Root Cause Analysis
Investigate the conditions behind a recurring problem, distinguish containment from corrective action, and check outcomes without assuming one final cause.
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Five Whys
Use repeated why questions to trace possible causes, check the evidence for each connection, and branch when one explanation is not enough.
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Scope Change
Recognize a new question or use as a scope change, assess its impact, and record who accepts the revised deliverable, deadline, and evidence requirements.
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Stakeholder
Identify who can affect an analysis or be affected by its use, distinguish decision authority from impact, and agree on communication each person needs.
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Proxy Metric
Use a proxy metric as a stand-in for an outcome that is hard to measure, state the link it relies on, and stop treating activity as the result.
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Selection and Nonresponse Bias
See how who ends up in a dataset, and who declines to answer, can shift a result in ways a larger sample does not fix, and what to report instead.
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Missing Data
Tell a blank from a zero, ask why a value is missing before filling it, and see why imputation cannot create an observation that was never made.
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Measurement Error
Understand measurement error as the gap between a recorded value and what happened, arising from instruments, people, definitions, and processing.
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Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Tell quantities from numeric labels and ordered ratings, and use qualitative evidence as a source of hypotheses rather than as a frequency nobody measured.
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Exploratory Data Analysis
Understand exploratory data analysis as looking at counts, keys, blanks, ranges, and groups to learn a dataset’s structure before choosing what to compute.
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Gap Analysis
Gap analysis compares a current state with a desired state, measures the gap in absolute and relative terms, and investigates causes before choosing a fix.
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Problem Domain and Scope
Understand Problem Domain and Scope through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Operational Definition
Understand Operational Definition through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Primary Metric and Guardrail Metric
Understand Primary Metric and Guardrail Metric through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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SaaS (Software as a Service)
SaaS provides access to a provider’s cloud applications. Understand the settings consumers control and their remaining integration, data, and access responsibilities.
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Baseline
Understand Baseline through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Output and Outcome
Understand Output and Outcome through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Use-Case Brief
A use-case brief connects an idea to a bounded trial by naming who it helps, the problem, the intended outcome, and the evidence needed to decide.
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Cannibalization
Understand Cannibalization through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Overstock %
Understand Overstock % through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Stockouts
Understand Stockouts through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Lead-Gen Software
Understand Lead-Gen Software through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Supplier Constraints
Understand Supplier Constraints through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Long Lead Times
Understand Long Lead Times through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Slow-Moving SKUs
Understand Slow-Moving SKUs through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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SKU
Understand SKU through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Real-Time Inventory Tracking
Real-time inventory tracking updates stock as events arrive. See how duplicate or missed events distort counts and how on-hand and available quantities differ.
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Supplier Management
Understand supplier management: what the work covers, how to define supplier performance measures, and how to track exceptions and corrective actions.
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Reorder Point (ROP) Optimization
Understand Reorder Point (ROP) Optimization through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Safety Stock
Understand Safety Stock through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Backorder Rate
Understand Backorder Rate through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Lost Sales Value
Understand Lost Sales Value through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Fill Rate
Understand Fill Rate through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Stockout Rate
Understand Stockout Rate through clear definitions, worked examples, and the conditions needed to interpret a business measure.
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Value Hypothesis
State an expected benefit with assumptions and a way to check whether it occurs.
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Feasibility
Check whether the proposed change can work with available information, authority, and operating support.
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Leading and Neutral Questions
Ask about experience without embedding a preferred answer or an untested assumption.
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Active Handling Time and Elapsed Time
Separate time spent doing work from the full interval between a defined start and finish.
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Process Mapping
Trace a workflow through triggers, decisions, handoffs, waiting, and usable outcomes.
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Discovery Research
Investigate current tasks, users, barriers, and assumptions before committing to a solution.
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Use Case
Define an actor, situation, bounded task, and useful result before choosing a solution.