The core of Statistical Process Control (SPC) lies in the understanding of variation. The challenge with using data is that variation can make charts confusing, making it difficult to interpret if things are going well or poorly. SPC pioneers, like W. Edwards Deming, highlighted that the inability to handle variation is a primary obstacle to becoming data-driven. SPC offers a concise set of tools to effectively manage and interpret variation in data analysis.
It happens occasionally. Someone in the business decides they need to just take the analysis into their own hands. That leaves the analyst conflicted — love the interest and enthusiasm, but cringe at the risk of misuse or misinterpretation. Occasionally (rarely!), though, such a person goes so deep that they come out the other side having internalized everything from Deming's obsession with variability all the way through the Amazon Weekly Business Review (WBR) process. And they've written extensively about it. Cedric Chin was such a person, and we had a blast digging into his exploration of statistical process control — including XmR charts — and mulling over the broader ramifications and lessons therein. For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.