Davis Balestracci

Consultant, teacher, and author

Davis Balestracci is a past chair of ASQ’s statistics division. He has synthesized W. Edwards Deming’s philosophy as Deming intended—as an approach to leadership—in the second edition of Data Sanity (Medical Group Management Association, 2015), with a foreword by Donald Berwick, M.D. Shipped free or as an ebook, Data Sanity offers a new way of thinking using a common organizational language based in process and understanding variation (data sanity), applied to everyday data and management. It also integrates Balestracci’s 20 years of studying organizational psychology into an “improvement as built in” approach as opposed to most current “quality as bolt-on” programs. Balestracci would love to wake up your conferences with his dynamic style and entertaining insights into the places where process, statistics, organizational culture, and quality meet.

Fri, 05/10/2013 - 09:07
‘Control Charts! They Make the Blind Hear and the Deaf See!’Once again, I find myself appreciating Deming’s hatred of statistical hacks
Tue, 07/14/2020 - 12:03
“With data from an epidemic there is no question of whether a change has occurred. Change is everywhere. The question is whether we are getting better or worse. So while the process behavior chart may be the Swiss army knife of statistical…
The Vasa: A Cautionary Tale for Covid-19 Vaccine Development... ...and the current state of improvement​?
Mon, 06/08/2020 - 12:03
What is the Vasa? It was a Swedish warship built in 1628. It was supposed to be the grandest, largest, and most powerful warship of its time. King Gustavus Adolphus himself took a keen personal interest and insisted on an entire extra deck above the…
Before You Abandon Those ResolutionsRemember why you made them in the first place
Thu, 01/16/2020 - 12:03
Editor’s note: The following browsable offering from Davis Balestracci represents a good chunk of his knowledge base. If you’re looking for improvement ideas, motivation, or a swift kick in the pants for yourself or your team, you’ll find them in…
The Sad Reality of Quality TodayEven innovation and growth eventually create waste and inefficiencies
Thu, 12/12/2019 - 12:03
During the late 1970s, quality began to evolve from its historically Neanderthal, passive inspection approach to its current Cro-Magnon state, where its more proactive, project-based approach is bolted on to the operational status quo. Joseph Juran…
The One Rare Leadership SkillHumility results from a basic understanding of variation​
Wed, 10/30/2019 - 12:03
In 2006 I was at a presentation by a world leader in quality (WLQ) who has been singing W. Edwards Deming’s praises since the late 1980s and even does the famous red bead experiment as part of some of his plenaries. He presented the following bar…
‘Any Theory Is Correct in Its Own World...‘...but the problem is that the theory may not make contact with this world’
Tue, 09/03/2019 - 12:03
As statistical methods become more embedded in everyday organizational quality improvement efforts, I find that a key concept is often woefully misunderstood, if it is even taught at all. W. Edwards Deming distinguished between two types of…
Déjà Vu All Over Again?This summer, take the three-step challenge to start new conversations
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 12:03
Recently, I’ve had a sad, increasing sense of déjà vu. Twitter has become even more vacuous, and LinkedIn has quickly devolved into a business version of Facebook. Literally right after I finished this draft, I read a newspaper headline: “Twitter…
Quarterly Review Coming Up on That Aggressive 2019 GoalWill it be thumbs up or thumbs down?
Mon, 03/25/2019 - 12:03
In most healthcare settings, workers attend weekly, monthly, or quarterly meetings where performances are reported, analyzed, and compared to goals in an effort to identify trends. Reports often consist of month-to-month comparisons with “thumbs up…
Enough!Stop being perceived as the ‘13th clown’
Thu, 02/21/2019 - 12:03
During recent visits to Twitter and LinkedIn, I’ve become increasingly shocked by the devolution of the posts to vacuous nonsense. I felt a Network moment of, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Is your organization getting…
Watch Out for the Big Data SteamrollerThe most seductive waste of all
Mon, 01/14/2019 - 12:03
“People think that if you collect enormous amounts of data you are bound to get the right answer. You are not bound to get the right answer unless you are enormously smart.”
—Bradley Efron There has been an explosion in new technology for…