For #wisdomwendesdays I’ve been asked by someone trying to learn Data Science what the difference is between Variance and Standard Deviation in terms of purpose.

For the sake of the uninitiated, I’ll share an article that shows the simplest explanation of what Variance and Standard Deviation are.

Now back to the purpose of each, the easiest analogy I can give you is like how the Red and Blue Pills work in the movie – The Matrix.

Let me explain.

Standard Deviation = Blue Pill

Standard Deviation is easier to visualize in the real world because it is in the same unit of measure as the Mean or Average, the Median, the Minimum and Maximum values, and so forth.

So if your purpose is on how you’re going to visualize your data and plot it on a graph for you to make decisions based on what you see, then it would be better to use Standard Deviation.

Variance = Red Pill

Now if you want to do some higher-level analysis, only then will you appreciate the benefits of utilizing Variance, which is essentially Standard Deviation, squared.

An example I can give you is when you would want to combine algorithms or mathematical models to form a new one, you can easily combine Means, but not with Standard Deviation.

What you can do is square the Standard Deviations to get the Variances, and then combine the models.

After which if you would want to get the Standard Deviation of the resulting model in order for you to create a visual representation via a graph or chart, simply take the Square Root of the Variance.

Ending note

So what do you think? Do you agree? Can you think of any other situations where Standard Deviation or Variance is better to use than the other?

The post What is the difference in purpose of Variance and Standard Deviation? appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

For #futurefridays I was asked a question: “Does the Future of Work still need Lean Six Sigma?”

Well, based on my own personal experience, it’s a big YES.

You see, Lean Six Sigma is simply a structured problem-solving approach.

So if you have a problem that requires root-cause-analysis before you find the appropriate solution, then Lean Six Sigma’s DMAIC approach is what you need.

You can’t just implement some sort of software automation or that snazzy new technological tool just for the sake of it.

To put it bluntly, Automations and such Technologies are part of the Solutions. But to uncover the root causes of the problems that require these solutions, that’s where you would need Lean Six Sigma.

So if anything, Lean Six Sigma is actually becoming a foundational skill that continuous process improvement and innovation experts of today must master.

Let me give you an example.

Jay Arthur, author of 2 books on Lean Six Sigma, seems to agree. Based on this article that he’s written, he says that he has observed companies taking a more Agile approach to problem solving, and Lean Six Sigma is part of it all.

In the article, he shares the phases based on his observations:

• Prework (to me, this looks like the Define and Measure phases)
• 1 or 2 day training (this is where they undergo Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Training)
• Post-work (this looks like where the Analyze, Improve, and Control phases happen)
• Side benefits (apart from quantifying the benefits of each project, they are also able to identify participants who can potentially become the next Green or Black Belt candidates).

In case you haven’t noticed, Hackathons that are meant to solve problems loosely follow this approach as well.

But having the various Lean Six Sigma tools in your arsenal will ensure you are solving for the right root causes, and not implementing complex technological innovations just for the technical difficulty points and impressiveness factors.

So there you have it. I hope you learned something from this.

If you want to learn more, download a copy of my book for FREE (for a limited time only) – The Business Optimization Blueprint, and learn how you can improve your business process and take it to the next level.

The post Does the Future of Work need Lean Six Sigma? appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

For #thankfulthursdays I would like to give gratitude to Brandon Foltz.

You know when there’s a skill that you haven’t practiced for some time and you feel rusty so you want some sort of refresher to enable you to get a hang of it again?

Well I was in that exact situation a few years ago, specific to Logistic Regression, when I had to create a predictive model to address one of the business pain points I was working on.

Thankfully, I found this tutorial by Brandon that was even better than when I first learned all about Logistic Regression.

And I’d like to share it with you so that you can benefit from it as well.

I hope you learned something from this.

If you want to learn more, download a copy of my book for FREE (for a limited time only) – The Business Optimization Blueprint, and learn how you can improve your business process and take it to the next level.

The post DEMYSTIFIED: How and When to apply Logistic Regression appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

It’s #transformationtuesdays and today we’ll talk about a Use Case of Lean Six Sigma being implemented successfully in the Technology industry.

Usually, Tech firms would default to the Agile approach and talk about how they can make further improvements during their Scrum rituals.

And non-Technology companies take best practices from Tech firms implementing Agile and Scrum, to see how they can work in a non-Technology setting.

But here you’ll see the opposite happening.

Lean Six Sigma, a methodology widely used in non-Technology settings, being implemented in the Software and Technology industry.

Today I’ll be showing you the entire Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Project Storyboard by Eduardo Torres, where he was able to reduce Software Bug Fix Lead Time from 25 to 15 days.

This not only improved Customer Perception in a good way, this has also increased Team Member Morale as they were able to free up some of their capacity for them to work on features, moving them in the right direction to become Best in Class.

Continue on to see the full project storyboard.

Click here to get the full project Storyboard on Reducing Software Bug Fix Lead Time from 25 to 15 days.

I hope you learned a lot today.

If you want to be like Eduardo, you’re in luck. I’ll be hosting a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Flipped Classroom Training that’s coming up. Limited slots!

Click here for details. Enroll now, before slots run out: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Flipped Classroom Training.

The post How Eduardo reduced Software Bug Fix Lead Time from 25 to 15 days (LSS Green Belt Use Case) appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

It’s #motivationmondays!

Remember when you were a child? The world seemed so huge! And every time you laid eyes on something new, curiosity got the best of you.

You want to touch everything, feel the texture, put things on your mouth, find out what it tastes like, and when you grew a little older you start trying to stand up and walk instead of just crawl.

Did you learn all that the first time around? Of course not. You had to experiment until you got it right, and you kept experimenting until you were able to run, until you could ride a bike, until you could drive a car.

You learned all these new skill through a lot of experiments, and you got good at it because you kept learning something new.

But why is it that now that you’re older, you are afraid of failure? Why are you afraid of rejection? Why are you afraid of losing?

Remember, Every Experiment is a Success IF You Learn from it!

So if you’ve been holding back from learning that new skill, what are you so afraid of?

It’s time to become a better version of you.

And if you’ve been wanting to get that Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification, now is the time.

In a few days, we’ll be kicking off the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Flipped Classroom Training. You wouldn’t want to miss this.

Click here for details.

The post Every Experiment is a Success IF You Learn from it! appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

For today’s #thankfulthursdays I would like to give gratitude to the people who have taken me under their wing.

These people have paved the way to me becoming the Business Optimization Expert I am today.

To my first boss in this field – Kalyan, who hired me because he saw something in me through my Robinson Crusoe story, thank you for investing in me and ensuring I have everything I need to become successful in my role, including my learning towards becoming a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

To my former colleagues – Remi, Aubrey, and Mel, thank you for teaching me what you know. Your generosity in sharing knowledge nuggets, and patience in me for constantly bugging you for questions.

If not for these people, I would not have been able to win my first Hall of Fame Award for generating over $1 Million Dollars.

And lastly, to the person who succeeded Kalyan – Marian, thank you for making me feel empowered. I have learned so much from your meticulous level of detail, as well as your coaching and mentoring techniques.

I would like to pay it forward by teaching what I learned from these mentors to others. I will do this by:

There’s an upcoming GoLeanSixSigma.com Green Belt Flipped Classroom session to be facilitated by me.

20% discount applies to early bird enrollees.

Click here for details on how a Flipped Classroom works, and to enroll and get a slot.

The post With Respect to This Thing is Concerned appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

It’s #wisdomwednesdays so it’s time to share things I learned.

Here are 10 Process Improvement Mistakes you Don’t Want to Make.

I was actually going to create a list myself, but my friends Karlo and Tracy at GoLeanSixSigma.com have already put this together, and I agree 100% to all of what they said!

So I thought I would just share it with you!

My personal favorites are:

1. The Glory Hoarder

An example of is when Project Leads take all the recognition, and the team members are not given any credit whatsoever.

Sometimes, Project Leads tend to do this unknowingly too. Like when it’s time to present and demonstrate the project results, the Leads feel they should always be the one to take stage, while somehow leaving the rest of the team out of the spotlight.

How about letting the team members who actually developed the solutions take center stage?

2. The Pet Solution

This is where people already have a preferred solution to the problem.

In my experience, what happens here is that people tend to reverse-engineer their Pet Solution into the DMAIC approach just for them to be able to complete a Lean Six Sigma project.

That’s just wrong!

3. Passing the Buck

This happens when you try to eliminate steps within the process you’re looking to improve, only for another department upstream or downstream to end up taking on that piece of work.

Continue on to see the rest of the mistakes you don’t want to make, along with some great examples.

Here’s the full video webinar.

Click here if you want access to the transcription, as well as the slides used in the webinar.

I hope you learned something new today.

If you want to learn Lean Six Sigma and become Green Belt Certified, click here for the upcoming flipped classroom session, before slots run out!

The post 10 Process Improvement Mistakes you Don’t Want to Make appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

Yesterday, I shared how I learned my core skillset – Lean Six Sigma.

This is the skill that allowed me to broaden my mindset and branch out to learn and gain experience in various other Continuous Process Improvement related skills, including automation, and even Artificial Intelligence, which I’ve been posting a lot about lately.

I truly believe that this skillset is foundational for you to be able to look at business processes in a way that no one else in your company has seen before.

And this will definitely open up so many doors in your career, as it has for me, and you will be known as the one who can make things done.

Without this skillset, I don’t think I could have achieved the same level of success as I have now.

And for today’s #transformationtuesdays, apart from what I have just shared with you regarding how this has transformed my life and my career, I’d like to share with you 2 more from people just like you – Tracey and Dale.

Like you, they’ve researched about how they can get themselves Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certified for them to take their career to the next level.

They’ve also looked at several other options and providers, both in-classroom and online, and have weighed the pros and cons of each. And have even experienced some of these trainings, only to end up either more confused, overwhelmed, or constrained by time.

But in the end, you won’t believe what they had to say about GoLeanSixSigma.com’s Online Green Belt Training and Certification course.

Here’s what Tracey had to say about it:

“GoLeanSixSigma.com’s courses are fabulously easy to understand. I have taken other Green Belt courses (ASQ, Six Sigma Global Institute) and GoLeanSixSigma.com’s was by far the best. You made intimidating concepts and tools SO easy to use and apply. I truly thank you.” – Tracey Jensen, Process Optimization and Change Management Consultant, Illuminative Strategies

And here’s from Dale:

“I was certified as a Green Belt through another organization about 2 years ago. The training was 100% onsite in-person training. GoLeanSixSigma.com’s online training course was far superior and covered more areas than the onsite. I am looking forward to moving on towards my Black Belt now and having our teams go through the Yellow Belt and Green Belt Training.” – Dale Dean, Chief Strategic Performance & Innovation Officer, City of Southlake

That being said, I’m happy to announce that I’m offering you 2 options for Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Training and Certification:

Option 1: 100% Online, Self-Paced

1 year access. You control your schedule, take the modules whenever you please.

About 32 hours worth of online training plus the Green Belt Certification exam.

Click here to Enroll in the Online Self-Paced Green Belt program, and start learning today.

Option 2: Flipped Classroom

Join my upcoming Flipped Classroom Session. Limited slots only. You get the same features as Option 1, but with the added benefit of having touchpoint sessions with fellow learners, facilitated by me.

The first session will be on Jan 25, 2020, Saturday, at 10am Eastern Standard Time.

We will have 5 sessions at 1.5 hours each, scheduled every 2 weeks.

Click here for Flipped Classroom details, schedule, and enrollment instructions.

Feel free to reply with a comment for any questions or clarifications that you may have.

I look forward to seeing you take action towards making a better version of you!

The post You Won’t Believe what Dale and Tracey said about the Online Green Belt Course at GoLeanSixSigma appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

Time for some #motivationmondays.

Ever heard of the saying “Judgment comes from Experience?”

Well the thing is it’s a matter of how you gain that experience, that will allow you to make better judgments or decisions.

And you will only be able to talk from experience if you know what works and what doesn’t.

Have you ever sought advice from an expert? How did they respond?

It would usually go something like “Well based on my experience, this is what works, and this is what doesn’t.”

How do you think they know what doesn’t work?

It’s because they have made poor judgment calls and decisions in the past, and they failed, but never gave up.

Instead, they kept on trying, and made new judgment calls and decisions, until they found out what works, and succeeded.

And from then on, they know what to do, and they are able too make good judgment calls and decisions for that particular subject matter.

Let me give you a more specific example.

Someone once asked me what is the best way to improve Customer Experience or Customer Satisfaction in a Contact Center type of business.

Inexperienced people would give shallow answers or various opinions.

“You should give more empathy, or you should do more rapport,” is what you would typically hear.

But those with experience would be able to talk about what has worked and didn’t work for them in the past, such as:

Here’s an example of what I know doesn’t work – 5 Stupid Things People Do that Impact Customer Satisfaction.

And from my experience, here are some of the things I know that work:

• The 4 Proven Building Blocks for Best-in-Class Customer Satisfaction
• How to improve CSAT with The Recap and Closing Question technique
• How to deal with Irate Customer Escalations

And if you want to learn more about how you can hire the right people for the job, here’s what you can do – The Best Way to Hire for Good Conversation Skills.

And lastly, if you want to learn how you can become good at solving CSAT problems yourself, check out – How to Become Good at Solving CSAT Problems for Contact Centers.

And that’s how an expert can help you.

How did I learn all that? Well it all started from when I learned Lean Six Sigma, and started implementing my learnings.

If you want to learn Lean Six Sigma, I will be hosting a flipped classroom session for a very limited number of students.

If you’re interested or want to learn more, reply with a comment or contact me here.

The post Good Judgment comes from Experience, and Experience comes from Poor Judgment appeared first on Robbie Agustin.

For #wisdomwendesdays I’m sharing some quick tips that will be helpful, especially for process improvement professionals growing a team or have frequent organizational changes.

You know when you’ve been working with a client for at least year or two, and then there are so many changes in their organization happening, perhaps due to growth, movement, or restructuring?

Often times you’ll be assigned to work with new faces. And usually they are either younger in age, or have less tenure than the previous people you were working with.

While your clients may say that it’s for the better, or that it’s good to have a fresh set of eyes, even though I agree to that, it does present itself with a challenge.

The challenge with having new people in the organization is that the

History usually repeats itself. So find pain points based on history.

Read on as I share 3 quick tips to allow you to work with new team members and alleviate this challenge.

Tip #1: Get Historical Data

Get historical data, at the very least, 1 year prior, and plot it into a time-series chart or better yet, a control chart.

Then using that data, identify historical trends such as seasonality of volume, special causes, events, initiatives deployed, and such.

Tip #2: Tell the Story

Provide the story behind key points in the trend.

For example, these new guys you’re working with have probably never experienced what a recession feels like. They were probably in high school when it last happened.

Paint a story for them on what a recession is like, what people go through and experience, how people prepare for it, what works and what doesn’t, and so forth.

Tip #3: Create a FMEA

FMEA stands for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. Sometimes I refer to this as a “What could possibly go wrong?” analysis.

First, this will allow you to think about and identify all potential things that can potentially go wrong, before it even happens.

Second, it will allow you to identify what the effects will be, if it does happen.

Third, you will get to identify how severe the effects will be based in how it will impact business, employees, and customers, how often it can potentially happen, and how effective you are at finding out if it is about to happen.

Lastly, it will allow you to calculate the risk for each, and using the math behind it, you will be able to prioritize each potential failure point so you can create solutions for it before it even happens.

Ending note

I would like to impart that knowledge with you, and I show how root cause analysis and the FMEA works in my book – The Business Optimization Blueprint (downloaded in 34 countries!). Downand it for FREE (for a limited time only) so you can start applying these skills to improve your business and your life.

The post 3 Tips How to Solve for Problems Before they even Happen appeared first on Robbie Agustin.