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There Are Lies, Damned Lies and Descriptive Statistics

1 February, 2018 by James Lawther 7 Comments

Anscombe’s quartet Here are some interesting numbers for you. Interesting in a geeky sort of way… They are 4 sets of readings for two variables, X and Y. That is a horribly algebraic. It brings back memories of a comprehensive school deep in the 1980’s. All polyester blazers and fermenting gym kit. Let me bring the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: Anscombe's quartet, average, data is not information, gemba, key performance indicators, management by wandering around

Justice Isn’t All That It Seems

31 July, 2016 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Judges

Things don’t always work the way they should Take the judicial system as an example. We hope that judges are always fair and impartial.  That they apply the logic of the law in an even-handed way.  After all, justice is blind.  But if you wanted to challenge this assumption you could probably drive a cart […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: assumptions, gemba

Pride and Ignorance

29 June, 2016 by James Lawther 5 Comments

Scurvy isn’t nice If you are unfortunate enough to contract it you will start to feel tired. Then you will develop spots on your skin and your gums will turn spongy. A week or so later you will start to bleed from your mucous membranes and your skin will turn yellow.  Eventually sufferers develop open […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: command and control, gemba, group think, human nature, ignorance, innovation, no substitute for experience, nothing new under the sun, political will

Go, Look, Understand

2 June, 2016 by James Lawther 3 Comments

Go Look Understand

Problem solving To solve a problem you need to understand the problem. Understanding comes at all sorts of places: Opinions We all have opinions, mental models of how things work and people behave.  Our opinions help us box off and make sense of the world. Data Numbers and patterns.  Information that helps us see how […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: back to the floor, gemba, problem solving

The Rules of the Workplace

27 September, 2015 by James Lawther 3 Comments

The 20 rules: Prioritise the work Don’t make your customers wait There is always more work than people Study the work Understand how the work works Standardise the work If the work is important write it down Train your staff Make the work easy Build systems Stream line the work Find the bottleneck Clean the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Tools & Techniques, Wild Cards Tagged With: bottleneck, communication, customer focus, effective meetings, error proofing, five s, gemba, lean thinking, learning, process mapping, service improvement, SlideShare, standardisation, systems thinking, visual management

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