10 Common Questions about Six Sigma
Our consulting organization has been associated with Six Sigma since its inception in the 1980s. During the last 20 years, we have heard virtually every question asked about both the concept and application of this cutting edge management philosophy.
In our final chapter, we address 10 common questions asked about Six Sigma and provide our insight into their answers. It should be noted that in some cases, these questions are honest forms of curiosity about the topic. In other cases, these questions are forms of resistance on the part of the questioner. For purposes of this chapter, we assume the best-case scenario about the intentions behind each question.
Question #1 Isn’t Six Sigma just like other quality initiatives in the past, almost all of which were failures?
By far, this is the most common question we hear. As we have already alluded, Six Sigma uses many of the same tools and techniques as other quality initiatives, but there are huge differences between Six Sigma and previous efforts.
First, other quality initiatives never gained the attention of top management. Whether the quality initiative was Statistical Process Control, Total Quality Management, Hoisin Planning, or other quality initiatives, it was a rarity for management to actually be involved. What typically happened was project teams were immediately formed among those that had an interest in improvement. These teams attempted to utilize quality tools and techniques, but without the support of management. Thus, the effort was halfhearted as were the results.
Six Sigma is different because of management’s active involvement. Jack Welch at General Electric said that Six Sigma was the most important initiative he brought to General Electric in the 20 years he was at the helm. His successor, Jeffery Immelt, mentioned expanding Six Sigma four times in his first interview with the Wall Street Journal. The other two finalists for Jack Welch’s succession, James McNerney and Robert Nardelli brought Six Sigma to their new organizations (3M and Home Depot, respectively) in the first month after leaving General Electric.
Why has Six Sigma garnered such support from such highlevel executives? Because the executives use Six Sigma strategically, as an enabler to achieving the business objectives of the organization (see Chapter 2). With the support, encouragement, and resource allocation of management, Six Sigma has become a way of doing business in the organizations that embrace it, something that never happened with other quality initiatives. How many other quality initiatives have had the support of management like Six Sigma?
With that management support, results follow. In recent months, our consulting firm has assisted our clients generate multimillion dollar cost savings while improving customer satisfaction and improving the bottom line. One financial services client reduced dispute resolution time for a credit card process from over 38 days to less than 3. Another client, a health care provider, reduced unexpected complications and improved patient registration. If something is successful, it is used. These kinds of results attract the active involvement of management. When management supports something, it will work. Therein lies the difference between Six Sigma and other quality initiatives.
Question #2 How will I know if my organization is successfully implementing Six Sigma?
There are several signs you should be looking for if your organization
is becoming successful in its efforts to implement Six Sigma.
First, management in your organization will begin to become more fact-based. Attending a meeting will result in decisions made by data rather than the person with the loudest voice. Someone in those meetings will ask to see the data, whether that data is a Pareto chart, a histogram, or a survey from a customer.
Second, you will start to become more familiar with the concept of process. As we described earlier in this book, a process is a series of steps or activities that takes inputs, adds value, and produces outputs for a customer. While everyone talks about being customer focused, only those that begin to measure, manage, and improve the processes of their organization will truly be customer focused. Thus, if your organization is successfully implementing Six Sigma, you and others in your organization will become more familiar with the processes you either work in or are affected by. In addition, you will become aware of the key measures of effectiveness and efficiency for those processes.
Third, you could expect to see and participate in more improvement teams. When an organization starts a Six Sigma initiative, the first teams will appear to be a novelty. After some period of time, improvement will become an expectation of every employee in the organization. Thus, the concept of improvement teams and your periodic participation on them will become standard fare rather than a novelty.
Fourth, the focus of energy of a Six Sigma organization changes. Reward and recognition migrates from the fire fighter to the arsonist catcher. What this means is that the organization you work in will become proactive rather than reactive.
Question #3 Isn’t Six Sigma going to rob me of my creativity?
This question has become more prevalent since National Public Radio (NPR) ran a segment on this very topic. NPR indicated that many employees are concerned that their creativity will be limited by having to be in an organization that manages with facts and data.
Just the opposite will happen. Employees will have far greater opportunity to exhibit their creativity in a Six Sigma organization. There are two major ways that a Six Sigma culture encourages creativity rather than hampers it.
First, while on a DMAIC project team, the success or failure of the team is directly related to how well project team members tap into their creativity. Recognize that while decisions are made based on data, the team enters the root causation phase of Analysis with the responsibility to generate root causes through brainstorming. This, by definition, will cause project team members to use both their experience and creativity relative to the project. Again, in Improve, project team members must brainstorm ideas that will generate improvement in sigma performance. Time and again, I have seen that teams with great ideas (that are tested and verified) dramatically improve sigma performance.
Second, there is another tactical methodology that helps to create new processes or products. This design for Six Sigma methodology is known by its initials DMADV, which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify. DMADV is used when a process or product does not currently exist that is needed to positively impact a strategic business objective of the organization. The creativity of DMADV project team members is pivotal toward the success of its goals.
Therefore, whether the team is using DMAIC or DMADV, creativity is a must if the team is going to be successful.
Question #4 Will I lose my job if Six Sigma is successful?
One of the problems with a quality improvement approach years ago called Process Re-engineering was that virtually all of the benefits touted to management were workforce reductions.
The goal of Six Sigma is to improve both effectiveness and efficiency. Efforts that focus exclusively on efficiency (like process reengineering) often can appear like a workforce reduction effort. When efforts like Six Sigma work on effectiveness (which you will remember is improving how well you meet your customer’s needs and requirements) properly, it is typical for the business to grow and expand, not contract.
You should also remember our discussion of business process management in Chapter 2. Six Sigma should always be structured in a way to achieve the business objectives of the company. I haven’t yet seen Six Sigma be exclusively devoted to just the reduction of employees engaged in inefficiency.
Having said that Six Sigma is not an employee reduction program, the following also has to be said: If your job is exclusively devoted to work around inefficiency, ultimately your job is a target for possible change or elimination. To not acknowledge this fact would be deceptive. If this is the case, you want to expand your work knowledge into other areas of the business. In the best case, as your organization improves both effectiveness and efficiency, your skills could be used elsewhere in the organization. Additionally, if your current work is focused on inefficiency, it is even more important to work on a Six Sigma team. The skills you master as part of a Six Sigma team will dramatically assist your career development, whether those skills will be used in your current position, a new position in your current organization, or some other company.
Question #5 We have tried improvement before, why should Six Sigma be any different?
Since the 1980s, many organizations have made half-hearted attempts at improving their organization through quality. I would be the first to say that whether the effort was Statistical Process Control, Total Quality Management, a Just-In-Time effort, or some other well-intentioned program, it probably failed.
Have you ever considered why it failed? I have spent considerable time and money studying why quality efforts have failed. What I and others in my organization have found is that previous efforts failed for the following reasons:
• Little or no management support and involvement.
• There was not a strategic element associated with previous efforts.
• Management of the acceptance of other initiatives never occurred.
Let’s briefly discuss how Six Sigma properly addresses each of these failures. First, management historically has not been involved in quality efforts because they didn’t see the connection between those quality activities and how their business was conducted. To them, quality was the domain of engineering or technical types, similar to the reputation of Information Technology. Fortunately, Six Sigma clearly defines how management becomes involved using Six Sigma as a philosophy and strategy of helping them achieve business objectives.
Second, this strategy, called Business Process Management, dictates how management will be involved with Six Sigma quality activities both during the initiation and the maintenance of the strategy of Six Sigma.
Third, if you have been a part of a quality initiative that failed, think of how well (or more likely, poorly) the acceptance of the quality effort was managed. In all likelihood, there was little or no management of the acceptance of the quality effort.
Once again, Six Sigma is different in this regard. As we discussed in the previous chapter, a series of “soft” tools are used in a Six Sigma initiative that are totally directed toward gaining acceptance to Six Sigma whether it be directed at management or an individual contributor.
Question #6 I’m not good at math. Isn’t this going to be difficult for me?
I often say that if I can make my living teaching Six Sigma, anyone can learn it. I even have grade transcripts from school that prove I am not the smartest mathematician. However, the good news is that much of the math associated with Six Sigma is simple, direct, and useful.
In school, I always felt that the math was about theory. Or to put it another way, in school I felt I was learning the intricacies of how a carburetor worked but never how to drive a car. To me, the math associated with Six Sigma that you have to learn is more along the path of how to drive a car. Most of the math in Six Sigma is adding, subtracting, simple multiplication, and division.
We have worked with many Six Sigma project teams. Most project teams tell us after the completion of their project how they had dreaded the math involved but that overall the statistical calculations were the least of the problems they encountered. Between computer programs like Mini-tab and the assistance of Master Black Belts, the math associated with project work is not as bad as they thought it would be.
Instead, project teams frequently cite other issues they struggled with much more than math. Our next series of questions deal with these more important problems.
Question #7 What do I need to know so I don’t become a part of failed Six Sigma team?
Teams rarely fail because they use the wrong tool or technique. This is even more so after individuals have been part of a few teams. They quickly learn to master the concepts and tools of Six Sigma. At Eckes and Associates we have gathered data on both our successes and our failures. The data shows that the biggest problem teams face will be in dealing with the concept of team dynamics.
In our third Six Sigma book, Six Sigma Team Dynamics: The Elusive Key to Project Success we reviewed many of the pitfalls that teams encounter. Like so many other initiatives in life, the issue of leadership is a crucial variable in either the success or failure of a Six Sigma team.
As we indicated in Six Sigma Team Dynamics, leadership comes in many forms. First, executive management must create an environment where they actively and demonstratively endorse Six Sigma as their management philosophy. Without this active endorsement, Six Sigma will, at best, end up being a short-lived cost savings initiative. In addition, in Chapter 2 we discussed how management must create the Six Sigma strategy through identifying and measuring processes and ultimately picking highprofile, low-performing processes. Next, leadership manifests itself through the project Champions who sponsor and guide the project to completion.
Leadership is an important aspect of team dynamics. The project Champion will have a variety of responsibilities from before the team is formed, through the four to six months they exist as a team, and even after the team is disbanded.
However, as we discussed in our previous chapter, there are a series of “soft” tools that assist a team in creating and maintaining team dynamics. These tools fall into two major areas. Tools associated with preventing maladaptive behaviors and intervention tools to assure that maladaptive behaviors don’t occur again. As stated in our previous chapter, such tools as agendas, ground rules, and setting specific roles and responsibilities for each team member are virtual guarantees for increased team dynamics. Knowing how and when to intervene when team dynamics go awry is yet another key to successful team dynamics.
Question #8 My plate is already full. How will I have the time to implement a Six Sigma initiative?
For those who are younger than 40 years of age, you may not remember the I Love Lucy Show. There is an episode where Lucy and her friend Ethel decide to get a job at a local candy manufacturer. They are placed on a production line where they are expected to pack individual candies into a box. The problem occurs when the production line is going too fast and they simply can’t keep up with the work. Both Lucy and Ethel are well intended and trying the best they can, but this is a broken process. They are exhausted. They clearly would think their plates are full. But this also is a process in need of improvement. Yes, the responsibility for fixing this process is that of management. But smart management will enlist the support and involvement of those that live in the process to get information and ideas as to how the process can be improved.
There is considerable variation in the amount of time team members spend on a Six Sigma project. Those team members who have previous experience or current skills associated with project management spend considerably less than the average 20 percent of work time associated with Six Sigma project time. We have seen some teams spend upwards of 50 percent or more of their time on Six Sigma project work but these teams tend to be more disorganized and rarely achieve their project goals of improved sigma performance.
Someone who asks the question above apparently has developed a tolerance for the current level of ineffectiveness and inefficiency in their work. They have lived and worked in processes so broken they have come to believe that inefficiency is their work. When done properly, what falls off the plate is all the empty calories in the organization that deal with being ineffective and inefficient.
Having said this, it is also important to note that it is management’s responsibility to send the clear message that process improvement is part of the job description.
Question #9 Is Six Sigma a guarantee of success? I heard Motorola is having problems with Six Sigma.
Six Sigma is not a guarantee of success in your business. Think of the analogy of preventive medicine. You can take all the precautions of eating right, exercising regularly, not smoking or drinking to excess and yet still experience illness. However, with Six Sigma as your management philosophy, the odds are that you will be sick as an organization less often and less severely.
Remember, at the highest level, Six Sigma is attempting to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. A problem many organizations encounter is the bias toward improvement of efficiency in the organization at the expense of effectiveness.
There are two major reasons for this bias toward improvement of efficiency, which is particularly acute in the first year of implementation. First, management typically is unaware of the cost associated with their current levels of ineffectiveness and inefficiency. Therefore, they are anxious to see a dramatic as possible return on their investment of outside resources, which are typically needed in the first year or two of implementation. Therefore, where does the short term cost benefits exist for quicker ROI? Clearly, it is in the current level of inefficiencies within the processes of the organization.
Second, it is much easier to quantify the costs associated with inefficiency versus improving effectiveness. What do you think is easier to measure, machine downtime or the longer term benefits of a happy customer? It is obviously the efficiency measure of machine downtime.
Ultimately, if Six Sigma is going to be a success in your organization, it needs a balance between improvement of effectiveness and efficiency. If your focus is on improving the efficiency of a process that produces Porsches and your customers desire a Chevrolet, Six Sigma will not work the way it could for you.
Question #10 Are there good consultants who will waive their fee and take a percentage of the cost savings they claim to generate for their clients?
Are there consultants who do this, yes. Are they good, no. Let’s examine why.
What would you think of a surgeon who would say, “Look, I will waive my fee for doing surgery on you and you get back to me with a percentage of your earnings from me saving your life?” If I had this proposal from a surgeon I would immediately question how good he or she is. I would feel it was a marketing ploy from a less than successful surgeon trying to drum up some new business. I want a surgeon with a proven track record of competency who will charge top dollar if they are worth it. And something tells me if your life was in jeopardy, you would make the same decision.
As a Six Sigma consultant, I feel confident in my skills. But much like the surgeon, there are no guarantees. Data we accumulated over the years indicate there is an 80 percent likelihood of either a dramatic shift in your culture or at least generating a significant ROI. For example, in recent years, our client base has been generating anywhere from a 2 to 1 to a 20 to 1 ROI for their first year Six Sigma implementation efforts.
Having said all this, our data still indicates 20 percent of our clients have failed to generate ROI. A consultant should not be responsible for lackluster effort, not paying attention to consultant advice, or populating project teams with the equivalent of the roster of a bad baseball team.
