Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

AT&T Finds New Ways to Annoy Its Customers

Monday, June 7th, 2010


AT&T System Upgrade

New iPhone Customers Got Another AT&T Surprise


As an AT&T and iPhone user I am often surprised at the poor level of service the former “Phone Company” monopoly provides to its customers. For example, although I can see the AT&T cell tower from my Tucson home, I frequently experience failed calls, dropped calls, choppy reception and other poor quality phone service. At my vacation home in Pinetop, Arizona there is no 3G service and I am charged the same data rates as I’d incur if I were traveling overseas. I recently “solved” these problems by purchasing an AT&T MicroCell tower, an expensive device that AT&T sells to its hapless customers to improve call quality. At least I get decent call quality at home (of course, I still burn my plan minutes even though there is no usage of AT&T’s cell network.)

Today, June 7, AT&T went to new lengths to annoy existing and potential customers. A few hours ago Apple announced its new iPhone 4.0. My grown son has been wanting an iPhone for quite some time and I had the thought that I could add him to my plan and save a few bucks. I also wanted to know if I could grandfather him in on my unlimited data plan. AT&T announced a few days ago that they were discontinuing the unlimited data plan and charging new customers for data usage. Of course, I learned that I couldn’t grandfather my son in. However, I thought there might be some option that could save us a few dollars. After listening to the agent on the phone for a while I became confused by all of the options and decided to do some research online. Alas, all I could see at the AT&T site was the message “Due to a system upgrade the site is temporarily unavailable…” In other words, on the day that Apple upgrades the iPhone, which is used by more AT&T customers than any other phone, AT&T decides to upgrade their wireless site in the middle of the day.

Apparently “The Phone Company” has yet to understand that they now have competition. Hopefully Apple will seriously consider allowing some of that competition to carry their phone. Until then I’ll be looking at the silver lining: my AT&T customer experience will certainly continue to provide fodder for this blog!

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How to Lie With Statistics-Schwab Chart

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

Chart of schwab fund's investment resultsNormally when the bottom axis represents time periods, the more recent time periods are on the right side. Not so with this graphic of Schwab U.S. Treasury Money Fund dated April 30, 2010. On this chart the most recent period is on the left, not the right. Nice try Schwab!

When using graphics in quality and process improvement, care must be taken not to inadvertently “lie” with statistics. Sometimes even the best get it wrong.

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A trip to the world conference on quality and improvement

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

HospitalityI am of the belief that Lean, Six Sigma and Quality have gone a long way in improving the quality of manufacturing operations and many service businesses as well. However, a recent trip to the ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement leads me to believe that there is still a lot of room for improvement in the travel services sector of the economy.

Going to WCQI

Things started off pretty well. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the price for covered parking at the Tucson International Airport had dropped from $6 per day to only $5 per day. The parking shuttle arrived before I’d even gotten my suitcase out of the car, and I arrived at the airport terminal with time to spare. Security at TIA also went smoothly, as did boarding. We pulled away from the gate and took off on time.

The San Diego airport, where I had a connection, had an unpleasant surprise in store. My plane arrived at gate #1 and my connecting flight departed from gate #3. Sounds good, right? However, it turns out that in San Diego if you arrive at gates 1 or 2 and depart from another gate, you must leave the secured area and get back in line to go through security again. To my knowledge this is an arrangement that’s unique to San Diego; I hope it doesn’t catch on at other airports. Of course, the same process would also apply if you arrived at a gate other than 1 or 2 and connected through one of these gates. Lean it ain’t!

We departed San Diego early and landed in St. Louis early. Despite that, we arrived at the gate in St. Louis late. Here’s how this happened. Our gate was in use by another plane. Fair enough, we were early after all and Lean practitioners know that Just-in-time is better than either early or late. However, when our scheduled arrival time came and went, we were still on the tarmac waiting for the gate. We continued to wait. Finally, an hour after our scheduled arrival time, we started deplaning the aircraft.

Where’s the luggage? It came, eventually. After everything was said and done, I left the baggage claim area 1 1/2 hours after we’d touched down in St. Louis.

I chose to ride the St. Louis Metro Link to the hotel. The train arrived on time, and it was clean. The ride to the station nearest the hotel was quiet and uneventful. I’d received directions from the hotel on how to get to the hotel from the station. They said “Exit the station, go left on 7th street, and the hotel is two blocks down the street on the left.” True enough, except that 7th street was completely blocked due to construction and had been for weeks. I eventually got to the hotel, but the two block walk was more like six.

Returning Home

The return trip went well all the way back to Tucson. In fact, my connecting flight from Las Vegas arrived at 4:10PM, 10 minutes early. This time the gate was open and we deplaned early. I entered the baggage claim area and waited with my fellow passengers for the luggage. At first the crowd was normal-sized, but after a while the area became quite crowded. Three flights had arrived at same time because two were late, by over an hour. After waiting 20 minutes and seeing nary a bag on the carousel, a Southwest Airlines agent announced that the next bags were from a flight from Denver. This seemed only fair since the poor folks from Denver were arriving 1 1/2 hours late. At 4:45 the last bag from the Denver flight was removed from the carousel. Unfortunately, there were still lots of Denver passengers waiting for their bags. I counted nine Denver passengers filling out claims for missing bags. (Luckily, the airport is a gun-free zone.) At 5:05PM I got my lone bag, 55 minutes from the time I deplaned.

Conclusions

None of these incidents is especially noteworthy. I did not complain to anyone at the airline or hotel, nor will I. This was, in fact, a better than normal travel experience for me. However, it’s a long way from perfect. Lean and Lean Six Sigma have a great deal to offer the hospitality industry to help them reduce errors and waste. The payoff will be customers who don’t have to wait, employees who don’t have to deal with unhappy customers and mistakes, and improved customer satisfaction and profitability. The companies that lead the way will reap the lion’s share of the benefits. The rest will play catch up, or go out of business. The manufacturing sector has already traveled this journey. The hospitality sector is just now taking their first baby steps. I hope they hurry!

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Poor Quality Malaria Drugs Causing Problems

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report reported that between 26 percent and 44 percent of artemisinin-based malaria drugs sold in Madagascar, Senegal and Uganda “failed quality testing” because of impurities or insufficient amounts of active ingredient, the Associated Press reports. The study, which was conducted by the nongovernmental U.S. Pharmacopeia program and received funding from USAID, adds to concerns about growing resistance to artemisinin, which is currently the most effective treatment for malaria.

Malaria, nearly eradicated by the early 1970s, began a resurgence after the US EPA banned DDT because, the EPA alleged, it caused bird’s eggshells to become too thin. Subsequent research casts doubt on this allegation. Nevertheless, other nations followed the USA’s lead and within a few years Malaria had once again reached epidemic proportions in many poor nations of the world, particularly in the tropics. The numbers are truly staggering. According to the CDC

  • Forty-one percent of the world’s population live in areas where malaria is transmitted (e.g., parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America, Hispaniola, and Oceania).
  • Each year 350–500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide, and over one million people die, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • In areas of Africa with high malaria transmission, an estimated 990,000 people died of malaria in 1995 – over 2700 deaths per day, or 2 deaths per minute.
  • In 2002, malaria was the fourth cause of death in children in developing countries, after perinatal conditions (conditions occurring around the time of birth), lower respiratory infections (pneumonias), and diarrheal diseases. Malaria caused 10.7% of all children’s deaths in developing countries.
  • In Malawi in 2001, malaria accounted for 22% of all hospital admissions, 26% of all outpatient visits, and 28% of all hospital deaths. Not all people go to hospitals when sick or having a baby, and many die at home. Thus the true numbers of death and disease caused by malaria are likely much higher.

Quality issues only exacerbate the problem of controlling this vicious, often fatal, illness. “The study is the first part of a 10-country examination of antimalarials in Africa by the U.S. and the World Health Organization. It follows evidence from the Thai-Cambodian border that artemisinin-based drugs there are taking longer to cure malaria patients, the first sign of drug resistance,” the news service writes.

“The experts subjected 200 samples of anti-malaria drugs to quality-control testing in a U.S. laboratory. They found 44% of the drugs from Senegal failed the testing, followed by 30% from Madagascar and 26% from Uganda. Patrick Lukulay, director of the U.S. government-funded Pharmacopeia programme, said it was a ‘disturbing trend,’” the BBC writes.

He said, “It is worrisome that almost all of the poor-quality data that was obtained was a result of inadequate amounts of active [ingredients] or the presence of impurities in the product”.

According to the AP, the “three-country report also found bad drugs in both the public and private health sectors, meaning governments – some buying medicines with donor funds – are not doing enough to keep poor-quality pills out. All of the drugs tested from the public sector in Uganda, however, passed the quality tests. But 40 percent of the artemisinin-based drugs in Senegal failed.” The study also notes that the same drug brands generally had similar results across all sectors, which could help governments that are trying to eliminate substandard drugs.

While the study is not the first to assess the quality of antimalarials in Africa, it is the most rigorous and complete, according to the AP, which notes that similar failure rates were found in previous work that did not focus specifically on artemisinin-based drugs. The WHO has examined malaria treatments in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Tanzania, the AP reports, adding that while the results have not been made public, “Clive Ondari, who worked on the study for the WHO in Geneva, said failure rates in three of those countries were also significantly high. Ghana has already withdrawn more than 20 drugs from the market after receiving the initial results, Lukulay said”

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A Tribute to Spencer Hutchens, Jr.

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Spencer Hutchens, Jr.If you’ve worked in the quality profession for any period of time, you probably know the name Spencer Hutchens, Jr.. Spencer is a Past President of The American Society for Quality (ASQ,) a Past Chairman of the International Academy of Quality (IAQ,) and the namesake of the ASQ Spencer Hutchens, Jr. Medal for Social Responsibility. But to me Spencer is a long-time close friend, mentor, and personal and professional role model.

I first met Spencer 30 years ago. Spencer worked for a company, Intertek, that was a supplier to my employer, Hughes Aircraft Company. We had some interactions as customer and supplier. When I started my own consulting practice in 1983 I began working with Spencer as a contract trainer and consultant for Intertek’s clients. We did a fair amount of work together in that relationship.

Lessons in Leadership

I learned a great deal from watching Spencer’s leadership style. I attended a meeting while working with Spencer in Hong Kong with a disgruntled supplier to the client Spencer and represented. The meeting was quite intense. I was focused on the technical content of what was being said by the supplier. On a break Spencer took me aside and commented that some of the supplier’s people were sitting quietly and that different people were playing different roles in the meeting. One fellow, “Bill”, was doing most of the talking. He complained about the relationship, pushed for price increases, and made demands of our client (and his customer.) However, Bill’s boss said very little. Instead she would observe others at the meeting and if client personnel seemed to be getting upset with Bill she would interject comments designed to smooth ruffled feathers and she would sometimes take the meeting in a new direction. Spencer was able to create a dialog with her and through this dialog he was able to achieve the goals of our client. Without Spencer I would not have recognized this dimension of the meeting, but it taught me the value of understanding more than just the words being said or the facts being presented.

Mentoring

Of course, the above example is a great illustration of mentoring. But Spencer taught me to be more than just a “facts and data” person. Instead you must try to look at things from the other person’s point of view. What challenges do they face? What are they actually trying to achieve? This helped me see that the other person’s reaction was more than thick-headed resistance to reality, it was a natural response to the situation they faced. The ability to do this has helped me in my personal as well as in my business life.

Working with Spencer

As mentioned earlier, Spencer is a Past President of ASQ. I have been very active in ASQ activities for many years and Spencer’s insights into the people and activities at ASQ have helped me be more effective in working with ASQ to promote the cause of quality and the quality profession. Spencer’s membership in the IAQ gives him a global perspective of quality that is reflected in his discussions of quality related topics. Spencer is an ambassador who builds bridges of cooperation among various quality constituencies and makes it easier for them to work together. I often call Spencer and catch him in distant corners of the world. I’ve traveled with him on some of these trips and learned that he knows how to relax and enjoy life as he sees new places and meets new people.

Treking Nepal

Some years ago I hiked up Tanque Verde Canyon in Southern Arizona. The hike involved navigating some boulders and scrambling up some desert trails that I considered to be at least a little challenging. About the time I was feeling fairly smug a group of very elderly people came walking down the trail from the opposite direction. I knew that they had walked the trail I was on because Tanque Verde Canyon ends at a 100-foot high waterfall surrounded by smooth cliffs. I was considerably less smug as I stepped aside to let them pass. The tee shirt on the last person, a small white-haired lady who looked to be 80-ish, destroyed the last remnants of my smugness. It said “I trekked Nepal.”

Spencer, 87 as of this writing, told me a story of hiking with a group of young people in Nepal. He was, I believe, in his late 70s at the time. The group was setting a brisk pace in the thin mountain air. Spencer makes his home at sea level in Los Angeles so he couldn’t have been acclimated, but he kept up with the youngsters until finally one of the ladies on the hike insisted that they stop for a break. “I was very glad they stopped,” Spencer told me. “But I wasn’t going to be the one to say so!”

Thoughts

Spencer and I have frequent conversations about personal topics, the quality profession, technical subjects, baseball and anything else that friends talk about. It’s great knowing that Spencer is a phone call away to help me with the challenges. Spencer is a gentleman of the old school. My wife keeps hoping that some of his savoir faire will rub off on me but alas, after 3 decades, it isn’t likely that my Nebraska roots will ever stop showing. On the other hand it’s nice to see what true class looks like! Spencer is a real credit to the quality profession.

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How to Achieve World Peace

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

As an assignment in Six Sigma training I asked students to set a timer for 5 minutes and to write down as many ideas as possible in answer to the question: “How can we achieve lasting world peace?” I asked students to think outside the box and to emphasize quantity over quality. Here is a compilation of the ideas received. Since I don’t think we can ever have too many ideas on this subject, please add your own ideas to the list by leaving a comment.

  1. Politicians are random selected at birth, trained for common good
  2. Free heroin
  3. Vote for one world dictator
  4. Same education program for all
  5. Education on tolerance
  6. Redirect defence budget fund to help poor
  7. Understanding for causes of grievance
  8. Eliminate causes of grievances
  9. Genetically engineer the race to be peaceful
  10. Develop drugs to make everyone happy
  11. Drugs to eliminate aggression
  12. Eradicate poverty
  13. No countries
  14. One country
  15. No religion
  16. Ban all weapons
  17. Nuke all enemies
  18. More powerful UN
  19. UN only has WOMD
  20. UN only has army
  21. Politicians/leaders are random selected at birth, trained for common good
  22. Be nice to each other
  23. Leaders work together
  24. Stop stupid wars for weapons of mass destruction hunting
  25. Hold bad leaders accountable for atrocities
  26. Share our food
  27. Stop the oil price games
  28. Countries work to become more self sufficient
  29. World aid where needed
  30. Everyone help in disaster to rebuild
  31. Peacekeeping
  32. Share the wealth
  33. Share medical supplies and expertise
  34. End Aids and other epidemics that don’t need to be
  35. Educate
  36. Respect religious differences
  37. Respect status of women
  38. Stop actions like Darfur
  39. Control and regulate nuclear weapons
  40. Eliminate nuclear weapons
  41. Use nuclear technology for advancement of quality of life not death
  42. Use the military to help and rebuild countries instead of war
  43. Use war money to help developing countries
  44. Build some trust between the big powers
  45. US stop bullying other countries
  46. Respect!!
  47. Make some plans
  48. Get some food growing
  49. Get some education growing
  50. Save our rainforests and other special lands
  51. Use our technology for good not war
  52. Be nice!!!
  53. World leaders step up for more than photo ops
  54. Take care of our children all over the world
  55. Take care of our animals all over the world
  56. Make sure we are around to care about peace
  57. Use the money that is spent on playing in space for development in poor countries
  58. Food and medicine to every person
  59. Close down Wall Street
  60. Fair distribution of wealth
  61. Think about other people interest
  62. Crack down corporate America
  63. Invest in people
  64. Respect other people
  65. Presidents should refuse power
  66. People should love each other
  67. People should respect each other
  68. People should agree that money is not everything
  69. People should have to wish to share resources
  70. People should understand that the world is for everybody
  71. People have freedom in all countries
  72. Eliminate world hunger.
  73. Create sufficient jobs.
  74. Eliminate social discrimination.
  75. Eliminate social inequality.
  76. Create a sustainable health system.
  77. Preserve the environment.
  78. Re-use natural resources.
  79. Elevate the educational level.
  80. People need to be activists re: war prevention
  81. Need better international rules and a means of enforcing them
  82. Eliminate weapons of mass destruction
  83. Create a collective defense system through the United Nations
  84. Figure out a reasonable distribution of wealth
  85. Increase education on global ethics and moral rules
  86. Increase the influence of the U.N.
  87. All religions must preach against religious and ethnic hatred
  88. Establish international criminal court to control dictators who use war to rise to power and promote their ideology
  89. Do not expose children to violence
  90. Train children to resolve conflicts in a non-violent manner
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How to Run a Meeting

Monday, October 5th, 2009

In today’s business world people spend a lot of time in meetings.  As time goes by, it is likely that even more time will be spent in meetings.  Meetings can be made more productive by following a few simple rules:

  • In the planning phase ask “What is this meeting solving for?” Meetings are not ends in themselves, they are means to an end. What is the meeting supposed to accomplish?
  • Schedule the meeting well ahead of time. Follow up prior to the meeting to remind them of the time and place.
  • Be sure that key people are invited and that they plan to attend. Remind them just before the meeting.
  • Prepare an agenda and stick to it!  Meetings without an agenda tend to lack focus.  The leader must keep the discussion on the topic of the meeting. This may feel awkward or even rude at first, but other attendees will thank you for it and it will become more comfortable as time goes by.
  • Start on time.  Some Japanese companies actually lock the meeting room door at the precise starting time, those not in the room are not allowed to enter late.
  • State the purpose of the meeting clearly at the start of the meeting.  Although the purpose is already in the agenda, restating it provides a reminder that this meeting has a purpose and that you intend to stay focused on the purpose.  Meetings must be results focused.
  • Take minutes.  The significant activities, decisions and action-items should be written down during the meeting.  Minutes should be read aloud before the meeting adjourns.  Minutes should be published and distributed to attendees as soon as possible.
  • Summarize from time-to-time.  A summary is usually appropriate when moving from one agenda item to the next.
  • Actively solicit input from those less talkative.  Quiet members may need encouragement to draw them out of their silence.
  • Curtail the overly talkative members.  This should, of course, be done tactfully.  However, it must still be done.
  • Manage conflicts.  Destructive conflict is the antithesis of communication.  Conflicts can often be avoided by presenting groundrules in advance, e.g., no hidden agendas, no personal comments, no negative comments, focus on the future and not on the past, etc..  However, keep in mind that creatively managed conflict is often the source of innovation.  Conflict is often evidence of unspoken feelings and rationales and the root cause of the conflict should be determined.
  • Make assignments and responsibilities explicit and specific.  Confirm that those with assignments agree to them.
  • End on time.
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How to Give a Great Presentation

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

The Purpose of a Presentation

Unlike a meeting where all in attendance are expected to contribute and participate, a presentation involves a speaker who is trying to communicate with an audience.  There are two common reasons why a person might want to address an audience:

  1. To inform or educate them.  This is the purpose of business presentations, training classes, technical reports, and so on.  The speaker discusses, explains, describes events or ideas or teaches the audience how to do something.  This type of presentation often involves audio-visual aids such as charts, graphs, recordings, video presentations or computer presentations.  Success is defined by an audience leaving with more knowledge than they had when they arrived.
  1. To convince or persuade them.  The audience may have an understanding of a particular topic but lack the desire to change.  The speaker’s goal is to get the audience to take a certain type of action.  In these presentations the speaker may seek to generate an emotional response rather than communicating factual data.  Success is accomplished when the action is taken.

An old saw on speaking states that there are three steps involved in a presentation, 1) tell them what you’re going to tell them, 2) tell them, 3) tell them what you told them.  The effective speaker understands that he or she must provide the audience with a compelling reason for attending the presentation.  Thus, the focus of preparation should be the audience, not the speaker.  The beginning of the presentation should summarize the content of the presentation and explain why the audience should be interested.  The body of the presentation should present the information in a way that is clear, entertaining, and concise.  The ending should review the major points of the presentation and solicit the desired audience response (e.g., ask the audience to provide resources for a project).

Preparing the Presentation

Many speakers find it difficult to organize their presentations.  Here are a few guidelines that the author has found helpful.

  1. Prepare a list of every topic you want to cover.  Don’t be selective or critical at this point, write down everything that comes to mind.  When you have finished, take some time off, then do it again.
  2. Cull the list to those select few ideas that are most important.  You should try to keep the list of major ideas down to three or less.  Where possible, group the remaining points as subtopics under the key ideas.  Eliminate the rest.
  3. Number your points.  The numbers help the listener understand and remember the points.  Numbers set the point apart and help with retention.  For example, “there are three reasons why we should proceed: first, lower cost; second, higher quality; and third, improved customer satisfaction.”  However, keep the number of items small; a speaker who announces “I have fifteen items to discuss” will frighten the audience.
  4. Organize the presentation’s ideas. Some speech experts recommend the “buildup” approach: good ideas first, better ideas next, best points last.
  5. Analyze each major point.  Tell the audience why the point is important to them.  Make the presentation relevant and entertaining.

Visual Aids

A visual aid in a speech is a pictorial used by a speaker to convey an idea.  Well designed visual aids add power to a presentation by showing the idea more clearly and easily than words alone.  Whereas only 10% of presented material is retained from a verbal presentation after 3 days, 65% is retained when the verbal presentation is accompanied by a visual aid. ASQ reports that poor quality visuals generate more negative comment from conference attendees than any other item.  The visual aid must be easy for everyone to see.  Small type which cannot be read from the back row of the room defeats the purpose of the visual aid.  There should be good contrast between the text and the background color.  Visuals should have text that is large enough to see easily from the worst seat in the house.  The speaker must also reevaluate the visuals when the room size changes.  A presentation that is perfectly acceptable to a group of 30 may be completely inadequate for a group of 300.

Color plays an important role in the design of effective visuals, if used properly.  However, the improper use of color can make visuals ugly.  Most computer software for preparing presentations comes with preset color schemes.  Unless you have some skill and training in designing visuals, it is recommended that you use one of the schemes or contact a graphic artist.

Here are a few rules recommended by ASQ for effective visual aids:

  • Never read the slide!
  • Each visual should address only one idea.
  • Only the most important points should be the subject of a visual.
  • The visual should be in landscape format.
  • The maximum viewing distance should be less than 8 times the height of the projected image.
  • The original artwork should be readable from a distance 8 times the height of the original; e.g., a 8” x 10” visual should be readable from 64” away.
  • Use no more than 5 lines on a single visual with 7 or fewer words per line.  Ideally, 20 words maximum per visual.
  • Bar charts should have no more than 5 vertical columns.
  • Tables should have no more than 4-6 columns.
  • Graphs should have only 2-3 curves.
  • Lines on charts or in tables should be heavy.
  • Avoid sub-bullet points whenever possible.  Use “build slides” instead.
  • Show each slide for 1.5 minutes maximum, e.g., 10 slides for a 15 minute presentation.
  • Put a black slide on the screen when you want to divert attention back to yourself. (Hint: Pressing the “B” key while showing a Power Point slide will toggle between the slide and a black screen.)
  • Spacing between words should be approximately the width of the letter “n.”
  • Spacing between lines should be 75% of the height of the letters, or double-spaced.
  • Use sans-serif fonts (e.g., H) instead of serif-fonts (e.g., H).
  • Use both upper case and lower case letters.
  • Avoid italics.  Use bold lettering for emphasis.
  • Maintain consistency in type size and fonts.  The minimum letter height should be at least 1/25 the height of artwork (approximately 24 point type).  Labels on graphics should be at least 1/50 the size of the artwork.
  • Never use hand-written or typed slides.
  • Maintain at least a 1” margin on all sides.
  • Recommended background colors (white lettering): deep blue, deep green, deep maroon or black.  Use yellow lettering for highlighting text.

Position and Movement

When using visual aids it is sometimes necessary to darken the room.  However, the speaker should never be in the dark  The visual presentation supports the speaker, it should not be allowed to replace him.  The speaker must always be the most important object in the room.  If the lights must be lowered, arrange to have a small light on yourself, such as a podium light.
When using visual aids a right-handed speaker usually stands to the left of the visual and directs the attention of the audience to the material.  If using a pointer the speaker may stand to either side.  Never stand in front of the material you are presenting to the audience.  Direct the eye of the viewer to the particular portion of the visual that you are emphasizing, don’t just wave at the visual in a random manner.  Layout the visual so that the viewer’s eye moves in a natural flow from topic to topic.
Speak to the audience, not to the screen.  Always face the audience.  A microphone may make your speech audible when you face away from the audience, but it is still bad form to turn your back on the audience.

Charts, Graphs and Data Presentation

Line and bar graphs are an effective way to convey numerical data at a glance.  People understand things they see more quickly than things they hear.  The eye is more effective in gathering and storing information than the ear.  Auditory stimuli is presented and processed sequentially, one word at a time.  Visual information is presented simultaneously.  This is part of the reason why visuals are so effective at displaying patterns.
Business and industry are number-driven entities.   Much of the information presented in meetings is numerical.  Many, perhaps most decisions rely on numbers.  The effective use of graphs makes numbers easier to assimilate and understand.  In most cases, one of three types of graph can be used: line graph, bar graph, and scatter plot.  There are endless refinements on these basic three, e.g., multiple lines, grouped or stacked bars, stratified scatter plots.  Line graphs are most often used to display time-series data (care must be taken to standardize time-series data, e.g., using constant dollars to correct for inflation).  Bar charts are used most often to compare different items or classifications to one another.   Scatter plots examine the association between two variables.
Regardless of the type of graph being used, it is important that the graphic have integrity, i.e., it must accurately portray the data.  In his book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Tufte lists six principles that enhance graphical integrity:

  1. The representation of numbers, as physically measured on the surface of the graphic itself, should be directly proportional to the numerical quantities represented.
  2. Clear, detailed and thorough labeling should be used to defeat graphical distortion and ambiguity.  Write out explanations of the data on the graphic itself. Label important events in the data.
  3. Show data variation, not design variation.
  4. In time-series displays of money, deflated and standardized units are nearly always better than nominal money units.
  5. The number of information carrying (variable) dimensions depicted should not exceed the number of dimensions in the data.
  6. Graphics must not quote data out of context.
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Getting Your First Six Sigma Gig

Monday, September 21st, 2009

Since I started teaching students online a year ago I’ve encountered something new: students trying to get into Six Sigma for the first time. This obviously wasn’t a problem when I was training clients whose employers were getting them trained specifically to use the approach in their organizations. I write this for those of you who are trained in Lean Six Sigma and are in the situation that you are not working for an employer who gives you the chance to practice your newly acquired skills.

Newly trained Six Sigma Belts without experience face a situation similar to that of newly graduated college students. This site contains some great tips on writing a resume when you have no experience.

However, nearly all of you have a big advantage: you have a lot of job experience. And much of your experience is closely related to Six Sigma. Many of you have led project teams, quality improvement teams, or other work teams. This is, of course, a big part of Six Sigma work. Play it up in your resumes!

You can also try finding projects where you can enhance your resumes by actually applying what you’re learning in your training. I’ve done pro bono work for community hospitals and charities such as Goodwill and Red Cross. Some of my self-study students are working with their physicians offices to reduce errors and improve efficiency. Others are working with church groups to help improve attendance at churches or church events, lower costs, or improve the satisfaction of those who attend. My guess is that few churches wouldn’t be interested in Six Sigma projects to increase collections!

The most important thing to realize is that you have an extremely useful skill set. Be bold and confident when you approach your prospective “client” for a project. Six Sigma has been proclaimed by management guru Jack Welch as the most significant management innovation in the past quarter century. You’re learning about an approach that few know and nearly everyone can benefit from. You’ll be surprised at how much fun it can be, and how productive. Finally, this stuff really works! You’ll soon find that your skills are soon in more and more demand. After all, the supply of processes that need to be improved is infinite!

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Posted in Leading Six Sigma, Miscellaneous, Six Sigma Projects | 1 Comment »

Six Sigma Handbook Third Edition Giveaway

Friday, July 10th, 2009

As the author of the Six Sigma Handbook, my publisher gives me a few free copies of the new editions. To celebrate the third edition coming out this fall, I’m going to autograph and give away my free copies. All you need to do to enter is to register on this site and leave a comment on this post. Starting on the day I receive my complementary copies from McGraw-Hill, I will pick a winner at random, and contact them through email (make sure your account has a valid email to have a chance to win.) From there you will have seven calendar days to respond with a valid USPS shipping address to claim your prize, a personally signed copy of the new Third Edition of The Six Sigma Handbook! If no response is received by that time, a new winner will be selected. If winners consent, we will publish their names on the site as comments to this posting.

Note to Paul Keller, coauthor of the third edition: you’re not eligible!

For legal reasons, this contest is only open to shipping addresses in the United States.

Book Giveaway Winners (5 books to be given away)

  1. October 19, winner. Congratulations to our first winner Rick Kennedy,  Albuquerque, NM.
  2. October 26, winner. Congratulations to Cheryl Gallagher-Hall, Richmond, VA.
  3. November 2, winner. Congratulations to Joseph M. Sokalski, Marlton, NJ.
  4. November 9, site user krishnasunkara has been notified. Awaiting a USA mailing address. November 16,  krishnasunkara did not respond in time.
  5. November 16, two new user names drawn. Congratulations to A.G. (Mona) of Bristow, VA. and Mike T of Wyoming, MI.
  6. November 23, our final winner is David Sullivan, Coventry, RI.

The contest has concluded. Congratulations to our winners and thanks to everyone who left a comment!

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Posted in Miscellaneous | 127 Comments »

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What is Six Sigma?

By Thomas Pyzdek, Author of The Six Sigma Handbook

For Motorola, the originator of Six Sigma, the answer to the question "Why Six Sigma?" was simple: survival. Motorola came to Six Sigma because it was being consistently beaten in the competitive marketplace by foreign firms that were able to produce higher quality products at a lower cost. When a Japanese firm took over a Motorola factory that manufactured Quasar television sets in the United States in the 1970s, they promptly set about making drastic changes in the way the factory operated. Under Japanese management, the factory was soon producing TV sets with 1/20th the number of defects they had produced under Motorola management. They did this using the same workforce, technology, and designs, making it clear that the problem was Motorola's management. Eventually, even Motorola's own executives had to admit "our quality stinks." Read More...
 
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