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In This Issue
Mandated Leadership; Quality Conversations
Welcome to the iSixSigma Blogosphere newsletter. This week we bring you a new post from Holly Hawkins.
Also this week, I participated in an online Q&A with Steve Wilson of Quality Conversations. If you missed it, you're in luck, you can catch the archived conversation. We talked about the effect the economy has had on Six Sigma companies.
We've got a new Cox-Box cartoon for you this week as well. Enjoy!
Michael Marx
http://blogs.isixsigma.com/
Open Season for Awards Sponsor Message
iSixSigma is pleased to announce the opening of award nominations for the iSixSigma Live! Summit & Awards in Miami in February 2010. Here's what we are looking for:
* iSixSigma's Six Sigma Hall of Fame: iSixSigma will recognize individuals who have significantly impacted corporate growth and shareholder value through the use of Lean Six Sigma by inducting them into the Six Sigma Hall of Fame. Last year Bill Smith was the first inductee into the Six Sigma Hall of Fame.
* Largest-Breakthrough Improvement Projects: In keeping with the conference theme of "Practices That Make Profits," iSixSigma will recognize Lean Six Sigma projects with the largest "breakthrough" results in four categories - supply chain, transactional, manufacturing and customer service.
* Most Successful Lean Six Sigma Start-up or Re-energized Lean Six Sigma Program: This award recognizes the most successful start-up or the most invigorating re-energized deployment.
* iSixSigma MVP Awards: iSixSigma's MVP awards recognize individuals that have made outstanding voluntary contributions to the Six Sigma community through the iSixSigma Discussion Forum, Blogosphere and Twitter. (Finalists and winners for the MVP awards will be determined by iSixSigma's editorial team.)
The deadline for submitting projects and nominations is Oct 16. For more information on award categories and entry requirements, visit: http://live.isixsigma.com/awards/default.html
Featured Blog Entry: The Religion Behind Mandated Leadership By Holly Hawkins
If there's one thing I've noticed about the effect the current economy is having on businesses, it's the polarization of Six Sigma. Programs have either been seen as the reverent coming of the messiah or the two-bit television evangelist that needs to be turned off and forgotten about. For those companies that feel they are struggling for airtime, discussions about revitalization and redeployment have been preached by change agents to the senior leadership team. One of the common beliefs in these sermons focuses on the mandate to promote only those with Six Sigma belt certifications into future leadership roles. The belief is if the converted are the ones in charge, the religion of Six Sigma will continue to be institutionalized within the fold.
As a knight who chivalrously crusades to protect the reputation of Six Sigma, I have to tell you this belief is not a pragmatic approach to keep face time in the pulpit. First of all, the person in charge to drive the mandate is usually not someone in a Human Resources or Continuous Improvement role, but rather an executive leader, such as the CEO and as a result, the mandate becomes a function of the person (and not the program). I can think of several companies in the past that required future leaders to be at least Green Belt trained only to abandon the requirement when a new executive regime was put in place. What kind of message does this say about your Six Sigma program when two managers had to take different pathways to get to the same role?
Rather, companies who want to maintain a strong process improvement mindset need to take a two pronged approach. First, there should be a requirement for leaders to have Six Sigma executive awareness training. The training could be similar to a Yellow Belt package but should also involve concepts such as Lean, Practical Problem Solving, ISO, etc. Keep in mind this mandate is different than requiring leaders to be a Green or Black Belt. Senior leadership needs to have understanding, appreciation and respect for the Six Sigma program. They also need in-depth coaching on their role as champions which is generally not taught in Green/Black Belt courses.
The second part of the approach to revitalization is an assessment to ensure the employee is competent before moving into a leader role. Things to ask to determine a supportive future leader (as you would in a Six Sigma project) are...
http://blogs.isixsigma.com/archive/the_religion_behind_mandated_leadership.html
Recent Blog Entries
"Quality Conversation with Steve Wilson" by Michael Marx
[September 14]
The archive of my Quality Conversation with Steve Wilson this morning. Thanks Steve for having me on your show.
Quality Conversations with Steve Wilson
http://www.sixsigmacompanies.com/archive/quality_conversation_with_steve_wilson.html
Recent Blog Comments
The Boss Goes to the Doctor
lol...I like this. Wondering whether the Six Sigma guy will ask his boss whether the doctor is using SOV to find out if the major root cause is due to too much food...lol
http://blogs.isixsigma.com/archive/the_boss_goes_to_the_doctor.html#2689
Will the Real Process Owner Please Stand Up?
Howdy Sue, We have very similar issues here. Most centre around the PO not spending enough time on "their" process after the event is over. We put a lot of emphasis on the informal leadership of an area - those who sway public opinion but tend not to be in leadership roles...
http://blogs.isixsigma.com/archive/will_the_real_process_owner_please_stand_up.html#2668
Sue, I believe this is often a problem in many organizations. I worked for a Fortune 100 Company for 9 years, manufacturing windows and doors. The leadership in this company was great and I believe they used several things to ensure changes stuck and people accepted their responsibility...
http://blogs.isixsigma.com/archive/will_the_real_process_owner_please_stand_up.html#2695
Guest Blog: shmula
Turnaround and Change Management: Do Not Waste a Good Crisis" by Pete Abilla
I've been part of several turnarounds and have led a few in my short career. One thing that I've learned is this: one cannot underestimate the people-side of a turnaround. In fact, it's very likely that your turnaround will fail, if your people aren't with you.
In this article, I'll share a simple, pragmatic model that has proved effective for me in the past and, in proceeding blog posts, I'll show several examples of how you can implement this model in your various turnaround efforts - from very small to very large.
A Crisis...
http://www.shmula.com/1466/turnaround-and-change-management-do-not-waste-a-good-crisis
The Cox-Box Cartoon
http://blogs.isixsigma.com/archive/lean_vs_six_sigma.html
For more of the Cox-Box, visit the archives or the new Cox-Box Store:
Cox-Box Store
http://www.cafepress.com/isixsigma/4815387
Cox-Box Archives
http://blogs.isixsigma.com/garypcox
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