Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
When companies consider the merits of Six Sigma or consider embarking on a Lean Six Sigma effort, concerns and questions always arise. Many companies have heard of Six Sigma, but most have no idea what it actually is or how it works. Here’s a helpful list of the basic questions companies get wrong most frequently.
Q: Lean Six Sigma only fits large companies, right?
A: Not at all. Companies as large as GE have saved billions using Six Sigma. But small companies have actually proven to achieve similar results more quickly than larger companies. Lean Six Sigma is a key component of improvement for any size business.
Q: Lean Six Sigma is only for manufacturing and high-tech companies, right?
A: Wrong. Lean Six Sigma has been used to improve the operations of companies in all types of industries, including banking and finance, healthcare, service, travel and hospitality, retail, supply chain, logistics, defense, mining, government, consumer electronics, broadcasting, oil and gas, transportation, etc. The fact is, the true principles founding Six Sigma are universally applicable. Only foolish companies fall into the mental trap of thinking they’re “different.”
Q: My company is already doing Lean. Why would we need Six Sigma too?
A: Lean is an improvement method developed by Toyota. It’s principles are an essential part of successful improvement efforts. But companies that limit themselves to just Lean leave millions of dollars on the table. It’s about as effective as a person trying to improve their physical health by only watching their diet and forgetting exercise. Neither Lean nor Six Sigma are complete without each other. When a Lean company says, “We have enough,” you can know with certainty that they have missed the core points of Lean and will never achieve substantial improvement.
Q: Isn’t Lean Six Sigma authoritarian and heavy-handed?
A: Maybe at some companies it is. GE for example, in trademark Jack Welch style, deployed a top-down, management approach to improvement using Six Sigma. But there are probably more companies that have used an organic approach to empower staff and enable breakthroughs.
Q: Lean Six Sigma is prohibitively expensive, right?
A: It doesn’t have to be. Some Lean Six Sigma service providers drag out training and cling to out-dated business models and pricing structures. Today’s best offerings are scalable to fit any company’s budget. The bottom line is that time has proved that money invested in Six Sigma always results in a positive return—usually in the 4-5X range.
Q: We’re a smart company; aren’t our homegrown improvement efforts sufficient?
A: It still surprises me how often otherwise good companies are satisfied with scratching out their existence with rocks and sticks. The Lean Six Sigma toolset has proven to be a better way—by leaps and bounds! Why pass that up, just because you didn’t come up with the idea? Ditch the rocks and sticks and start using a modern improvement toolset!
Q: I’ve heard of others having a bad experience with Lean Six Sigma. Why would this be a good choice for my company?
A: Lean Six Sigma is based on true principles. Each company implementing these principles makes pragmatic compromises. No doubt, there have been companies that have deployed Six Sigma in a Dilbert-like way that was doomed to fail and even disrespected individuals. Without expert guidance, implementation results are bound to be hit and miss. Successful companies rely on someone who knows how to avoid common pitfalls and can insure key, critical implementation characteristics are satisfied.
Q: Our company/market/industry/[fill in your favorite] is different. Why would someone else’s approach fit our situation?
A: This sentiment is the most common obstacle to improvement—ignorantly thinking that you or your situation are so unique that no one has anything that can possibly help. Honestly, it’s a complete cop-out. The world is a small place; there countless ways to quickly benefit from the learning and discoveries of others. In my 15+ years of applying Lean Six Sigma, I have yet to come across a single scenario where the Lean Six Sigma toolset did not fit or did not bring substantial improvement.
Q: We’re very busy. Wouldn’t Lean Six Sigma disrupt our critical day-to-day work?
A: It no longer has to. Back in the early days of Six Sigma, some companies insisted on reassigning full-time employees to dedicated Six Sigma work. But companies that do that are languishing in the past. Lean Six Sigma practitioners feather what they learn into their regular work. And today’s best training is provided in half the time and is delivered flexibly, just-in-time, rather than in disruptive blocks.
Q: Will our non-technical people understand the math and statistics in Lean Six Sigma?
A: Some consultants make Six Sigma sound difficult, exclusive, or high-brow. But I’m here to tell you that Lean and Six Sigma are NOT primarily mathematical. The subject is basic enough that even a yellow and black For Dummies book has written about it ;-). I’ve also conducted intermediate Six Sigma classes with grade-school students with tremendous success. If you can add and multiply, you’re ready to gain the benefits.
Q: Who in our company would need to be trained?
A: Executive leadership is critical to the success of a company-wide improvement effort. Therefore, executives must learn enough to lead and support the effort. (I agree with W. Edwards Deming, that management is the primary source of quality defects, not workers.) A very small percentage of staff need to be trained to a Black Belt level, a few more to Green Belt, still a few more to Yellow Belt, culminating in all staff being educated to an awareness level of the method.
