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Blog
Simple's hard to sell
May 27, 2008
My last couple blogs dealt with the quality of young people who’ll be making up tomorrow’s workforce. I didn’t want to leave this topic without recognizing the power of today’s workforce.
As I mentioned last time, many organizations get lost in their pursuit of Six Sigma quality. The paradox of Six Sigma is that it’s doomed to fail when it’s divorced from reality.
A recent white paper by Cristopher Del Angel of Proudfoot Consulting Company recounted what happened when a mining and smelting operation put in a series of alarm systems that would ring whenever the temperature at certain part of the process rose or fell by 5%. The problem was, so many alarms were going off at the same time that operators turned them off to keep from going crazy. The Six Sigma initiative that justified the alarms sought to improve operations by analyzing historical data, identifying where problems were and installing a “sound” solution. What wasn’t considered was the behavioral solution.
“The behavioral opportunity was to change the mindset of the operators by involving them in the redefinition of which alarms should stay and why, as well as which ones should become silent flags for them to take into consideration on a scheduled basis,” Del Angel writes. “This way, they could be more critical and focused in their decision-making process.”
The moral: By making people part of the solution, this company attained the full potential of the opportunity.
Sounds simple. The problem is, when you’re dealing with something with as much intellectual baggage as “Six Sigma” brings with it, “simple” is the last thing you expect. The funny thing is, it’s usually the first thing that works.
Tell me if you disagree.
Posted by Tom Andel on May 27, 2008 | Comments (1)
In response to: Simple's hard to sell
Jay Arthur commented:
Most Six Sigma training covers every known statistical tool and method. Unfortunately, Six Sigma belts often have a hard time choosing the right tool for the problem at hand. There's a handful of methods and tools that will solve 90% of Six Sigma problems. That's why I write and speak about Six Sigma Simplified. Most companies are stuck at 3 sigma and a line graph, pareto chart and fishbone diagram alone will take them to 5 sigma. Then they'll be ready for the advanced tools. And most people underestimate the importance of the human factor. The methods and tools are easy; people are hard. If you don't involve the key employees in designing the change, they won't own it and they won't let it work. Everett Rogers' book on The Diffusion of Innovations explains how cultures adapt, adopt or reject change. Why don't we use the power of diffusion to make Lean Six Sigma easier to embrace? It's silly, but companies aren't military organizations. You can't order employees to do something, but you can encourage and nudge them toward success.