“We can’t decide whether to do Lean or Six Sigma …”. I’m still surprised how many times I hear this, much in the same context of whether to get a Camaro or a Mustang. There is still this misconception that Lean and Six Sigma are competing methodologies, and that you have to opt for one camp or the other based on some arbitrary preferences.
The CI consulting industry is partly responsible for this, no doubt. Lean shops push Lean — Six Sigma shops have all kinds of reasons why Six Sigma is the be-all end-all. Then the waters were muddied further with the introduction of this thing called Lean Six Sigma, which weaves the lean tools through DMAIC methodology.
So, if you’re a business leader with real problems and real opportunities, how do you make a smart decision, one that has a good chance to deliver a solid ROI and bottom line results?
The simple answer is Let your business tell you what makes sense.
What kinds of business problems do I need to solve? Do I have clear quality and defect issues that are hurting the business? Are they complicated problems, where you really don’t know what’s happening?
Or, am I really trying to increase efficiency, make things run faster, and at a lower cost? Quality and defect issues may tilt the scales toward Six Sigma. Efficiency, cycle time, flow almost always point to lean.
When it comes to process maturity and availability of data, where is my organization, really?
Six Sigma is heavily dependent on measurement and analysis of detailed data to get to root cause.
What happens if you really don’t have a lot of data, and have a lot of processes that are messy and unstable?
Projects that take a VERY long time to complete, if they ever complete, is a likely scenario. In this case, then maybe you should look to lean to clean up and stabilize processes, establish some measurement systems, and get some quick results before moving into Six Sigma.
Am I under major budget and time constraints? Six Sigma can yield some incredible breakthrough results when done correctly, but it takes some upfront investment, in money, resources, and time.
Lean is typically simpler, projects tend to be more incremental, upfront costs are less, and results (albeit in smaller bites) come quicker.
Do I have leadership buyin and active participation? Getting Six Sigma off the ground really requires some support and infrastructure. If you have that buyin, there are typically some major gains to be had.
If you don’t, and need to do things more from a grass roots perspective, then lean might be a better answer.
Am I under pressure to show real operational improvements, NOW? If so, then I’d take a hard look at lean as a starting point.
Now, before all you purists get mad at me, I know this is overly simplistic. Did you see all the “may” and “maybes”? But, you have to admit it is very practical and does provide some realistic guidance, a starting point at least.
Of course, no single one of these questions should be looked at in a vacuum, but I think if you look at all of them in total, you can get some clarity on what might be the best place to start, whether it be Lean, Six Sigma, or a blended Lean Six Sigma approach. And, remember, different organizations within the company will likely be in different places. That’s OK.
Remember, be flexible, and let the business pull the CI approach/tools that make sense. Good results will follow ….
The CI consulting industry is partly responsible for this, no doubt. Lean shops push Lean — Six Sigma shops have all kinds of reasons why Six Sigma is the be-all end-all. Then the waters were muddied further with the introduction of this thing called Lean Six Sigma, which weaves the lean tools through DMAIC methodology.
So, if you’re a business leader with real problems and real opportunities, how do you make a smart decision, one that has a good chance to deliver a solid ROI and bottom line results?
The simple answer is Let your business tell you what makes sense.
What kinds of business problems do I need to solve? Do I have clear quality and defect issues that are hurting the business? Are they complicated problems, where you really don’t know what’s happening?
Or, am I really trying to increase efficiency, make things run faster, and at a lower cost? Quality and defect issues may tilt the scales toward Six Sigma. Efficiency, cycle time, flow almost always point to lean.
When it comes to process maturity and availability of data, where is my organization, really?
Six Sigma is heavily dependent on measurement and analysis of detailed data to get to root cause.
What happens if you really don’t have a lot of data, and have a lot of processes that are messy and unstable?
Projects that take a VERY long time to complete, if they ever complete, is a likely scenario. In this case, then maybe you should look to lean to clean up and stabilize processes, establish some measurement systems, and get some quick results before moving into Six Sigma.
Am I under major budget and time constraints? Six Sigma can yield some incredible breakthrough results when done correctly, but it takes some upfront investment, in money, resources, and time.
Lean is typically simpler, projects tend to be more incremental, upfront costs are less, and results (albeit in smaller bites) come quicker.
Do I have leadership buyin and active participation? Getting Six Sigma off the ground really requires some support and infrastructure. If you have that buyin, there are typically some major gains to be had.
If you don’t, and need to do things more from a grass roots perspective, then lean might be a better answer.
Am I under pressure to show real operational improvements, NOW? If so, then I’d take a hard look at lean as a starting point.
Now, before all you purists get mad at me, I know this is overly simplistic. Did you see all the “may” and “maybes”? But, you have to admit it is very practical and does provide some realistic guidance, a starting point at least.
Of course, no single one of these questions should be looked at in a vacuum, but I think if you look at all of them in total, you can get some clarity on what might be the best place to start, whether it be Lean, Six Sigma, or a blended Lean Six Sigma approach. And, remember, different organizations within the company will likely be in different places. That’s OK.
Remember, be flexible, and let the business pull the CI approach/tools that make sense. Good results will follow ….
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