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Recently, I was part of agroup Black Belts who were discussingthe pressure on leaders to improve, not just in one direction, but in as many ways as possible, seemingly all at once. Here’s a possible scenario, from a hypothetical healthcare organization in the beginning stages of deploying Lean Six Sigma. A Vice President is speaking […]

(Or “On Arithmetic Means”, if you prefer.) I hardly need mention in this forum that as a standalone descriptive statistic, the average can be a dangerous piece of information. Averages quoted in the absence of other descriptive statistics are generally insufficient at best, and downright misleading at worst. I’ll skip the lecture on the importance […]

A little off message today, but (eventually) topical. Britain’s ancient roads have carried people and livestock for centuries. But it was the engineering skills of the Romans who transformed our road transportation system. In the first 100 years after their invasion in 43AD they built at least 8000 miles of road so even the most […]

While traveling on an international flight earlier this year, I was asked to fill out forms for customs. After filling out the forms I proceeded to wait in line where fellow travelers in front of me delayed processing time because of a simple data entry error on their customs card. Apparently 1/11/07 is read as […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

Nayism 41: “Six Sigma” is not for us. We’re past all the buzz words and latest fads. For various and sometimes unknown reasons, people shy away from Six Sigma because of the name. In fact, Six Sigma has become so popular that it could be the hype surrounding the name that turns them off. So […]

Mayor Graham Richard of Fort Wayne Indiana recently published a new book called Performance is the Best Politics: How to create high-performance government using Lean Six Sigma. In conjuncton with the book the Mayor launched a new website, http://www.performanceisthebestpolitics.com,that offers previews of case studies included in the book. In the Mayor’s own words: “This book […]

We must be data driven!We must manage by fact!What happens when we don’t have any data? What happens when we can’t tweak a bit of machinery to improve our primary metric? What happens when one of our critical Xs is a behavioural problem?Or, one of our action items in the Improve stage is something a […]

Nayism 40: The year-end financials are out and Company XYZ who is using Six Sigma didn’t do well. Looks like Six Sigma is looking more like Sick Sigma. It’s that time of year when Six Sigma naysayers turn to company year-end financial performance and try to lay blame on Six Sigma for companies that may […]

Recently, I had an interesting conversationwith the editor of our facility newsletter. She was looking for short articles for the next edition, and I asked if she thought people would be interested in some tips for email organization. Simple stuff, like sorting your inbox by sender so you can take care of your boss’s communication […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

Nayism 39: Our organization is flat and has little turnover. There just aren’t any leadership positions available for Black Belts when they repatriate. Organizations with little movement might find themselves getting a little stale when it comes to repatriating black belts. Is there anything you can say to clear the air? Here’s what I say . […]

If you’ve read some of my previous blog entries, you’ll know I’m no fan of roadmaps. I used to think this was a radical proposition in the Six Sigma community. But more and more, when I talk to practitioners – the people on the ground who do the hands-on work of process improvement – I […]

Keynote address at the 8th Annual Six Sigma Summit in Miami, Florida, USA The Six Sigma crowd was on their feet before General Powell even said a word. The General launched his address by telling us he got an A in statistics at The George Washington University. That made all of us Six Sigma data […]

Below are a fewpictures from theIQPC Six Sigma Summit in Maimi. Jami Smith from Expedia.com singing with the entertainment. Next year Jamie should”be” the entertainment. She can sing! Fellow blogger Gianna Clark, Managing Director of Six Sigma at Dominion, meeting General Colin Powell. Your very own iSixSigma: Michael Cyger, Michael Marx and Managing Editor of […]

Ellen has personality. She tells it like it is. She is a recent addition to the “turnaround team” at Nortel Networks. As the VP of Lean Six Sigma and Global Quality, she laid out Nortel’s plans to execute on their new Lean Six Sigma initiative launched in April last year. “Lean Six Sigma will be […]

Don Linsenmann, VP Business Process Excellence & Corporate Six Sigma Champion at DuPont delivered a superb presentation on Tuesday. If the only two people I heard this week were Don Linsenmann and General Colin Powell, I would have been satisfied. Once again, Don reviewed the faces of Six Sigma with his Rubik’s Cube analogy. Each […]

Some of the biggest news to be announced yesterday and circulated around the IQPC Six Sigma Summit in Miami is that Hyperion is acquiring Decisioneering. For those of you not aware of Hyperion, they are one of the leading enterprise-wide BPM (business performance management) software applications in the world. As the press release on Decisioneering’s […]

Because I’m currently reviewing the materials on cause and effect I seem to be noticing it everywhere, I wonder why? Either way finding root-causes is an essential part of my job and I have a wealth of tools available such as Ishikawa diagrams, correlation, regression models, DOE and multivariate charts. In reviewing the on-line materials […]

I just came from the award gala dinner… and the 2007 Six Sigma Excellence Award Winners are: Award for Best Defect Elimination in Manufacturing Project- Sponsored by Minitab Winner: Delphi Thermal Systems – 2007 930 HVAC Module Snap Case Machine Honorary mention: Delphi Corporation – Process Optimization to Significantly Increase Product Strength Award for Best […]

This week I’ll be blogging from the IQPC 8th Annual Six Sigma Summit in Miami, Florida. Today’s sessions are over and I must say that I was impressed with the presentations. My favorite speaker today was, hands down, Don Linsenmann, VP and Corporate Champion at DuPont. Don is one dynamic speaker. He’s part comedian, part […]

Yesterday, our organization graduated its first class of Lean Green Belts that was taught on our own, without our consultant. We’re using the term “Lean Green Belt” because we’re teaching them primarily Lean so they can facilitate Rapid Improvement Events, although we’re using the DMAIC structure as an organizing principle. (Our BBs are called Six […]

After an extended holiday from the blog and from work in general, I have to say I’m glad to be back. I hope everyone out there in isixsigma land enjoyed the season as much as I did. I started a project in the U.K. this week. I’m fascinated by the differences in culture one finds […]

Each of our hundred of processes required a common format/look for consistency in the creation of our cookbook. We sit down with our Knowledge Management team to discuss what our users should know about a process and we came up with this list: Procedure Name–The identifying name of the procedure that makes a distinction between […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

He’s at it again. But this time I laughed out loud, I’m sorry to report. What are your thoughts?

As part of becoming an MBB I need to really understand statistics. I spend a lot of my own time studying and use Minitab to support this. But I was surprised to find there was no Minitab User Group where I could meet like-minded people to share my experiences and accelerate my learning. So I […]

Paula Parmeter, a Six Sigma advocate and pioneer, recently passed away. Everyone that knew Paula is tremendously saddened. Below is a tribute, written by Ilona Kirzhner.     iSixSigma has been nice enough to allow us to pay a Six Sigma Tribute to Paula (Feldman) Parmeter. In my knowledge of Six Sigma consultancies, practitioners, trainers, […]

Greetings from Detroit, where the North American International Auto Show is in its first full week. I had the opportunity to visit over the weekend, and was mightily impressed with what I saw. This time, I have to say I looked with different eyes. The last time I attended, a few years ago,my perspective was […]

Many organizational leaders are inspired by management books, and quite a few have gone to the extremes of ordering the books for their leadership teams. Some even start book clubs or go through each book chapter by chapter in their meetings. I’m an avid reader and have gone through a lot of management books in […]

Let me introduce you to the iSixSigma published report, Six Sigma Saves a Fortune.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starting to feel a little “winterized” already (or is that “non-winterized”?). The Seattle rainy season has hit multiple records this season and I’m looking forward to a break later this month by visiting warm — and hopefully dry — Miami for the IQPC Six Sigma […]

Okay, okay. I know this has already been covered to death in other blogs and various discussion forums. But I am nonetheless compelled to offer my own take on the Wall Street Journal’s article concerning the departure of Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli. And more specifically on the comments within that article suggesting that this […]

People only jump when they are pushed. Kotter in his book Leading Change (1994) talks about creating the “Burning Platform”. My mental image of this burning platform is a team of guys and / or gals on a burning oil rig knowing the oil rig is going to sink but only jumping into the murky […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

I don’t usually make too many New Year’s resolutions, but here are a few that I’ll be attempting this year. 1. To be less judgmental of people, and more judgmental aboutprocesses. 2. To look more closely at the “story behind the headlines” when confronted with a problem. 3. To clarify when I’m giving advice as […]

Nayism 38: Six Sigma doesn’t work. Just look at the Fortune 500 . . . yada . . . yada . . . yada. . . blah . . . blah . . blah After reading yet another Six Sigma bashing news article, I find it interesting that intelligent people are publishing the kind of […]

From a building in the centre of Glasgow a team continues to grow, spread and populate one of the world’s largest financial institutions. The team is ours, the mission (which we duly accepted) was to change the way things were done, to build and prepare for growth and to change an embedded culture of ‘that’s […]

Middle manager of a mid-sized business with an average market share makes a New Year’s resolution, “I must improve our performance!”. Hits the Internet to discover what’s out there and is absolutely bombarded with the latest thinking and best practise in how to improve their business. KISS…4P…5P…Burning platform…Blue Ocean…7S…PRINCE2…MBWA….Seven Habits…CMMi…Governance…Scenario Planning…Six Sigma….Innovation…Kotler…Activity Based Costing…Balanced Scorecard…Six […]

We all want to get it right the first time. And a brief browse through the business section of any major bookstore, or even various sections of this website, will turn up hundreds of best practices and other bits of advice that promise to help us get it right the first time. Consultants would never […]

(Continued from “Lean Journeys – Part 2“) Another year is upon us, and it’s time to look forward to new challenges and frontiers. It has been a while, and I will finally finish my thought on going lean from back in October! (Thanks for bearing with me – please refer back to “Lean Journeys – […]

To start ’07 I’m conducting a LOC (Laugh Of Customer) and if you are a regular visitor to this Blog site I’d like to know if you have a favorite Cox-Box cartoon you’ve appreciated, and if so which one it is. If you’re so inclined,if you wouldinclude why it is your favorite that would be […]

The Cox-Box is Copyright © 2000-2007 iSixSigma LLC and Gary P. Cox – All Rights ReservedReproduction Without Permission Is Prohibited – Request Permission

’Twas the night before Report-Out, and all through the House of Quality, Not a creature was stirring, (no Six Sigma frivolity!); The Standard Work Combination Forms were hung in the gemba with care, In hopes that some measurements soon would be there; The team members were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of […]

On the first day of Sigma, my Black Belt gave to me: Something called a VOC. On the second day of Sigma, my Black Belt gave to me: 2 CTQs, and something called a VOC. On the third day of Sigma, my Black Belt gave to me: 3 CAP tools, 2 CTQs, and something called […]

Last year for the holidays I wrote about Amazon and their Six Sigma efforts. This year let me introduceyou to a much smaller store, yet still striving for Six Sigma. The Christmas Decorations & Gifts Store endeavorsto spread Christmas cheer and customer delight to their patrons by practicing Six Sigma. From their website: “We are […]

The ghost of Christmas past pointed me to this interview with no other than the man himself – Santa Claus. Rod Morgan of e-Zsigma was fortunate enough to meet Santa and ask him all the details surrounding Six Sigma at the North Pole. Below is an excerpt where Santa describes how Six Sigma was brought […]

Now we have the tools. Supervisors are watching the process, identifying muda, re-work and redundant processes. Front line staff are meeting production goals within acceptable standards. Our work-in-progress is flowing with less wait time, a focus on pull of resources and just-in-time customer service. We are sustaining production within dictated standards. What is next? A […]

Believe it or not, naysayers all over the world are frantically writing letters to Santa. So what are they asking for? Here’s the top 10 list: Number 10: Two dozen “Just Say No” buttons. Number 9: Ten pounds of stinky cheese to go with their ‘whine.’ Number 8: A “Harry Potter” invisibility cloak to help […]

To better acquaint their employees with Six Sigma, the Y-12 National Security Complex published the following story in their January 2002 employee newsletter. Bechtel Shares a Six Sigma Parable You may have heard about the most recent process improvement initiative, Six Sigma, which is taking off like wild fire around America. Corporate giants like Motorola, […]