Visual Six Sigma: Making Data Analysis Lean

1.4. Requirements of the Reader

This leads to another important point, namely, that you are "part of the system." Discovery, whether practiced as an individual or as a team sport, involves both divergent and convergent thinking; both creativity and discipline are required at different times. You should bear this in mind when forming a team or when consulting with individuals, since each person will bring his or her own skill set, perspective, and strength to the discovery process. Given the need to be data driven, we also need to recognize one of the basic rules of using data, which is that any kind of analysis (no matter how simple or complex) that treats data simply as a list of numbers is doomed to failure. To say it differently: All data are contextual, and it is this context and the objectives set out for the project that must shape the analysis and produce useful recommendations for action. As a practitioner, your main responsibility should always be to understand what the numbers in the data actually mean in the real world. In fact, this is the only requirement for putting the ideas in this book into practice in your workplace.