Myth Busters (#77)
Myth Busters!
I love watching the show Myth Busters! It’s entertaining and
enlightening; hopefully you think these blogs are too! 😊 The Lean Six Sigma Methodology
is full of myths. One of these being that it is the CI’s role to improve
processes. Saying it louder for those in the back: It is a Myth that the CI’s
role is to Improve Processes.
Confused? Let me explain. A myth is a false idea or belief that
is widely recognized. Most people believe that it is the CI’s responsibility to
improve processes. Why wouldn’t you believe that? Their title literally means
Continuous Improvement. Let’s take a look at this example of how the majority
of companies practice process improvement.
Charlie is a Continuous Improvement Engineer for the Operating
Expense Dept in his organization. Their team consists of three people out of a
staff of 900. Leadership has asked the team to speed up the order entry process;
a request made by corporate because they believe that the order entry process
is potentially the reason a customer was lost.
Charlie organizes a meeting with the subject matter experts of
the order entry department to scrutinize the process. He schedules the meeting in
a conference room on a different floor than where the SME’s work and they talk
for about an hour about the process.
When the meeting is over, Charlie creates a flowchart from his
notes and memory. He concludes from this flowchart that there are a lot of
defects in this process that could potentially be wasting a lot of time.
Charlie decides to create a detailed checklist to potentially
reduce defects of the Order Entry process cycle time with help from a manager of
the Order Entry department.
Charlie sends a copy of the checklist to all staff in the Order
Entry department with a post it note on it saying “The Order Entry Process has
been updated. Please complete the checklist with every order and sign it upon
completion.”
If you worked in this department, how would the checklist and
the note make you feel? How did you feel every time you saw the word “potentially?”
There were so
many problems in that scenario.
1. They analyzed the process away from where the process
actually happens.
2. He came to a conclusion by using a subjective
process map of a really complex process developed in just an hour.
3. He created a solution from “could” and “potentially”
phrases rather than facts and data.
4. Charlie was the one to create the solution, rather
than the SME’s.
Because of this,
the SME’s will probably just throw the improvement away. They do not believe
the improvement will work because they were not involved in analyzing their
current process to create a solution.
It is crazy to me
to think that SEVERAL training organizations will train a Belt just to be a
problem solver. Doing so will not make lasting and sustainable change because the
first rule of process improvement has been broken; “The Subject Matter Experts will
improve their own processes.”
A Belt shouldn’t be
the Sage on the Stage, rather the Guide on the Side. They should use the tools
they learned in their Belt training to assist the SME’s in finding a
sustainable solution. If the SME is included in the identification and
implementation of the solution, they will take ownership of the process and
change will be lasting.
Our company
instructs Belts to mentor and facilitate change without voicing potential
improvements. They let the data speak for itself with the understanding that
the SME’s are the most important people in the process.
Let us know what
you think in the comments!
About Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc.
We are Certified as an Accredited Training Organization with the International Association of Six Sigma Certification (IASSC)
“The IASSC Accredited Training Organization (ATO) designation validates Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc. has demonstrated adequate management systems, courseware with a high degree of correlation to the subject matter contained in the IASSC Bodies of Knowledge, delivery schema consistent with such content and highly qualified instructors.”
We Provide Public Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Training Courses in 34 Cities across the globe.
Our Training Centers are located in: Albuquerque, New Mexico | Anchorage, Alaska | Atlanta,
Georgia | Austin, Texas | Boston, Massachusetts | Calgary, Canada | Charlotte, North Carolina | Chicago,
Illinois | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cleveland, Ohio | Columbus, Ohio | Dallas, Texas | Denver, Colorado | Detroit,
Michigan | Dubai, UAE | El Paso, Texas | Fort Smith, Arkansas | Honolulu, Hawaii | Houston, Texas | Indianapolis, Indiana | Jacksonville, Florida | Kansas City, Missouri | Las Vegas, Nevada | London, England | Los Angeles, California | Louisville, Kentucky | Memphis, Tennessee | Mexico City, Mexico | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Montreal, Canada | Nashville, Tennessee | New Orleans, Louisiana | New York City, New York | Northwest Arkansas | Orlando, Florida | Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania | Phoenix, Arizona | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Portland, Oregon | Raleigh,
North Carolina | Salt Lake City, Utah | San Diego, California | Seattle, Washington | St. Louis, Missouri | Tampa, Florida | Toronto, Canada | Vancouver, Canada | Washington, DC
We Provide Onsite Lean Six Sigma Certification Training. Some of the training's we provide are: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Lean Six Sigma Champions Training and Lean
Certifications for Healthcare, Finance, I.T, Manufacturing, Processing, Logistics, Retail Sales and Government.
SSDSI will come to your site to train for your choice of the Lean Six Sigma Certification Levels. Onsite
training is more cost effective than open enrollment training when training larger groups of team members.
Benefits of Onsite Training:
The Training is focused on Your Opportunities
SSDSI uses your opportunities in class (vs. generic examples)
You will get the experience of a seasoned Lean and Six Sigma Master Black Belt who will help mentor you while completing your Lean and Six Sigma Project
You can train up to 20 employees for one fixed cost (this cost includes course ware and the instructors travel
& lodging)
Our courses are full of games, simulations, and active learning to help the adult learner
SSDSI can customize the training to meet your company’s particular training needs
Call Kevin Clay at 214-731-3176 or email at kclay@sixsigmadsi.com for more information
Comments
Post a Comment