Download PDF Measures of Success React Less Lead Better Improve More Mark Graban Donald J Wheeler PhD Books

Product details Paperback 260 pages Publisher Constancy, Inc. (March 11, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1733519416

Measures of Success React Less Lead Better Improve More Mark Graban Donald J Wheeler PhD Books Reviews

• In a world where we are constantly bombarded with reports - table formatted, current period vs last month, current period vs same period last year - or worse yet, multiple periods side by side, color coded red and green, we are led to believe that every up or down movement is a sign of improvement or a problem. People are sent off chasing the wind with every move in the wrong direction, searching for the answer to “what went wrong?”, when there may be no single answer. The reality is that two points don’t make a trend and data without context is meaningless. Normal variation happens.
  
  Enter the world of the Process Behavior Chart (PBC). In Measure of Success React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, Mark offers a refreshing approach to look at what should/could happen in a process (what we should expect), and how we can filter out the noise so we can focus on real improvement. After reading the first few chapters, I was already sharing Measures of Success within my organization. The incremental time used to create and maintain a PBC is significantly less than the hours spent looking for fantasy explanations. With the free template, getting started was easy.
• Mark has distilled the issue of variation in business systems into simple language, making it usable for anyone with basic excel skills. Avoiding the over complicated hyperbole of some works on this subject, he lays out an easy way to measure and manage business systems that concentrates precious improvement resources on the results that matter, not the noise in the system. It’s so simple in fact, that one of its main flaws is having staff and management accept its validity, but valid it is, and anyone in a work environment with continually varying results would do well to spend the time learning and applying these methods.
  
  For anyone versed in the art, the biggest discomfort is the use of the constants to calculate the upper and lower limits. The calculation methodology is outside of the scope of the book, which is explained, and clear references are given to the reader who wishes to delve deeper.
  
  All in all an excellent book. One I know I’m going to be using a lot. Thanks Mark!
• Distinguishing the 'signal' from the 'noise' in performance has long been a challenge for many. Measures of Success is a refreshingly digestible read for anyone interested in learning how to use process behavior charts to understand true performance, and when to react - or not to react. Mark does a great job of breaking down what is typically taught in an academic matter into easy-to-understand concepts with a focus on real-life application. The book uses tangible examples of how process behavior charts help us avoid the traps of vanity metrics and overreaction to data. I wish I had this book when I was learning complicated control charts in my six sigma training - my learning curve would have been greatly accelerated. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to truly understand what the data are - and are not - telling us, and how to react appropriately. If you're looking on how to take performance to the next level, applying the principles explained in Measures of Success will help.
• Once again, the award winning author, consultant, blogger and Lean Healthcare expert Mark Graban has written an exceptional book about a little-known concept of interpreting metrics without going insane-- Process Behavior Charts. This book not only explains the rationale of PBCs, the creation of PBCs and the interpretation the charts in a very thorough and understandable manner, it also shows its connection to the Lean mindset of continuous improvement and A3 thinking.
  
  As a former small animal hospital owner, I wish I had been aware of this information back then. It certainly would have helped calm the rollercoaster of emotions of trying to manage a business through metrics and KPIs.
  
  Yes, this is a form of statistical analysis, but do not let that scare you. This is not rocket science ( or veterinary medicine), especially the way Mr. Graban explains it.
  
  Anyone in business or in charge of monitoring systems will find this book an epiphany! At least, it was for me.
• I am a registered nurse who leads quality for a small community hospital. I read Mark’s “Lean Hospital” book and was thrilled to buy “Measures of Success”. They are life changing.
  
  Understanding and applying lean methodology in healthcare is crucial to improving patient safety and care. I want everyone in my leadership team and all our staff to read and embrace both books. (Probably won’t happen, but one could dream?)
  
  Measures of success is so well done! Thanks for helping this data geek along.
• Use Process Behavior Charts, (term for Statistical Control Charts coined by Donald Wheeler) to avoid looking for answers to insignificant changes in Key Performance Indicators, and spend the time to make fundamental improvements to the processes that produces the resultant KPI numbers.
  
  Mark Graban has written a quick read book to encourage a new way of thinking about KPIs that gives more insight into how to decide where to invest improvement efforts.
• This book is very well written to be able experience value immediately. Before I finished the first three chapters I started creating Process Behavior Charts (PBC) to replace almost a dozen combination bar/line charts for several weekly executive reporting scorecards. Each of the continuous improvement processes I was reporting on showed different conditions including mean shifts, constant trending improvement, and predictable variation. Each scenario prompted questions about how those should be best represented graphically with recalculated process control limits and Mark Graban's book had practical answers to all the questions. The PBC's bring an order of magnitude better clarity to the processes being measured and when they should be acted upon. Measures of Success is a model of practitioner usability for everyone from novice, executive, and even a rusty Six Sigma Black Belt like myself.