Do you and your team use data to make decisions…or to make excuses?
Over the past while, I’ve heard a lot of what I call “data excuses”. Things like…”Well, it did take longer than target but we always make more parts than expected in case some aren’t right…” or “Mondays are always like that because we get a lot of calls on the weekend when no one is here.”
Why do I call these “data excuses”? Because instead of helping people come to a deeper understanding of what’s going on so that they can make a decision to do something to improve the process, these types of statements just provide “excuses” to keep things the way they have always been!
Like Taiichi Ohno’s famous statement “I much prefer facts over data”, I too prefer to look first with my own eyes and ears…and then use data to understand more about what’s going on “behind the scenes” and causing or adding to the problem!
Because that is what data can help most with! Understanding what’s really happening so that a decision can be undertaken to make things better…to improve the process!
So today, please pay careful attention and make sure that you’re not making “data excuses”…but instead using data to make decisions and improvements!
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