Page 23 - Lean six sigma demystified

2 Lean Six Sigma DemystifieD

I have spent 21 years working in various parts of the Bell System—one of the best
cash cows of the last century. In the 1990s I led improvement teams that, in a
matter of months, saved $20 million in postage expense and $16 million in adjust-
ment costs. Other teams reduced computer downtime by 74% in just 6 months.
Since then, I’ve helped other companies find ways to save $25,000 to $25 million
per project or more. And you can too, using the power of Lean Six Sigma.
Has your business grown into a cash cow? Are you comfortable with your
current level of productivity and profitability? Or do you still have a nagging
feeling that they could be much higher? Well they can be, and here’s why.
When someone mentions the Aborigines of Australia or the Bushmen of
Africa, it’s easy to think, how primitive! But businesses around the world aren’t
much more advanced than these cultures. Businesses often rely on headmen or
rainmakers (the shamans of business) to deliver the profits.
When we think about these primitive cultures, we often think of Stone Age
tools like flint knives and arrows. When I go to conferences and see the improve-
ment stories offered by attendees, they all use primitive tools, sometimes just
words, sometimes a line graph or a bar chart.
I’d like you to consider that most businesses are still in the Stone Age when
it comes to using data to manage and improve processes. Few use control charts
or histograms to measure performance and improvement. Few use Pareto charts
to identify opportunities for improvement. None use Excel’s pivot tables to
find million dollar improvement projects. Most are content with their primitive
methods, but they are in danger from the businesses willing to embrace the
methods and tools of Lean Six Sigma. Once a competitor gains a lead in speed,
quality, or cost, it’s hard to catch up. The fast eat the slow.
At the other end of the spectrum, statisticians are building starships of advanced

charts and tools that no one is ready to use. They endlessly debate the merits of one
control chart over another. And all this statistical mumbo jumbo frightens potential
users of Lean Six Sigma and SPC. They’re afraid someone will challenge whatever
chart or statistic they use and they won’t know how to defend their choice.
So they don’t do anything at all.

Stone Age and Space Age Tools

Gut feel, trial and error, and common sense are primitive tools of the Kalahari
or Outback, not the tools of operational excellence. Similarly, futuristic tools
invented by statisticians hoping to leave their mark on the world are inhibiting
the spread of Lean Six Sigma.