THE VIRUS OF VARIATION: MAKING SENSE OF DEATH AND DATA USING PROCESS BEHAVIOR CHARTS

Data has become the currency of our time, yet few know what to do with it. This has led to confusion about what constitutes a signal and what constitutes noise. It has spawned tools and techniques that promise to improve quality and reduce costs, but their promise is never fulfilled. Things do no need to be this way. Deference to inferior methods does not have to be the norm. Luckily, a solution to this problem is within reach!

Using the story of the 19th-century Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis as a guide, The Virus of Variation teaches readers how to make sense of data using process behavior charts. By investigating the death-to-birth rates at Vienna General Hospital, the story of Semmelweis reveals the value of understanding variation and the mechanisms by which business and industry can diagnose and treat it.

Some of the topics covered include:

• How to build a process behavior chart (control chart)

• How to characterize process behavior

• The right (and wrong) way to calculate process limits

• The principles of process improvement

• Much more!