When Almost Isn’t Good Enough
A few days ago I was discussing Lean Six Sigma with a colleague. The question came up, ”what is six sigma?” The term sigma (Greek letter σ) comes from statistics. It refers to the number of standard deviations from the mean (center) of the data. One standard deviation (1 sigma) in either direction of the mean accounts for 68 percent of the good (error/defect free) data in the group. Three sigma account for 99 percent of the data. Six sigma accounts for 99.99966 percent of the data. If one looks at this another way, there can be 32 errors out of 100 for a 1 sigma process while a six sigma process will only have 3.4 errors out of 1,000,000. While most processes do not necessarily require an accuracy level of six sigma, here are a few examples from insurance industry blogger Kevin M. Quinley of what could happen if the process used is only 99.9% effective: Hospitals would give twelve newborns to the wrong parents daily. Footwear companies would ship out 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes each year. The U.S. Postal Service would mishandle 18,322 pieces of mail every hour. The IRS would lose two million documents this year. Publishers would ship 2.5 million books with the wrong covers. Two planes landing at Chicago O’Hare would be unsafe every day. 315 entries in Webster’s Dictionary would be misspelled. Doctors would write 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions this year. 880,000 credit cards in circulation would have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips. 103,260 income tax returns would be processed incorrectly during the year. 5 million cases of soft drinks produced would be flat. 291 pacemaker operations would be performed incorrectly. 3,056 copies of tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal will be missing one of its sections. While most of these examples are not life threatening, a few are. A continuous improvement team, with input from the business, must decide what an acceptable error/defect rate is, as compared to the overall costs. This is one reason that I always carry my luggage on an airplane instead of checking my bag. Planes crash (i.e., errors) much less frequently than luggage is lost. How are you helping your employees to work smarter by reducing the amount of time they spend on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive...
Read MoreLeadership Lessons from the Titanic
The RMS Titanic, considered unsinkable, set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton, Great Britain, to New York City on April 10, 1912. The ship hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. (ship’s time) on April 14, 1912. Within three hours of striking the iceberg the ship sank, killing more than 1,500 of the 2,224 passengers on board. The wreckage, discovered by Robert Ballard and his team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on September 1, 1985, now sits over 12,000 feet (3,700 m) below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Just as the RMS Titantic was sunk by an iceberg, so have many companies been sunk by significant problems that are hidden below the surface. Often small issues, symptoms of much larger issues, may be seen. Although most companies do not have problems as large as those of Enron or Tyco International, there may still be signs that the company has serious operational issues. When looking at process improvement initiatives, it is vital to understand issues that may be hidden below the surface. This can be done by thoroughly analyzing the available data and determining root cause(s). Only by understanding what may be below the surface can one truly understand the problem and determine appropriate corrective actions. How are you helping your employees to work smarter by reducing the amount of time they spend on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive...
Read MoreRACIng to Win the Race
I am often surprised when, while discussing who I should talk to about a project, I am told, “I don’t know.” While this can be a little irritating for me when speaking with a potential client, it can be devastating for a company trying to ensure proper operations and project success. Every project needs someone that is accountable for its every step along the way, from initiation to completion. A great way to keep track of who’s involved in a project is by using a RACI chart. iSixSigma defines the four roles in a RACI chart as follows: Responsible (R) –The person(s) who are expected to actively participate in the activity and contribute to the best of their abilities. Accountable (A) –The person who is ultimately responsible for the results. Consulted (C) –People who either have a particular expertise they can contribute to specific decisions or who must be consulted for some other reason before a final decision is made Informed (I) –People who are affected by the activity/decision and therefore need to be kept informed, but do not participate in the effort Below is an example of a RACI chart: Person 1 Person 2 Person 3 Person 4 Action 1 R A I C Action 2 R, A C I C Action 3 C R A I Action 4 A A C R Every action must have at least one person that is responsible for the work and only one person that is accountable for ensuring the completion of the work. As shown above, an action can have the same person that is responsible and accountable. A RACI chart can help a team determine how actions/tasks can be organized and the work distributed. It can also ensure that each task has someone that is ultimately responsible for the completion of that task. How does your organization track project ownership? Established early in a project, a RACI can help to eliminate confusion and conflict down the road, leading to better team dynamics and accountability. How are you helping your employees to work smarter by reducing the amount of time they spend on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive...
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