Statistical thinking is one of the tools for
process analysis
Process analysis is a form of technical writing and expository writing
The rhetorical modes (also known as modes of discourse) are a long-standing attempt to broadly classify the major kinds of language-based communication, particularly writing a ...
. Statistical thinking relates processes and
statistics, and is based on the following principles:
* All work occurs in a system of interconnected processes.
* Variation exists in all processes
* Understanding and reducing variation are keys to success.
W. Edwards Deming
William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical ...
promoted the concepts of statistical thinking, using two powerful experiments:
1. The Red Bead experiment, in which workers are tasked with running a more or less random procedure, yet the lowest "performing" workers are fired. The experiment demonstrates how the natural variability in a process can dwarf the contribution of individual workers' talent.
2. The Funnel experiment, again demonstrating that natural variability in a process can loom larger than it ought to.
The takehome message from the experiments is that before management adjusts a process -- such as by firing seemingly underperforming employees, or by making physical changes to an apparatus -- they should consider all sources of variation in the process that led to the performance outcome.
Statistical thinking is a recognised method used as part of
Six Sigma methodologies.
See also
*
Systems thinking
References
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Statistical process control
Six Sigma