Comments on: Data vs. Facts, Illustrated http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/data-vs-facts-illustrated/ Mark Graban's leanblog.org - Lean Healthcare, Lean Thinking, Lean Manufacturing, Toyota Production System Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:26:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Mark R Hamel http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/data-vs-facts-illustrated/#comment-6977 Mark R Hamel Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:12:39 +0000 http://www.leanblog.org/?p=4662#comment-6977 At the onset of their lean journey, people often feel overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of the various lean principles, systems and tools (I know that I did). I tell them that they will develop in their understanding as they study, see and do, but perhaps the single most important thing that they can bring (along with intellectual curiosity, passion, respect, humility, etc.) is common sense. Most people think they have that! Common sense, "native good judgment," is typically unvarnished and unsophisticated. There's nothing as unsophisticated or powerful as going to the gemba and observing the reality or facts before you. So, here's to common sense and facts. .-= Mark R Hamel´s last blog ..<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GembaTales/~3/i_z_opUyxWY/141" rel="nofollow">The Kaizen Promotion Office Does What?</a> =-. At the onset of their lean journey, people often feel overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of the various lean principles, systems and tools (I know that I did). I tell them that they will develop in their understanding as they study, see and do, but perhaps the single most important thing that they can bring (along with intellectual curiosity, passion, respect, humility, etc.) is common sense. Most people think they have that! Common sense, “native good judgment,” is typically unvarnished and unsophisticated. There’s nothing as unsophisticated or powerful as going to the gemba and observing the reality or facts before you. So, here’s to common sense and facts.
.-= Mark R Hamel´s last blog ..The Kaizen Promotion Office Does What? =-.

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]]> By: Gabriel Gheorghiu http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/data-vs-facts-illustrated/#comment-6971 Gabriel Gheorghiu Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:19:18 +0000 http://www.leanblog.org/?p=4662#comment-6971 Very good point! But, you know, data is usually incorrect either because we entered it incorrectly or we managed it badly. We are responsible for our data (especially the one we create) and there are no machines and/or systems (yet) that can manage it for us. Data integration tools are very important and can help a lot, but we're the ones building and configuring them. Very good point! But, you know, data is usually incorrect either because we entered it incorrectly or we managed it badly.

We are responsible for our data (especially the one we create) and there are no machines and/or systems (yet) that can manage it for us. Data integration tools are very important and can help a lot, but we’re the ones building and configuring them.

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]]> By: Phil Coy http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/data-vs-facts-illustrated/#comment-6966 Phil Coy Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:52:08 +0000 http://www.leanblog.org/?p=4662#comment-6966 I agree about the crucial difference between data and facts. But that leads me to ask... - How are facts stored in an organization? - How are facts made available to others? It can't be the case that every fact must be confirmed by personal observation or we'd spend all our time in the observation stage. I think that data quality and reliability are essential to any organization (lean or not). This is the unfortunate Achilles heal of many organizations and leads to decision-making based on a fuzzy collection of subjective assessments rather than on facts. One often-missed benefit of a lean implementation is discovery of how good the data is in an organization and especially the data that's been the basis of business decision-making all along. I've worked with a lot of companies who were pretty uncomfortable with what they discovered when they compared their electronic data to reality. Data is a huge issue. Thanks for bringing this one up. I agree about the crucial difference between data and facts. But that leads me to ask…
- How are facts stored in an organization?
- How are facts made available to others?

It can’t be the case that every fact must be confirmed by personal observation or we’d spend all our time in the observation stage. I think that data quality and reliability are essential to any organization (lean or not). This is the unfortunate Achilles heal of many organizations and leads to decision-making based on a fuzzy collection of subjective assessments rather than on facts.

One often-missed benefit of a lean implementation is discovery of how good the data is in an organization and especially the data that’s been the basis of business decision-making all along. I’ve worked with a lot of companies who were pretty uncomfortable with what they discovered when they compared their electronic data to reality.

Data is a huge issue. Thanks for bringing this one up.

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