Deming’s Red Bead Experiment (or Game)
Thanks for attending my session of Dr. W. Edwards Deming‘s Red Bead Experiment, aka the Red Bead Game. Here's a link to Donald J. Wheeler's book Understanding Variation. I also write about the Red Bead Game in my book Measures of Success.
On-Site Workshops and Facilitation:
If you'd like to have me come facilitate this at your organization, please contact me. I can combine the Red Bead experience with a teaching session or workshop on “Better Metrics” and the application of basic statistical process control (SPC) / “process behavior chart” methods to better manage data, metrics, and improvement work.
Blog Posts:
See some of my blog posts on this topic.
See, in particular, this post on managing and improving a stable system:
Ask This Question (Not This One) When Trying to Improve a Stable System
A blog post about the lessons from the Red Bead Game:
Running Dr. Deming's Red Bead Experiment & the Implications for Healthcare
A blog post about using the Red Bead Game and a Process Behavior Chart to compare “willing workers”:
Using Process Behavior Charts to Compare Red Bead Game “Willing Workers” and Baseball Teams
Here is a blog post about the dangers of firing “low performers”:
When “Red Beads” Lead to What Looks Like Workplace Discrimination
Here is my blog post about the red / yellow / green charts and SPC:
What's Demoralizing? The Colors on a Chart or Not Improving the System?
My blog post and video about how to create control charts (“process behavior charts”)
I also recorded a podcast with John Dyer on lessons from the Red Bead Experiment:
Podcast #280 – John Dyer on Dr. Deming's Red Bead Experiment
Other Webinars:
Another webinar by Mark Graban
How to calculate control limits / process behavior limits:
See this blog post about how to do so
or this video:
Other Resources:
Western Electric rules | Download this summary
Similar simulator, via BBC: “Can chance make you a killer?”
Lessons Learned from the Red Bead Experiment (Word .DOC) via RedBead.com
Red Bead Videos:
The famed 1980 NBC documentary that introduced Dr. Deming to the U.S.: