What's next for Six sigma? An established culture? The Future of Six Sigma

B

Bill Pflanz

#11
Rob Nix said:
A good test is to list those who are sent to the seminars on all these tools. If it is not TOP management, but rather the middlings of the organization, it ain't gonna have lasting success.

Rob,

I hear many quality professionals and also consultants say that the problem is that top management should attend the seminars and then TQM, Six Sigma, Continual Improvement, or (fill in the blank) will succeed.

As quality professionals we spend years learning the tools and methodologies so it is unlikely that top management will ever learn or even want to learn what is needed for the program to be successful. That is okay since that is what they have us for.

What is really needed is for top management to agree that there is a need for quality professionals in the same way there is a need for accountants, HR, sales, engineering etc. When that happens they will not only let us do the job but support us in a visible way. Some of us have worked for executives who believed in the concept and yet they did not sit in hours of seminars trying to learn what we do. The problem with most executive seminars is that they are aimed at explaining why the executive should do (fill in the blank) program and why they should buy the books, tapes, and consulting services to implement the program.

Wouldn't it be great to have an executive seminar that taught if you have a quality professional with this body of knowledge than you should support them and if you don't have one then find one? What you need is a quality champion. Note my chosen title below my name. Here is what I believe a quality champion is.

"The [quality] champion is not a blue-sky dreamer, nor an intellectual giant.
The champion might even be an idea thief. But, above all, he’s the pragmatic one who grabs onto someone else’s theoretical construct if necessary and bullheadedly pushes it to fruition . . .
Champions are pioneers, and pioneers get shot at. The companies that get the most from champions, therefore, are those that have rich support networks so that their pioneers will flourish. This point is so important it’s hard to overstress.

No support system, no champions. No champions, no innovation."

Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr. In Search Of Excellence
 
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R

Rob Nix

#12
Bill,

In my effort to be brief, I did leave much unsaid - which you explained succinctly.

I did mention "management buy in", which implies that they are not the implementers and end users, but the supporters. So, they MUST be the champions - the ones with the passion and drive to make any new initiative (such as lean enterprise) successful. To have that passion requires adequate insight and knowledge of an initiative so as to BELIEVE in it! So management MUST have, at the very least, been part of some executive awareness session, or other significant explanation of the benefits (e.g. case studies) and the methodology to be employed.

What I have seen too often however (and perhaps Mike S. has too), is a customer telling a CEO, "to do business with us you must be actively implementing 'Lean Sigma Du Jour'. He tells the Quality Manager to go to the seminars and get this LSDJ thing going, WITHOUT communicating to all the other department heads and other key people that it is HIS (CEOs) project - and he/she expects it to be successful. As Mike says, "lack of tools is less a problem than the will to use them".

That said, a good Quality Professional will do everything in his/her power to enlighten the top dogs about the advantages (to the business and to them personally) of the quality initiative. They should be the consummate salesperson.
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#13
Rob Nix said:
Bill,

In my effort to be brief, I did leave much unsaid - which you explained succinctly.

I did mention "management buy in", which implies that they are not the implementers and end users, but the supporters. So, they MUST be the champions - the ones with the passion and drive to make any new initiative (such as lean enterprise) successful. To have that passion requires adequate insight and knowledge of an initiative so as to BELIEVE in it! So management MUST have, at the very least, been part of some executive awareness session, or other significant explanation of the benefits (e.g. case studies) and the methodology to be employed.

What I have seen too often however (and perhaps Mike S. has too), is a customer telling a CEO, "to do business with us you must be actively implementing 'Lean Sigma Du Jour'. He tells the Quality Manager to go to the seminars and get this LSDJ thing going, WITHOUT communicating to all the other department heads and other key people that it is HIS (CEOs) project - and he/she expects it to be successful. As Mike says, "lack of tools is less a problem than the will to use them".

That said, a good Quality Professional will do everything in his/her power to enlighten the top dogs about the advantages (to the business and to them personally) of the quality initiative. They should be the consummate salesperson.
I think Rob has much of the solution in his own response:
Rob Nix said:
communicating to all the other department heads and other key people that it is HIS (CEOs) project
The simplest solution, then, is for the Quality guy to say to the CEO,
"Absolutely, Boss. Would you mind sending a memo to all the department heads that this project is important to you so I can get full cooperation?"
 

Mike S.

Happy to be Alive
Trusted Information Resource
#14
Wes Bucey said:
I think Rob has much of the solution in his own response:

The simplest solution, then, is for the Quality guy to say to the CEO,
"Absolutely, Boss. Would you mind sending a memo to all the department heads that this project is important to you so I can get full cooperation?"
Too simple, unfortunately. I have seen this Boss' memo or speech or whatever be the kickoff of the quality program -- often with great fanfare. But it doesn't mean much. I would bet that at over 50% of the places with failed or greatly sub-optimal QM systems the Boss gave such a memo or speech but failed to adequately support the initiative down the road and thus prove that he/she never did truly believe in it.
 
#15
I often use this analogy.

Let's say we all want to get into shape. Some of us are closer to being "in shape" than others. This means two things. First of all, those farthest away will show the largest gain. At the same time we, I mean they :eek: will also have to expend the most resources to get there. The closer we get to ideal, the less incremental increase we will have for the resources spent. Once we are all in shape, then we still have to spend resources to maintain the current state, but less than we did to get in shape.

We can apply the same thing to our QMS, or 6S, or Lean, or anything else. The key is to internalize it, and make it a standard part of our business. At some point, we should quit looking for the next "fix" because there is little or nothing left to fix. Now we use different resources (tools) for maintenance, than we did for improvement.

Make sense?
 
R

ralphsulser

#16
Mike and Rob have it right.
Top management can't do it by lip service, they must be involved and walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Too many try to drive quality but only so far. If not willing to lead the quality improvements and use the tools why keep frustrating the quality professionals. We can "champion" ourself right out the door. It's all about money, and how to show a profit, but what techniques are used depend upon the skill, and attitude of the top management. Now I believe showing a profit is a good thing. Obviously we have to pay the bills, and make something. That being said...there is still way too much focus on short term results, and six sigma or other fads du jour are not going to change anything until the person at the top is willing to take hold and lead the effort.
JMO as always
 
B

Bill Pflanz

#17
Dave B has the right idea about using your quality professionals for on-going maintenance not just for fixes. A maintenance department could be used only when the equipment is broken. If that is all you wanted, companies would contract the work and let them go when the fix is completed. That is what has happened to quality professionals many times.

A core maintenance department is kept to do preventative maintenance and to do planned, controlled shutdowns for fixes rather than having a chinese fire drill every time something breaks. All companies need a core quality group that does the same thing for continual improvement. The management support should be the same for quality as maintenance. I don't think too many companies would be willing to do away with their maintenance department to save some short term money.

Rob indicated that management should "champion" quality. I don't want a cheerleader, I want a support system. Most if not all quality professionals do a good job of championing quality but will be ignored without the support of management. For a pioneer willing to clear a new path to improvement, the support should include being given the necessary resources to accomplish the job.

Management wants improvement but don't always support those who are willing to go to some place new. The risk of any pioneer is being shot. I am willing and have been shot but I survived. An old pioneer who survived is better than a young pioneer who got shot and left to die along the road because they were sent out without the things needed to thrive.

Bill
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#18
Bill Pflanz said:
Rob indicated that management should "champion" quality. I don't want a cheerleader, I want a support system. Most if not all quality professionals do a good job of championing quality but will be ignored without the support of management. For a pioneer willing to clear a new path to improvement, the support should include being given the necessary resources to accomplish the job. Bill
In my mind (not necessarily a pretty place to be), "Champion" is not a cheerleader, but the guy who makes things happen. If we use a professional team sports analogy, the Champion is the owner who hires the right team members and coaches and gives them a good stadium, good competition, good publicity, and hopes this will all result in paid audience attendance.

I want that champion to have a stake in the outcome - good or bad - of the program, process, or project. If the champion doesn't have something to win or lose, how can we count on him in the clutch? Cheerleaders might be happy or sad at the game outcome, but, quite frankly, they don't have much stake in the game.
 
B

Bill Pflanz

#19
Wes Bucey said:
I want that champion to have a stake in the outcome - good or bad - of the program, process, or project. If the champion doesn't have something to win or lose, how can we count on him in the clutch? Cheerleaders might be happy or sad at the game outcome, but, quite frankly, they don't have much stake in the game.
So what you are saying, Wes, is that George Steinbrenner is the real hero in New York since he did everything that you said. The Chicago Cubs, on the other hand, don't want to win, were not given the resources, have never been profitable, don't have satisfied customers and the players and coaches just want out. It sounds to me that they need to hire George if they ever want to be successful.

Bill
 

The Taz!

Quite Involved in Discussions
#20
Mike S. said:
Too simple, unfortunately. I have seen this Boss' memo or speech or whatever be the kickoff of the quality program -- often with great fanfare. But it doesn't mean much. I would bet that at over 50% of the places with failed or greatly sub-optimal QM systems the Boss gave such a memo or speech but failed to adequately support the initiative down the road and thus prove that he/she never did truly believe in it.

The four most important tools in a salespersons basket of tricks are; 1) Repeat and Remind, FOLLOWUP, FOLLOWUP and FOLLOWUP.
 
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