Statistical thinking is one of the tools for
process analysis
Process analysis is a form of technical writing and expository writing "designed to convey to the reader how a change takes place through a series of stages".
While the traditional process analysis and a set of instructions are both organized ch ...
. 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 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
Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts. It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective actio ...
References
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Statistical process control
Six Sigma