All entries for Sunday 15 March 2009

Six Sigma, Lean & Soft Issues

As i have been going through  the similarities and differences of six sigma and lean, i found it quite interesting that all the sources emphasise on the importance of the so called soft issues....

Whether it is leadership support, staff involvement or cultural change....

There is always reference to this side of the Lean and Six Sigma..

From, my point of view it makes total sense...In a way it is impossible to expect such a radical project to actually work whithout having the right foundations...

Its like building castles in the sand....sooner or later the waves will come and bring everything down...

Therefore, it is implicit that leaders ought to be committed to the idea of improving from within and actively supporting it...I remember how the word congruent came up in the one of the mini project presentations...And right know I realise how important it is for a leader to stay true to what he preaches...Most importantly its about getting involved with the real project..and not just planning it...and then expecting everyone to buy into it..

On the other hand, employee commitment is crucial in order for any initiative to actually take off...I have been reading about the importance of motivation...both intrinsic and extrinsic..as well as the importance of ownership...  

But in the end..it is all a matter of mind set..where to people stand...what do they beleive...and when i talk about people mean in their organisational environment...what is their organisational culture like? Can it support lean or six sigma..? If not..can it change> Because after all six sigma and lean is about changing and improving

In the end, i think that no matter how effective the tools are..if people are not up to it then it will be impossible for any improvement procedure to finds its way...

Therefore for future reference I will remember...Culture...Leadership...People

: 15 Mar 2009 10:06 |  Tags: Piuss |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem