Conflict is part of life, and it is perhaps close to inevitable in the workplace. As you and your coworkers work toward developing new ideas and improving and marketing your products and services, clashes in personality, philosophy, and intent are not just expected, but almost inescapable.
The good news is that conflict does not have […]

In explaining success, some people are quick to assert that “It’s all in who you know.” But how many act on that observation to get to know more people?
Relatively few, I believe. More often, this statement serves merely as an excuse to explain why the speaker hasn’t accomplished more.
But should you seek out people […]

What do we really know about our leaders? We yearn to know enough to be confident in following them and, ideally, to emulate them. Perhaps you can name the leaders in the forefront of your industry or profession. Maybe you believe you could be more successful if you could be more like them, so you […]

The Six Sigma methodology focuses on the drastic reduction of process variation and product defects. The result is processes which are very robust, which make very efficient use of resources and assets, and which result in highly efficient organizations. Achievement of Six Sigma process capability will result in processes which yield less than 3.4 defects […]

Organizations who have adopted Six Sigma have learned that if they do not design for Six Sigma, they will not achieve it. DFSS is a rigorous approach to designing products and services and their enabling processes to ensure that they meet customer expectations. As the organization evolves in Six Sigma, we will learn more about […]

A successful leader is engaged in their business and they stay engaged by practicing the art of intentional inquiry. Learning how to ask the right questions that require your team to think instead of simply responding, is an art that requires experience and practice.
It’s also the basis for good coaching. Most leaders don’t […]

Process mapping is an essential tool in helping us understand the activities and sequence of steps involved in any process. It also helps to identify areas where data collection should take place. It is commonly used at the early stages of project definition or project development to visualize the activities involved in a process. By […]

Defect Opportunities can exist at any level of a hierarchy (complex, system, subsystem, component, and element levels). The hierarchy level concept can be applied to every business situation. For example, there are many levels to a policy, service, project, assembly, design, etc. For each of these levels, we count the number of opportunities and defects […]

Design for Six Sigma employs a set of tools and methodologies in the design of new products or services and their supporting processes. This is to ensure that the outcome remains as simple and cost effective as possible while serving the needs of the customer.
Products and services are defined such that they can be produced […]

A fundamental element of Six Sigma philosophy is that unless we are prepared to invest in the measurement of quality, we cannot improve quality, if we don’t measure quality, and don’t follow-up on these measures, then we are sending a signal that we really don’t value quality. This, in turn, affects day-to-day behaviors and activities […]