For my latest “LinkedIn Influencer” post, I was asked to participate in a series about “The Book that Changed Me.”
I chose to highlight not a book about Toyota or Lean or a book by Dr. W. Edwards Deming… but rather the amazing book Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos
Get the book. Read it. Study it. Use it. It's that good. It's that helpful.
It's a wonderfully powerful book… basically, it's all about how to use “Statistical Process Control” (SPC) principles to make better management decisions… and it's the basis of my Society for Health Systems Conference presentation this February.
Check out my LinkedIn article here: “Understanding Variation”: How I Learned to Ignore the Noise in Data and Focus on Fixes
And the book itself:
Please check it out.
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Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.
Hi Mark
Is this book applicable to Knowledge/Discovery work?
Thanks
Agustin
I think the book is applicable to every type of work…
Hi Mark
This is a great little book and one that I recommend all the time. Despite being a Professor of Statistics (or maybe because?), Don Wheeler writes superbly and carries you along at a nice pace without overwhelming you with technical detail. A must read for any aspiring quality improvement professional.