Statistical Thinking, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 3Statistical Thinking Strategy

Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read or write.

—H. G. Wells

In Chapter 1 we introduced the essential need for improvement and explained how the principles of statistical thinking underlie the improvement methodologies in use today. Chapter 2 discussed the key role that data play in statistical thinking, as the link between the process we are trying to improve and the improvement activity.

In this chapter we illustrate how various statistical thinking tools fit together to form an overall strategy for business improvement. This overall strategy is the common theme throughout the remainder of this text. Each new methodology or tool introduced in later chapters is a component of this strategy. The main learning objective is a good conceptual understanding of the statistical thinking strategy and how it applies in practice. Other learning objectives include an understanding of the following:

• The nature and types of variation in business processes
• The synergy between data (empiricism) and subject matter theory
• The dynamic nature of business processes
• The sequential nature of statistical thinking
• The role of visualization in statistical thinking

These are all critically important concepts relative to applying statistical thinking effectively to real business processes.

We begin by reviewing two case studies that illustrate various aspects of statistical thinking. The first case ...