Lloyd Provost, MS; Statistician, Associates for Process Improvement
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Learning Objectives: At the end of this activity, you will be able to:
Discuss the importance in improvement work of appreciating systems.
Describe how visual tools can aid improvement.
List at least two visual tools that can help you visualize a system.
Description: Appreciation of systems is fundamental to the science of improvement. But when you’re a frontline worker with a close-up view of one part of the health system, it can be hard to see the big picture. In this video short from Lloyd Provost, co-author of the legendary Improvement Guide, you’ll learn how visual tools can help reveal the larger systems in which we live and work.
Discussion Questions:
- When embarking on health care improvement, why is it so important to see and appreciate the full complexity of a system?
- How have you used visual tools, such as run charts or flowcharts, to help with improvement? (If you haven’t used these tools, how do you think they could help you?)
- In the video, Provost talks about getting “bogged down” by overusing improvement tools. Why do you think he warns against this?
- Extra credit: Practice using a visual tool to depict a system you’d like to improve in your personal life. Refer to the Open School’s whiteboard videos on driver diagrams and flowcharts for help.
