Who put the “Six” in Six Sigma? Who’s the man behind the first Malcolm Baldrige Award and how did he get so good at betting on race horses? This year would have marked Bill Smith’s 88th birthday. Mr. Smith is credited with coining the term “Six Sigma” and developing the…
We saved a seat for you to join us at the Just-In-Time Cafe this week to talk about apps, news, books and all things related to good clean problem solving. We'll cover an app that gives PowerPoint a face lift. On today's Bulletin Board we'll find out how El Paso…
Did you know that the secret behind “any color as long as it’s black” was that Henry Ford figured out black paint dried faster? Did you know that Kingsford Charcoal originated from when Ford burned the pallets transporting his raw materials? Did you know he identified 2 of the eventual…
This month’s book is The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues by Patrick Lencioni. About the Book: “If someone were to ask me to make a list of the most valuable qualities a person should develop in order to thrive in the world of…
Fishbone + Ishikawa = Fishikawa! We know him best for this essential root cause tool, but did you know Dr. Ishikawa developed the first Kaizens, aka Rapid Improvement Events? And where would we be without his 7 Basic Quality Tools? Check out this Fishbone Webinar created in his honor and…
A picture is worth a thousand words - actually, the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than it can read, so it's worth turning your data into pictures. When you're trying to make a point, impress leadership or win the hearts and minds of process participants, graphs and charts are…
Join us this month where we'll discuss an app that creates a digital workspace. On the Bulletin Board, we'll say good-bye to a Quality Lion and then we'll find out what happens when you let sailors out of the box. For Tools of the Trade we'll review a book that…
This month’s book is Storytelling at Work: How Moments of Truth on the Job Reveal the Real Business of Life by Mitch Ditkoff. About the Book: “There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.” - Ursula…
Who said “Quality is free - but it’s not a gift"? Who was the first non-doctor to create a vaccine? Who maintained that zero defects was the job of management as much as the front line. Philip Crosby! He said it was less expensive to do it right the first…
Famed business author Peter Drucker said, "Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes." And since Lean Six Sigma is about getting results, the role of the leader in successful process improvement is key. Without the proper support, teams struggle or…