This website covers knowledge management, personal effectiveness, theory of constraints, amongst other topics. Opinions expressed here are strictly those of the owner, Jack Vinson, and those of the commenters.

Deming's Funnel

The TOC YahooGroup has been talking about Deming's Funnel, and a smart person finally asked what it was. A quick google nets a wide variety of explanations. Tampering and effects diagnosis from the QualityAmerica knowledge center was a useful verbal description. And Yonatan Reshef at the U of Alberta has a nice numeric demonstration and simulator at his Deming's funnel experiment page.

In the end, the best explanation is that when you continually fiddle with a system on the basis of one sample (or an insignificant set), you ALWAYS increase the variation over the long term.

Proper adjustment comes from collecting a statistical sample of the behavior. Then you can decide whether you need to adjust your aim (the sample is consistently off-target), or the system (system is on-target, but the variation is undesirable).

e-mail = primordial human activity

Facilitating knowledge exchange in a game room