Future of SS Consulting

Have no fear, the Consultant species will continue to thrive regardless of what happens to SS.  If not six sigma, then SSDD.  Consultants thrived with the Quality Circles, Deming stuff, the TQM offshoot, Crosby, ISO, Baldridge, SPC, Lean and all its variations and the ever present field of leadership and behavioral change.  As long as senior leadership fails to actually change and stops giving lip service to the next great thing, there will always be a fertile feeding ground for management consultants.  And if we, God forbid, run out of new things for them to consult in…not to worry, we can always recycle some of the old but not forgotten fads of the past.  It has always been that way and always will…don’t mess with the natural order of the universe.  This is from one who spent 20 years doing it and periodically entertains the thought of returning…but alas a real job with a great company is not a bad thing so I stay.

This great company of your’s….how has senior management embraced six sigma?  Honest please.  Not your usual BOA pumping.  (Trust me, I know, I work there)

Dr Darth?  How vain can one get. 
Ah, the BOA debates again.  Must be something to it I suppose. 

This is no healthy debate. Not what was requested by noname

Thank You.We should go back to the original track. regards.Mman

Excellent Ideas.What do you mean by SSDD??regards

I appreciate greatly your kind positive response.What a an excellent career  future we should all expect?thanks and regards.

Noname Expert:
 
You’re having a tough time getting any value added responses to your original questions. I don’t have anything good to eat in the ol’ lunch pail today so I’ll use my lunch break to take a whack/swing/bite……
 
SS has made but a dimple into the number of companies that could/would/should benefit from it. To date, SS has been embraced by many large, Fortune 500 companies and other, small/medium progressive-thinking companies. The vast majority of companies, small to medium in size and less progressive thinking companies have yet but will, begin to investigate it. This investigation will probably take place as a requirement of being able to do business with the large companies that previously embraced SS.
 
So, the market for SS consultants should be good? Unfortunately, there has been a tremendous “dilution” in the deployment of SS principles and methodology. Many organizations/institutions are offering hybrid certifications and training to allow almost anyone to claim SS leadership capabilities (currently being heavily diluted at the BB level). This shortcutting or taking the easy way out will force some of the traditional consulting firms/individuals to rethink their strategy (to potential clients they will appear inflexible and high priced). But, as we all know – you get what you pay for….
 
Future consulting needs/demands? Try integrating multi-lingual and multi-cultural training of SS methodology. Try integrating SS training via the internet to multi-locations within the same company. Try deploying SS into non-traditional businesses. Try integrating SS into elementary/secondary education.
 
Future for professional consulting associations? What about working together to create requirements and standards that compete against the dilution impact? What about working together to educate companies that they don’t have to rally behind one (and only one) miracle-producing program? To that point, demonstrate how SS, Lean Manufacturing, Theory of Constraints, ISO, Kaizen, TQM, etc., etc. can co-exist. Try exploiting the benefits of each in a cohesive, business culture.
 
Aspect of the future you forgot to ask? The impact of demographics…… Baby boomer’s leaving the work force, GenXer’s becoming managers/leaders, China and other countries emerging, healthcare, digitally available data, you name it! Things are going to change and it will be very interesting to see if SS is around long enough to meet the challenge of evolution. Step back and think about the future – it will happen!
 
I wish I had more time to expand/detail but lunch is over. Hopefully, you’ll get additional feedback.    OLD

Darth:
Yes, I agree with you that the dilution possibly includes consultants and their services. I too, shiver when I read some of the posts/questions and I wonder what are they thinking or attempting to do? For successsful SS leadership/consulting there needs to be a balance of recognized experience and education. I think you are right in thinking there is time to recitfy the situation. GOOD EXCHANGE!!! OLD

This is a truly value added thread.   I am also increasingly concerned that Six Sigma as a practice is becoming diluted.   As you have previously noted, the movement from other less lucrative and less “in demand” consulting fields to Six Sigma has been nothing short of astounding.   Everyone and his/her brother is now a Six Sigma expert hawking their wares.   In my corporation we have seen quite a few so-called certified Six Sigma experts come in, ostensibly having worked at BB and MBB levels that, in my opinion, did not have a clue as to how to identify, analyze and correct even the most basic causes of variance.   For the most part it was not a case of their having intentionally misrepresented themselves to us, it was lack of preparation and not having gained the prerequisite on the job experience to be able to tackle workplace problems – and that’s the analytical portion let alone the leadership and organizational development aspects of the job.  I believe it reflects more poorly on the slipshod training and certification companies that have, in the absence of a standardized Six Sigma body of knowledge and qualifying group/agency, sprung up to make a fast buck irrespective of subsequent damage done to trainee, hiring entity, and the field than it does the people eager to begin the process of gaining and using Six Sigma analytics making uninformed choices in regard to selecting training bodies.   If Six Sigma practitioners and Six Sigma committed corporations don’t begin to demand and look for means of assuring standardization we are going to find ourselves losing reliance on one of the better analytical toolsets and management mindsets that have come along.   ASQ has made a late entry attempt (self-serving or not) to establish a uniform body of knowledge for Six Sigma, but I believe that it will take the establishment of a Six Sigma specific body headed by elected and widely recognized Six Sigma subject matter experts to begin to establish the standardization of the body of knowledge, training and practicum required for certification, and an accepted and meaningful Six Sigma certification.  If you look at it objectively Six Sigma practitioners and their committed senior management hold vast sway over many corporations’ profitability and it’s a wonder in our post-Enron business environment that the SEC has not stepped in out of concerns regarding corporate due diligence and demanded Six Sigma practice standardization.   There are, once again in my opinion, about 8 – 10 frequent posters in this forum (or maligned by members of this forum) who could, working together, create the type of a standardization body that I’m speaking of.  And this is not even considering the positive benefits derived through proactive and sophisticated marketing of the Six Sigma fields and its contributors.  

R2D2:
As we speak, there is a substantial effort currently underway to do just what you are speaking of.  This effort is operating under the banner of the “Six Sigma Federation” and currently involves several universities (US and international schools of enginerring and business) as well as several fortune 100 corporations.  Standardards are being defined for BOK, deployment, implementation, management, metrics, certification, and a host of other factors.  It is anticipated that the standards will be implemnted during 2005.
Regards,
Reigle Stewart

Dr. Harry, of course.

Perfect……

Sorry to be a little late to the party here.  Last week was a bit hectic.
I don’t necessarily see the “dilution” as an entirely bad thing.  Not so long ago, the only choice for a company looking for guidance was the big consulting houses.  Sure, these people may well bring a little expertise to the table, but they also bring a strong focus on generating billable hours and building a permanent relationship that can continue to deliver those billable hours, while delivering to the client the minimum possible value.  Some of these houses are experts at raping the customer, and companies who are trying to implement may well be better of with someone who knows how to spell Six Sigma.
As hundreds of small players enter, the customer now has choices.  Sure, there are going to be a lot of consultants, as was pointed out earlier, who have read the book and now call themselves experts.  But there are also genuine experts out there, and dedicated Six Sigma cheerleaders, who are sincerely interested, in the true Six Sigma spirit, of delivering their customers maximum value for their dollar.
In the short term, kind of where we are now, the customer is in a sort of bad spot.  There are huge numbers of choices, and very little data on which to judge them.  But over time the word will get around, it will become apparent who is hot and who is not, and after capitalism does it’s thing, the Six Sigma practice will ultimately be better off.
–McD
 

Noname
I’m afraid businesses are left with their traditional, old-style tools … instinct, word of mouth, and hard nosed interviewing.  No magic here!  Better get the old man who remembers how to do these things helping with the choices.
–McD
 

Thank You for your wise message.I was trying to open a debate,discussing the future of SS Consulting,so I have suggested those questions.Ofcourse I have appreciated greatly all the received contributions,specially those of darth,old and john……..I think all have added value and enriched the thread with their remarkable points of view,also  you  are refreshing the discussion again with your  question,thank you and regards.