Unintended Consequences

Unintended consequences are situations where an action results in a potential outcome that is not what was initially intended. The unintended results may be foreseen or unforeseen, but they should be the logical results of the action. Unintended consequences in Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma can be categorized into roughly three types:

• Positive unexpected outcomes or benefits
• Potential sources of problems and a corresponding reduction in quality
• Negative or perverse effects, which are the opposite result of what is intended