Category: Methodology

Most of us are familiar with the DMAIC approach to Six Sigma.But what happens after control phase is completed? The answer is verification. A lot of hard work has gone into the project and as a project leader you need to be able to walk away from an improvement that is embedded and is meeting […]

Some of our Black Belts were talking the other day about how many projects they’ve got going, and (in spite of focusing our projects on specific value streams) how they sometimes feel pretty fragmented, getting pulled from project to project. We discussed whether it would be reasonableto pause for a short while, to ensure that […]

There is just no end to the kinds of business problems Six Sigma is able to help solve. A news release picked up by CNNMoney.com, Forbes.com as well as others websites discusses a unique application of Six Sigma at Raytheon… A team of Raytheon Six Sigma(TM) experts used the Raytheon Six Sigma process to validate […]

To: Executive Sponsor From: Six Sigma Black Belt Re: Lean Six Sigma Project #1031 Our Define Report-Out is now ready for presentation. This memo serves as an executive summary for your review. Customers: Children (primary), Parents (indirect) Problem Statement: Too many children in the United States receive Halloween candy in a way that is unpredictable. […]

Let me end the suspense: not to p. At least for me. Also not to F. And not to t. I got thinking about this topic after reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about “sloppy analysis” in scientific studies. That article is here, but you’ll have to pay to see it. However, the […]

Now I like to think I am quite an objective & freethinking person and don’t always follow the herd when I think something is wrong. I’m not a complete contrarian but am willing to “go it alone” when I feel something is important. So it is a great disappointment to me to say I have […]

I have been working with my colleague, Dave Baker, here at Aviva and we have been researching the long-term behaviour of our processes. Now I am not going to go down the path of process capability analysis, Cp, Cpk, Zshift and the like. Take a look at this simple time series plot to see why. […]

Conformance is how well a process performs within its CTQs and specification limits. Variation is the opposite of it- the difference in the process output over time. Variation is often caused by elements which are part of the process itself (common cause), or elements which are external to the process (special cause). Common Cause variation […]

A couple of days ago, during a particularly boring meeting I started to doodle. But it wasn’t one of those doodles where you draw a box, then put a cross in it, then shade it, add a couple of surrounding circles, give it legs etc…. it was a doodle with purpose, I started doodling Lean […]

Lately, I have written a lot on call center points of interest, as I have just rolled off three back to back projects in that space. These are some of the hardest six sigma project types, that is, when compared to manufacturing from the control perspective only. Now, I am not at all claiming that […]

Resolution, resolution, resolution…that’s what I always say…and so when I see black belts going after AHT (average handle time) as their key output (KPOV) variable, I cringe. Instead, why not break it down to the components of AHT: Talk Time, Hold Time and After-Call Wrap Time. Ok, some of you are saying , “what if […]

In my on-going journey to master the tools & techniques of Lean Sigma I have been reviewing the materials on ANOVA. How useful this has been, it has really moved me on a level. ANOVA comes across in training as a very useful tool and Tukey’s pairwise comparison really hits the spot. However in our […]

We have heard time and time again that Six Sigma “stifles innovation.” But where’s the data to prove it?

I have recently gone through ’Train The Trainer’ for Green Belt. I discovered on the training some excellent tools I had not been using, or have just plain forgotten about. Over the next few Blogs I would like to talk about ’Lost Tools’ and ask why they are not being used, and the impact on […]

From Gauss defining the normal distribution to Galton designing his theories on correlation to Onho developing the Toyota Production system, we are proud of our rich heritage and the number & variety of sources that have come together to create the Lean Six Sigma model. So it is encouraging to see what may be an […]

It seems “Voice of the Customer” (VOC) is a label applied to almost any interaction between a business and a customer these days. Anything from direct interaction to the vaguest involvement along the periphery. Anything from highly structured, planned, and observed interactions to informal, anecdotal, and third-hand accounts. Some VOC is certainly useful. But more […]

Most methodologies warn against the use of part time resources as project leaders. This is more so true with Blackbelts. However, the Army has a unique situation with the Army Reserves. These are true full time members who serve up to a total of 38 days per year. Couple that with the fact that most […]

Six Sigma critics are right about one of their chief complaints: the program is a re-packaging of a lot of tools and ideas that have been around for a long time. Personally I don’t think that’s a bad thing, since many of the ideas that have been re-packaged were languishing before. Regardless of where the […]

In preparation for an award I am accepting for being a pioneer in the CPM (Corporate Performance Management) and BI space for the work done infusing the balanced scorecard (BSC) methodology prior to our deployment of lean six sigma (LSS) , I started thinking about how many blank faces I see when I start talking […]

One of the most recent moves to engage the leadership in Business Transformation is to have the Project Sponsors brief/present BB/GB projects to the Deployment Directors/Senior Leadership. The strategy is a great way to change the old thought process of “kicking the can down the road” or “maintaining the status quo” until the next bloke […]

When you are just started to work on a new project, as Six Sigma professional you are conditioned not to jump to conclusions and let the data and facts guide you to process improvements. However, by asking yourself two simple questions at the start of such an improvement initiative, you be able to get a […]

Reading Robin Barnwell’slastest post, I was reminded of a conversation I had recently regardingstandard work in our own projects. When our Black Belts share their experiences, it’s really interesting to seehow parts of the project structure are valued differently by each individual. Let me give you an example. We have a guideline for rapid improvement […]

Successful operations planning can be a powerful cost reduction and organizational development strategy to help define resources and processes needed to sustain the project’s business outcome after control phase, especially in the contact center space. The black/green belts should not keep the responsibility for the product after delivery, nor be listed anywhere in the control […]

Theterm “Mission Creep” with the Military can be applied to “Scope Creep” in a LSS Project. The constant tension to solve problems has to be tempered with the fact that many problems are “Elephants” that need to be eaten one bite a time. The issue of Mission/Scope Creep boils down to being able to define […]