Month: May 2008

Our Lean Manufacturing program is stepping-up a gear and as part of this we are looking to present the approach to a large audience of about 200 people. And I am looking for some inspiration. If anyone has a good ice-breaker, simulation, case study or other activity that would take about 30 minutes and engage […]

Lean government is making public sector inroads through out the US. It is exciting to see this. But I am worried. Some managers seem to see it as a weapon, rather than a tool. The legislature is making us more accountable so we have to do something or else? Do more with less? Cut staff so we can […]

You don’t have to read much of the daily paper, in the US at least, to see datapresented in very interesting ways. “Gas price SKYROCKETS to $4 a gallon!” “The Dow Jones Industrial Average PLUMMETS to 12,500!” “Pistons [Basketball Team] Have the EDGE Now!” “Kid Obesity Rate STEADY” Now, part of the reason for this […]

The Adam Smith Institute has set June 2nd as UK Tax Freedom Day. This means we spend more than 5 months each year working for the government. How do we spend what’s left? Our gasoline is currently £1.23 per litre (that’s $9.15 a US gallon). If you avoid the car then our train prices are […]

I was recently perusing Time magazines “Top 100” list for 2008, and came across this entry for Peter Pronovost. I had never heard of Pronovost. Here’s part of what profiler Kathleen Kingsbury had to say about him: “A critical-care researcher at Johns Hopkins University, Pronovost may have saved more lives than any laboratory scientist in […]

Any seasoned Lean Six Sigma professional can tell you about the fruit tree of quality. At the bottom of the tree there is fruit festering on the ground which represents “just do it” kaizen and bare bones problem solving. As you move up the tree, you can begin to pick the low hanging fruit by […]

2008 ISSSP Leadership Conference, Day One A few quotes and thoughts from Michael Harry’s presentation, The Great Discovery. What is your life dream? Have we lost the dream in Six Sigma? The power of dreams is unbelievable. Belief in a dream united Motorola. That dream was Six Sigma. Six Sigma Timeline: 1980s: Quality Improvement 1990s: […]

2008 ISSSP Leadership Conference, Day One “Best practices need to continue to improve.” David’s presentation coveredthe Seagate Business Excellence Journey over the past 10 years highlighting some of the things they’ve learned. One of the best practices David is particularly proud of is the training curriculum. They have gone from traditional classroom training over a […]

Wake up to Life Hike, ISSSP Leadership Conference 5:00 AM 5:15 AM -the lively passengers The Rowdy Back Row! The “fast” group Pinnacle Peak The whole gang

I was privileged recently to attend the American Society for Quality’s World Conference in Houston, TX. What an energetic gathering of quality-minded people! One topic thatI heard a lot of conversation about was concern for leadership of Lean and Six Sigma. There were many stories shared of new deployments, attempted deployments, and failed deployments. One […]

I’ve received a few requests from people interested in presenting at our upcoming premiere iSixSigma Live Summit. Who doesn’t want to get to warm Miami during January 2009, stick their toes in the sand, enjoy the luxury of Trump International’s five-star hotel and resort, learn more than you have in two days since you started […]

For defining the ’VOC’ (Voice of the Customer), I typically use a QFD (Quality Factor Diagram) — Of recent, I have found that QFD’s can be hard to understand for some, while even more painful for belts to explain to others. If you find this to be the case, there are 3 tools used sequentially […]

There has been a lot of ink spilled lately dithering about Six Sigma and Innovation. Most of it by naysayers who feel that Six Sigma is antithetical to Innovation, or zealots who feel some version of the opposite sentiment. For the life of me, I can’t wrap my mind around either position. To illustrate my […]

I recently got a text message from my son.”Mom . . . Pick me up ATEOTD.” Unable to decipher the text message abbreviation I’m forced to do what any mom what do . . text back . . . What?”At The End Of The Day” comes the reply with a big UGH! It’s like a […]

Last Thursday, May 1st, was iSixSigma’s very first live event from our new division, iSixSigma Live! It was a Social & Networking Party held in Seattle, Washington – and it was phenomenal! Over 130 Seattle Six Sigma and quality professionals converged on Rock Bottom Brewery in Bellevue. We rented out the entire top floor of […]