by David M. Williams, Ph.D. How many times have you heard someone say, “this always happens” or “this happened to me before?” Every organization has improvement opportunities, but when quality is your strategy, you need a system to fix problems on the spot when possible or capture the problem in a structured way and add it […]
Working Backward from the Customer
in Improvement Science, Systems, Tools & Methodsby David M. Williams, Ph.D. I love barbeque. Texas is known for our love of the craft and everyone has a favorite place. Ruby’s BBQ is a franchise operated locally in Austin by K & N Management. In 2010, they became the second restaurant to be awarded the Malcolm Baldrige Award for Excellence. While teaching at […]
How to Assess and Reboot
in Implementation, Leadership, Quality as a Business Strategy (QBS), Tools & Methods, Variationby David M. Williams, Ph.D. Photo by İrfan Simsar on Unsplash Whether you are a leader in a new role or one wanting to reboot your current one, you need an approach to make your work visible, to assess current conditions, and make a game plan. Here is guidance to help. Reviewing key inputs A good […]
Using Your Vector of Measures to Guide Action
in Measurement, Quality as a Business Strategy (QBS), Systems, Tools & Methods, VariationBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. Figure. Vector of Measures Displayed in Shewhart Charts Source: Mecklenburg EMS Agency, Charlotte, NC, USA One of the toughest struggles for leaders is figuring out how to focus attention on the work that best serves the customer and will get the desired results. A great place to begin is your […]
Prioritizing Improvement Efforts
in Improvement Science, Knowledge, Quality as a Business Strategy (QBS), Systems, Tools & MethodsBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. Making changes to a process is essential to improvement. Improvement efforts require chartering projects that will impact strategic processes requiring design or redesign. Organizations routinely struggle with selecting processes needing improvement and that will achieve the organization’s objectives. What follows is a structured process, using qualitative methods, to support selecting […]
Drilling Down into Aggregate Data
in Improvement Science, Measurement, Quality as a Business Strategy (QBS), Tools & Methods, VariationBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. Every organization tracks a family of measures with data from various moments of time. The list of indicators often blend measures created by leadership with a mix of from other sources like accreditation bodies, regulators, and benchmarking vendors. These data are usually at an aggregate level or minimally stratified by […]
Scenario Planning – Probability in Uncertainty
in Quality as a Business Strategy (QBS), Tools & MethodsBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. Photo by Luis Quintero on Unsplash Camp Gladiator is a $60 million dollar Austin fitness company started by a married couple and former American Gladiator contestants. Its mission is to impact the physical fitness and lives of as many people as possible with a program of high-intensity interval training and […]
Benchmarking – How do we compare?
in Health Care, Improvement Science, Measurement, Tools & Methods, VariationBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. No one likes to talk about dying. Sudden death due to heart disease occurs 250,000 times a year in the United States. A person is just living their life and unexpectedly their heart stops. Just like that…you’re officially clinically dead. Not so fast. If this happens when you’re not […]
Back-of-the-Envelope Problem Solving
in Education, Implementation, Improvement Science, PDSA, Systems, Tools & MethodsBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. The Breakthrough Series Collaborative model is an improvement learning system that brings teams together to pursue a shared aim. Teams use an evidence-based change theory and improvement methods including the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Cycle and time-series data (run charts and Shewhart Control Charts). In the Institute for Healthcare […]
Problem-Solving by Learning From the Process
in Improvement Science, Knowledge, Systems, Tools & Methods, VariationBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. Photo by Bluehouse Skis on Unsplash Let’s face it…patient care documentation is not the most enjoyable aspect of clinical care delivery. It takes time, the electronic medical record isn’t user friendly, and caregivers have a lot going on. It’s no surprise improving clinical documentation is a common improvement opportunity for a […]