Decision Making

Make Better Decisions Using The Measurement Profile and Global Performance Measures

There is no single perfect performance measure that, after improvement, achieves an organizational goal. However, using the following six measurement areas to measure a different dimension of organizational performance will help organizations meet their internal and external targets. The measures are: Throughput Operating expenses Inventory Response time Quality Due-date performance These...

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Think, Solve Problems, And Make Smart Decisions By Developing Smart Habits

Believe it or not, your mind is designed to think as little as possible!  There are many tasks we perform every day that require very little thinking on our part, such as, getting up and ready to leave the house, driving to and from work, slowing down at an intersection, making a left or right-hand turn, etc.  It’s like we’re on automatic pilot and free to think about other things...

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Utilize Six Thinking Hats To Better Solve Problems & Make Decisions

The Six Thinking Hats, co-designed in 1983 by Dr. Edward de Bono with Dr. Michael Hewitt-Gleeson and Eric Bienstock, was developed to improve creativity and lateral thinking.  It helps us overcome one of the biggest enemies of thinking which is complexity.  When thinking is clear and simple, it becomes more enjoyable and more effective. Unlike when I was growing up, very few people today wear...

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Importance of Monitoring Processes and Having Good Data

We’ve all been taught that without data our understanding of problems is just an opinion and in order to understand a problem or make a decision we must have good data.  During our training in continuous improvement and Lean Six Sigma we are taught the importance of a good data collection plan, having an accurate measurement system and the need to establish operational definitions if...

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Affinity Diagrams – A Process For Organizing Your Thoughts For Improvement

Affinity diagrams are a useful in that they can help you organize your thoughts and develop action plans when you are overwhelmed with many problems and not sure where to start.  They are also useful when issues seem too large and complex to grasp or when group consensus is needed to take action.  They can also be used when you need to analyze verbal data such as survey results and can help to...

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Creating a Culture That Gets Results – It’s a Matter of Survival!

Achieving results and getting things done are the dreams of many business owners and executives.  No one goes into business with the attitude of playing it safe and not rocking the boat.  Most people go into business trying to achieve the highest performance they can but often get stuck in organizations that put a damper on their ambitions. Why does this happen?  Is there something about...

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