Forget about Lean Six Sigma?

Have you ever read a book of followed a course and never used what you learned? I can think of a few courses myself (i.e. 2 day correspondence course). I left the class room, shook the hand of the trainer and then left. On my journey home I was thinking about food, the next work out, anything… but the course. Unfortunately, many of these events end on Fridays so the TGIF feeling is overpowering.

Somewhere in the back of my mind there was the thought, I should do something with this new knowledge. But memory fades and we move on to the rhythm of the day.

How to keep Lean Six Sigma fresh in your mind

I guess this can happen to knowledge and skills picked up during your Lean Six Sigma course too. So how do we make sure we do not forget and prevent that knowledge form ending up in one of the nothing boxes in our brain (Mark Gungor– the Nothing Box)?

I believe the answer lies in what we pick up as the core of Lean Six Sigma. Personally, my first encounters were marred by an abundance of abbreviations and a complex (partially statistical) toolbox.

A few years of actually applying Lean Six Sigma, however taught me it was my mindset that had changed. Somehow, I would no longer accept wasting time on fixing things haphazardly. Firefighting the same issues year after year (like the annual reconciliation of numbers, coming back every 4th Quarter) just could not be right.

Lean Six Sigma in practice

Let me give you a recent example; ever printed a list of names and find out one of the names was misspelled? In our last course a few of the names of course delegates were spelled incorrectly. Correcting these defects meant losing time and more importantly disgruntled customers as we base course materials and certificates on these names.

My mindset now was, let’s fix the mistake at hand first and then focus on making sure it can never happen again. The answer was simple. We just asked all our customers at the start of the process if their name - as we recorded it - was spelled correctly and if it corresponded with the formal name they wanted on their certification. Why did I not think of that before?

Avoid the nothing box

My point is that the philosophy of Lean Six Sigma is essentially a mindset, a way of thinking. It changes your behavior and it makes you look to continuously improve the way you do things. Don’t waste precious time in looking for your car keys a few times a week (recognize this?), but devise a solution so you know where your keys are everyday (e.g. use a plastic see through box for essentials and a key chain with a clear visual mark – how about a large pink bear?).

When you see problems do not follow your gut feel or the majority consensus to choose a solution. Think it over, use your rational mind (your second system – Daniel Kahneman) or in Lean Six Sigma terms: find data and solve the problem for good.

Who do we think should start with using the Lean Six Sigma mindset?

Start with the one person who you can directly influence: yourself. Ask yourself, how can I make my life easier, how can I fix problems in my life without just tackling a symptom.

One last note

As a word of warning, please don’t overdo it! Do not organize your whole house without discussing this with your family. You do want their acceptance and support to implement the Lean Six Sigma mindset. Not very different from large corporations, your family needs to see the benefit of this mindset before they will apply it. Do not tell them about all the concepts or tools (they will probably look at you,  nod politely and move on) but focus on actual, tangible benefits this different of mindset can bring.