Six-Sigma is a problem solving methodology that became widely popular starting in the late 1990s. The term Six-Sigma was originally coined by Bill Smith (1929-1993) at Motorola in 1987. In statistics, six sigma (also written as 6?) simply refers to six standard deviations on a normal distribution (about 3.4 per million). It can refer to an error rate in a process. Five-sigma would be a higher error rate than six-sigma while seven-sigma would be lower. Six-sigma is relatively close to one in a million, but there’s nothing special about six – it’s just what Bill decided to use.The disciplined application of sound quality tools was effective for Motorola and the term Six-Sigma stuck. Then others, including General Electric, adopted the approach. When the company with the largest market capitalization in the world, GE, decided to adopt Six Sigma, many other companies followed. The tools within Six Sigma are based on the original quality tools from the work of Shewhart, Deming, Juran, Crosby, Ishikawa, Taguchi and Toyoda.
Every problem solving method is based on the three fundamental parts: problem, analysis, solutions. A problem solving method obviously must start with a problem and end with solutions. In between the problem and the solutions is the analysis. The word analysis is defined as to break down into constituent parts. The analysis is where the problem is dissected into more specific pieces (with evidence) to understand different ways to solve it.
The point is, the problems are complicated enough, don’t make the technique confusing too. Too many organizations are looking for the right technique. What works every time is a bias toward sound principles. An organization grounded on principles can maintain a consistent approach as the buzzwords change.
The Cause Mapping method is an uncomplicated approach to root cause analysis that focuses on basic cause-and-effect. It shows how different problem solving methods align, not differ. Keeping things simple can improve the culture of an organization and stop the search for a “program of the month.”
You must log in to post a comment.