Process Thinking Bob Luttman, Robert Luttman & Associates

Home Page Introduction Process Thinking Flowcharts Cause-Effect Analysis Critical Path Method (aka PERT Charts) Failure Mode Effect Analysis (aka Variance Effect Analysis) Summary and Conclusion Assignment Questions Comments References/Bibliography

Introduction to Process Thinking Process thinking uses three basic tools to help you think about your processes. What are your processes? How do they work? What problems exist? What causes these problems? And, what is the effect of these problems? The tools we will discuss are simple tools. They are also highly adaptable and modifiable making them very powerful as well. Two tools, cause-effect analysis and flowcharts, are well-known tools that have long been a part of the quality toolbox. The material on these two tools will be our Short Takes working papers on each. The third tool is a project management tool, the Critical Path Method or PERT. It is the origin of the term critical pathway. It helps analyze the relationships between activities and/or outcomes. Does XYZ really need to happen before we can do ABC? What effect does that have on LOS? These are the kind of questions PERT can answer. It illuminates the cascade effect in a pathway. The fourth, Failure Mode Effect Analysis, also has a long and extensive history - it was invented by NASA during the Appollo years - and we have adapted it into the Variance Effect Analysis tool. We use it to answer the So What Question.

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