Master Black Belt Certification

Wow, another great leap forward in bringing credibility to the certification process and legitimacy of the profession.  Just send Vinny, Rubberdude, Stan or Phil $5,000 and they will mail you a certificate along with the color belt of your choice.  Sorry, Vinny has a special this week of $3,995 and you get 10 copies of Dr. Harry’s book and Stan’s White Paper from the Great Debate.

If your goal is to have a MBB title. Send 50 bucks to any roadside priting shop in Manila to get them printing a MBB certificate under Motorola, GE or whatever institute you can name it. This is a best investment compared to spending a few thousand bucks for a MBB class.
If your 10 projects saved 10 or 20 millions for your companies, your future employer will recognized your achievement whether you have belt or not.

I agree.  It is not accurate to call myself an MBB. 
I DO remember that guy some years back who passed himself off as a pilot, a priest, a lawyer, and a doctor.  It made me feel a little uneasy.  I don’t want to do that to anyone. 
Aside: these past four days are my first experience with any type of running e-forum.  I am amazed at how inefficient communication is.  Your last note was easy to understand, thanks.  But my attempts at humor and/or subtlety in my contributions seem to mislead as often as not.  I think I’ll try shorter replies.  Here goes.
OK.  I’m a consultant who teaches BB and Green Belt at a small consulting firm.  Maybe that’s already pushing it, since I don’t have an MBB from any organization.  I do have a BB from one of those big Texas firms who puts big advertising banners at the top of pages on this web site, and have executed and Championed dozens of projects at a multi-billion dollar global corporation, across multiple divisions.  I have a bachelor’s in chemistry, and a Masters in polymer science. So there I’m covered.  I also do NOT tell anyone that I have my Master BB.
So. I guess my Six Sigma credibility is in my hands.  Heck, this discussion is moot.  If I allow my self to be given an MBB by my firm (which they would do to save money and sell training) I deserve whatever scrutiny I get. 
Parallel: I’m currently trying to decide whether to apply to U of Michigan Business School, Wayne State, or neither.  I am 95% confident that I have the GMATs and Grades and focused goals necessary to get into Michigan.   Michigan MBA would look great on a resume, but more importantly, I would be FORCED to lerrn a TON of stuff, and my degree would indicate that I did, and it would differentiate me from many other professionals, even from many other MBA’s.  However, The Farmington Wayne Campus is a bike ride away, much cheaper, and would require far less of a sacrifice to complete the degree.
The question is always, just as with SS, cost of change ($$$, time, family time, opportunity cost) vs. benefit.  I guess I am not unlike the companies I serve.  I have an opportunity for improvement.  What path will I take?  The one that best serves my long term interests is the correct answer.
As for MBB, I’ll not represent myself as one until I complete my exposure to a body of knowledge deemed sufficient to claim that status by someone that I’ll be proud to call my “school”.
I’m very glad to see you take the high road on this one, Darth.  My respect for your opinion continues to grow.  I’m sure others’ respect for SS grows when speaking to you also.  Keep fighting the good fight!
Regards, Mike
Man… that wasn’t very short.  Think I’ll just read for a few days.
 
 

I am horrified!  You, Stan, endorse my trainers.  You are probably equally horrified. It seems that I’m your new favorite whipping boy.  At least we agree on SBTI.
Or was your comment was merely a shot at SSSS?. 
Curious…what do you find so laudable about SBTI?  I enjoyed the training, but I consider my materials better than the ones they used to train me back in 2000 (granted, theirs today are undoubtedly far better than the ones used to train me in 2000).  My trainers, also, were absolutely great: professional, knowledgable, and accessible.
Are you an alum or just a know-it-all?

Actually Mike R., EVERYONE is Stan’s whipping boy if you give advice that’s potentially misleading, well intended or not.   Having been lashed a time or two myself when I floated out an ill-considered opinion versus sticking to facts and logical fact-based derivatives, I’d just say that the forum is quite a self-correcting entity – some learn and some don’t regarding posting norms.  With that said, welcome to the forum, and from my perspective there are posters like Stan, Darth, Phil, Mike Carnell, and a few others that post with consistency, knowledge and experience and when reading their postings you can pretty well take it to the bank (as an fyi – Darth’s a little sensitive about banks right now, but you know what I mean – when they post they are generally pretty accurate).
 Vinny

Bravado? Go look at your original post!
When you say you were full of it with that post, I’ll engage in a different conversation with you.
SBTI – founded by one of the true pioneers from Motorola. I have taught, learned with, and learned from him. He does not do fluff. I personally think it is a very short list of those who are not just trying to capitalize on a fad.

What’s the bet on the Peach Bowl?

There is a MBB program offered by Air Academy Associates.It is a One week program for DFSS and cost about $5K. Another option is Train the Trainner ( Also one week but a little bit more expensive) . You just need to choose one.
Does anybody knows something about the quality of this program??
 

Why don’t ASQ start an process of certifying MBBs ?  It will at least give some credibility to the system.
The criteria could be :
1. A examination where the bar is significantly higher than the current BB examination.
2. An affidavit by the employer that the candidate has mentored at least 10 Six Sigma projects.
Is anybody from ASQ listening ?
 
 

The moment people put certification above every real thing, then is’s time to hammer last nail into a coffin for Six Sigma as ISO 9000 .

Two things to consider.
1) Their stuff is pretty light and Excel based. This will be a disadvantage when dealing with BB’s and MBB’s that come through a more detailed training. We lovingly refer to their training as Six Sigma Lite.
2) MBB implies a superior level of knowledge and experience. Can that be taught in a week?

IQF offers MBB certification based on projects, mentoring experience, and sucessfully scoring 75%  on  an 8 hour test.
More specifics can be found at http://www.iqfnet.org
 
Can’t vouch for this one but Six sigma partners offers one as well

What was your score?

Doug,
Not really intended to promote a particular company or organization. Just answered the original post concerning where to get a MBB certified without classroom instruuction. . I think your criteria for leadership, etc is well noted. Tests are tests the demonstration of competence in projects, busines acumen and leadership no one can argue with.

Very impressive. What was the nature of the 5 six sigma process questions? Does the exam follow the CD exactly or should there be something else to be used for study? By the way I guess you were able to receive the MBB certification.
Thanks for your help in advance on this matter.
Jeff

Hi Chalapathi,
i want do

Are you saying that a person having a PhD in statistics will be a better MBB than a person, who doesnot have a PhD?
I think, leadership aspect plays a important criteria in distinguishing a genuine MBB from the not so genuine ones. There should be no certification for thie MBB because it is a role played by a BB, having a better leadership skills as well as statistical knowledge.
 An organisation hiring a MBB have to see the credentials of the MBB from the previous assignment, which should reflect the leadership and the statistical knowledge. Certification of MBB will just open a market for the ‘training agencies’, whose CTQ is ‘money’ and not ‘how good the cndidate is as a MBB’. So it is the organisation that should provide a certificate of acheivement to the BB, who is playing the role of a MBB.
Just my opinion.
Monk