📊 Unlocking the Power of Mean and Median in Lean Six Sigma! 📈

📈Remember those early school days grappling with mean and median? Little did we know, we were taking our first steps into the world of statistics! When I embarked on my Lean Six Sigma journey, stats initially seemed daunting. Yet, as I delved deeper, I fell in love with data and statistical analysis. It’s become a subject I’m passionate about teaching.

📈One pivotal case study I share revolves around the crucial distinction between mean and median. While a Senior Black Belt at AT&T, I spearheaded an international project with a daunting task: slash end-to-end cycle time by 50%. Initially, we relied solely on the mean for measurement.

💡Months of tireless work by five project teams yielded a surprising result—the mean cycle time remained stubbornly unchanged. What went wrong? We had overlooked a critical step: testing for normal or non-normal distribution in our data.

💡This experience ingrained a vital lesson: always validate continuous data for normality. The choice between mean and median hinges on your dataset’s distribution, as extreme values can skew results. Accurate measurements and hypothesis tests are indispensable.

💡By introducing both mean and median data, we made a breakthrough. While the mean held steady, the median plummeted by 50%. A closer look at each country’s data revealed intriguing insights, particularly during EMEA’s summer months, with more holidays beyond our control.

Key Takeaways:

✅Continuously test your continuous data for normality.

✅ Employ appropriate hypothesis tests tailored to your data type.

✅ Enlighten Executive Leadership on the pivotal role of Central Tendency and the right metric for projects.

✅Probe outliers—they often hold the key to uncovering root causes or external factors.

🚀Fast forward two years, and the results were staggering: a 60% reduction in end-to-end cycle time with the median and a 20% improvement with the mean. How? We revolutionized processes with lean solutions, tech upgrades, and innovative work methods. The outcome? Boosted profit margins, driven by substantial cost savings and increased revenue.

Embrace the power of mean and median—it’s not just about numbers; it’s about transformative results! 💡🚀

👉What has been your experience with data?

Would you like to learn more about how to use Lean Six Sigma and data? Let’s set up a time to talk to see how to begin your journey or visit our LSS Training page.