the book, “Lean Six Sigma for Service”, there is an outstanding case study from Stanford Hospital and Clinics in which they have seen a drop in the mortality rate of 48% as well as costs savings of 40% since using lean six sigma. Also Park Nicollet Health Services have begun using Lean and Kaizen within there CFO offices and have been seening great results from it.

Successful promotion of lean health care across the UK depends however on gaining both the support of government and the NHS at executive level. If this is won, implementation of lean thinking at organisational level can be achieved by the strategic training of relevant staff members. The potential benefits of lean thinking are:

• Shorter patient waiting times
• More patient admissions and diagnoses
• Faster bed turn arounds
• Improved workplace organisation, cleanliness and safety
• Less inventory used and better use of space