Common Pitfalls in Statistical Thinking

According to many best practices frameworks for quality management and process improvement, statistical thinking is an intrinsic part of building organizational capability. In all of these frameworks there is a degree of flexibility in how the statistical thinking concepts are implemented, because these frameworks apply to many different contexts. Flexibility, however, also leads to ambiguity and inconsistency. The purpose of this article is to identify what has been observed in some organizations implementing statistical thinking. These observations can be lessons learned to help accelerate the learning curve for others implementing these frameworks.