RE: Homework-Education-Training/Optimization/Economics . . . and process improvement

["Alan Meekings" <alan@landmarkconsulting.co.uk>]

Kromkowski says, "Doesn't Deming give an example of his charted golf scores.
I think the context was something like: When a student/performer is NOT in a
state of statistical control additional practice may be useful to bring him
into a state of control. But once in control, teaching, practice methods
require something different than what was previously used."

My own view is that it's not necessarily helpful to think about the first
step in process improvement as being to "bring (a process or individual
performer) into a state of statistical control".

In my experience, poorly performing processes usually exhibit SPC charts
where either the mean is undesirably low or the variation is undesirably
high. In such situations, the process is likely to be "in control" but the
outcome unsatisfactory by any objective yardstick.

Might it be better to think first about things such as the nature of demand,
or how to change the way the work gets done and the organisation is managed,
instead of automatically assuming that the appropriate first step in process
improvement is bringing processes into "a state of statistical control"?

Any thoughts?

Regards as ever,

Alan