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Start your day with inspirational daily wisdom for the workplace.
We can do business and even succeed without wisdom, however, wisdom leads us to make better choices, avoid bad deals, be better leaders, and provide excellence in all we do.
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Manny Diaz
Mar 20, 20202 min read
IMPROVE #19: STEP EIGHT - Standardize and Share Success
What a journey! This is the end of the improvement process! STEP EIGHT falls into the ACT or "adjust" phase. This is when we draw...
203 views13 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 19, 20203 min read
Improve #18: STEP SEVEN - Monitor Results and Process
When we are walking, we need our eyes to see where we are going. Walking with our eyes closed will lead to an imminent fall. The same...
139 views13 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 18, 20201 min read
Improve #17: STEP SIX - Implement Countermeasures
It's time for action! Now that you have developed your countermeasures and narrowed them down (STEP FIVE), it is time to see them through...
506 views14 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 17, 20201 min read
Improve #16: STEP FIVE -Develop Countermeasures
This is the last sub-step of the PLAN phase of the PDCA cycle. We have pinpointed the problem, broken down the problem, set targets, and...
268 views14 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 16, 20202 min read
Improve #15: STEP FOUR - Analyze the Root Cause
We are already half-way learning the process. We pinpointed the problem, we have broken it in parts, we have set target assignments and...
104 views14 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 13, 20202 min read
Improve #14: STEP THREE - Set the Target
We are going from understanding the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to learning the quality improvement process that has taken Toyota and many...
138 views15 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 12, 20202 min read
Improve #13: STEP TWO - Breakdown the Problem
"How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” a popular saying has it. The old proverb means that large tasks can be accomplished if...
262 views14 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 11, 20202 min read
Improve #12: STEP ONE - Clarify the Problem
If you understood the PDCA cycle, you understood the core of continuous improvement. Edward Deming's philosophy revolutionized the...
293 views5 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 10, 20202 min read
Improve #11: From PDCA to QI Process
It was exciting to learn that the PDCA cycle applies to real life. Johnny's inspiring story (Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3) shows us that...
143 views14 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 9, 20202 min read
Improve #10: Making Things Happen (Round 2)
Johnny's main objective was to pay $25,000 debt. At this point, he is far from accomplishing that, but he has managed to learn that by...
48 views0 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 6, 20203 min read
Improve #9: Making things happen (Round 1)
Johnny's story has nothing to do with the implementation of Quality Improvement for any product or service in any industry, however, it...
61 views0 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 5, 20203 min read
Improve #8: Where do I start?
We just started to learn about the infamous PDCA cycle and soon will see specific applications related to our industry, but before we do...
103 views0 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 4, 20202 min read
Improve #7: Plan-Do-Check-Act
Complacency and Stagnancy prevent us from growth and development, but the attitude of improvement does the opposite. The attitude of...
52 views0 comments
Manny Diaz
Mar 3, 20202 min read
Improve #6: Let's move!
Stagnant water can be dangerous for drinking because it provides a better incubator than running water for many kinds of bacteria and...
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Manny Diaz
Mar 2, 20202 min read
Improve #5: Move out of Stagnancy
"Stagnancy" is defined as the state of not flowing or moving. For example, a country's economy becomes stagnant when there is lack of...
36 views0 comments
Manny Diaz
Jan 30, 20202 min read
Improve #4: QC vs. QI
We have learned that the U.S. didn't value the Quality Improvement philosophy until too late. While Japan worked hard to make it happen,...
50 views2 comments
Manny Diaz
Jan 29, 20202 min read
Improve #3: A bit of history
During World War II, the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second and, to date, last city in the world...
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Manny Diaz
Jan 28, 20202 min read
Improve #2: What is quality improvement?
Sometime in 1989 my boss, one of the owners of M/G Electric Company, a large motor repair shop in MIami, said: "Manny, we will deploy a...
38 views0 comments
Manny Diaz
Jan 27, 20202 min read
Improve #1: Improvement vs. Complacency
Life is defined by the dictionary as a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological self-sustaining...
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