Category: Leading with Six Sigma

  • SAS Software Billionaire John Sall on Six Sigma

    SAS software billionaire Sall on Six Sigma and the economic recovery: Big Brain Week continues – Burns on Business. You would expect John Sall of SAS Institute to embrace the statistical approach. But he goes beyond merely giving a nod to the quality movement and Six Sigma. “The quality movement really changed the world…because of…

  • How to Give a Great Presentation

    The Purpose of a Presentation Unlike a meeting where all in attendance are expected to contribute and participate, a presentation involves a speaker who is trying to communicate with an audience. There are two common reasons why a person might want to address an audience: An old saw on speaking states that there are three…

  • Six Sigma mystique takes beating in downturn – Really?

    James B. Kelleher believes that Six Sigma is to blame for the recent drops in profits at companies like General Electric, Motorola and Caterpillar. He quotes John Bogle, author of the book “Enough”, “With Six Sigma, you’re counting just about everything that can be counted. And my problem is that process triumphs over judgment.” John…

  • Does Lack of Ethics Explain China’s Quality Control Problems

    Kimberly Palmer, writing in the US News & World Report Alpha Consumer blog, relates her interview with Paul Midler, author of Poorly Made in China: An Insider’s Account of the Tactics Behind China’s Production Game. Midler attempts to explain why some Chinese-made products suffer from poor quality (when he’s done with this, he can do the…

  • Why Six Sigma Is Not Enough

    Why Six Sigma Is Not Enough

    Some people, including me, believe that garden variety Six Sigma doesn’t go far enough. In fact, even zero defects falls short. Defining quality as only the lack of nonconforming product reflects a limited view of quality. Of course, that was never Motorola’s intent when it invented the Six Sigma program. However, the misinterpretation prevails. Defining…

  • The Six Sigma Management Paradox

    The Six Sigma Management Paradox

    Simply stated, the Six Sigma management paradox is as follows: To attain Six Sigma performance, we must minimize process variability, slack and redundancy by building variability, slack and redundancy into our organizations. Defining the Six Sigma Management Paradox Six Sigma involves an intense effort to reduce process variation to a minimum so that processes consistently…

  • Six Sigma Shortcuts

    Six Sigma Shortcuts

    I often receive e-mail and phone calls from people whose management has expressed an interest in Six Sigma but doesn’t like the approach (i.e., hard work and dedication from the top down) used by pioneering companies such as Motorola, GE, AlliedSignal, Texas Instruments and others. When I suggest that people not proceed until they can…

  • The Role of Freedom vs. Permission in Six Sigma Implementation

    The Role of Freedom vs. Permission in Six Sigma Implementation

    Six Sigma betters an organization at all levels. At the highest level, this involves moving the entire organization from three- or four-sigma business processes to six-sigma business processes, which requires reducing defects by a factor of more than 20,000, completely transforming the organization’s culture. But this can’t be accomplished by simply tweaking the process; it…