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Book Review- Nan- A Six Sigma Mystery.Pages

When a book is designed in a way that it unmistakably simulates the learning to an indelible conclusion, further the messages are identified in 40 odd chapters of the book, and the readers tends to correct the incompetencies in him or her through a paradigm of Poka Yoke (pronounced Poka (ka as in car), OK with a prefixed sound of y) the Japanese term of fool-proofing, then the book should be a must read for not only all the quality enthusiasts, but additionally for the role players, namely the young executives, computer and automation enthusiasts, personal secretaries and even detectives.
The book in question is “Nan- A Six Sigma Mystery”, which could double up as a textbook for the students of communication skills, not because of its high readability, worth sustaining an interest because of the glueyness of a suspense novel, but for the system theory, which entwines the plot of a mystery. The book succeeds in setting up basics for responsibility and authority as a humanistic pursuit in the reader.
Because the book is written within a setting of a hospital, whose bequester(s) is a party to the plot; it should also attract the medico and the nursing student alike as that of six- sigma, the buzzword for engineering professionals.
Talking of Nan-Six Sigma and not of the mystery, the principle actor in which is a head nurse newly promoted to an executive echelon who always is two steps ahead of her very thoughtful secretary, with surprising meticulousness of the latter to spare the boss for a deeper thinking. The new boss is however saddled with the blemish of carelessness of two subordinates, her erstwhile colleagues who had the most envious service records, leading to the death of a baby child of young parents, and of the old and ailing Board (of Directors) Chairman right in the VIP ward of the hospital, during her occupancy as the new vice president, but before her actual assumption of office. In the book the author Robert Barry, Ph.D. and a Six Sigma Master Black Belt reiterates the importance of training and retraining for the advance of one’s professional competence, and compares the American, Japanese and/or English models of human control with ease and effectiveness. Importance of effective Communication to efficiency, especially within Verbal orders as in Navy or in a hospital apart, the plot is supported by a technological briefing of chip burning, videoconferencing and the use of paint in interiors of new vice president’s office and the auto maneuvering of illumination etc, So the book elevates in status from a mere mystery novel to modern science educator in a non-science way. The requisite vocabulary of Benchmarking, brainstorming, and failure mode does the rest; that too ascribed to manual operations like nursing where each sticking of her needle is a threat of dreaded infection.
The book (©2004 of prestigious publication of American Society of Quality), is a sure motivator for removing errors and encourages improving outcomes in one’s performance to create a blame free work environment, and leaves the scientific jargon of six sigma to much-less than six pages, majority of that as an unnumbered last chapter at the rear of the book:

Nan: A Six SIGMA Mystery, by Robert Barry (Author) ASQ Quality Press (October 2003)

- Posted on June 8th, 2015 in Pages, Quality, Personal Development, Education, Health, Six Sigma | 2,490 Views |

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