The need for improvement will never go out of style
Barry Schaffer seemed to trash talk Six Sigma in a recent blog. In May, he wrote a post on CMS Wire titled “Six Sigma Letting You Down? Rediscover Concurrent Engineering.” Closer reading, however, indicates Schaffer isn’t badmouthing this time tested methodology so much as bringing concurrent engineering to the attention of his reader.
Schaffer boils his argument engaged in his title to a “no size fits all” argument. We have all read great stories about Six Sigma—or Lean, TQM, etc.—but have also read the opposite. It isn’t that Six Sigma—or Lean, TQM, etc.—doesn’t always work. The methodologies work. But does Six Sigma work for every sector? Not necessarily. Does Six Sigma work on every project? No. On top of the methodology, the individual tools in the Six Sigma methodology toolbox aren’t meant for every situation. Yet, in the quick fix world we live in, the tendency is to react first, think about it later. That is not the best policy.