“Six Sigma”? Is this a college frat? Is there a letter missing here? Why six and not seven or five or some other number? What in the world is “Six Sigma???”
Ok…I have been exposed to Six Sigma at some point of my professional career. Six Sigma was developed in the 1980s by Motorola as a data-driven approach to identifying mistakes and inefficiencies and eliminating them. Data driven!!! AHHHHHH!!! That is what I work with! And it does work but there is one catch.
Quoting from the Buffalo News…
Six Sigma is a methodology like many other business theories in that it focuses on problem solving, but Six Sigma is different in its use of statistical methodology and the “Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control” process known as DMAIC.
“It’s all about process process process like real estate is location location location,” says Tim Leyh, Director of Business Development at the U.B. Center for Industrial Effectiveness where they train people in Six Sigma principles.
“process process process” Another AHHHHHHHH!!!! Business Processes and improving them is another thing I work with. And believe me, that works too! After all, it does put $$$ back into the workers pockets assuming the employer is going to take the savings from the business process improvements and give the workers more money (translation-reward for being MORE efficient!).
Newly elected County Executive, Chris Collins plans to use the principles of Six Sigma as a guiding force behind his attempts to reform county government. Collins is a very successful businessman who will bring a breath of fresh to the halls of the Rath Building (does the name Mike Bloomberg ring a bell??) unlike the career politicians whose holy grail is spelled P-A-T-R-O-N-A-G-E.
Collins will face an uphill struggle because Six Sigma requires total commitment and open/honest communications, something that is unheard of downtown. Between the government, the Control Board and the unions that in itself is going to be the challenge Collins will have to first overcome particularly because of the various wage freezes that are in effect. As a result, those that he will be looking to for the commitment, don’t really have any vested interest since they aren’t getting anything…..yet. Broken promises = broken commitments.
While I applaud Collins’ efforts to change the status quo, I must do it with caution. Without that TOTAL commitment and without OPEN/HONEST communications, Six Sigma might as well be the name of some local punk rock club on Chippewa.
Six Sigma sounds like a gang or somethin’! And open/honest communications aren’t only unheard of in politics…but anywhere, I think 🙂 That’s just the way the world is now 🙂
You also read my blog, so you know my take…
I think sigma is a statistical term, one standard deviation on a normal distribution curve. It’s used in an industrial plant to measure the fraction of defective parts produced. Define what is acceptable, and measure what falls outside the acceptable range. On a normal curve, about 32% of all samples fall outside of one standard deviation, so a 32% defective rate is “one sigma”. Three sigma would be 0.3% defects, Six sigma is something like one defect in a million.
So what does any of this have to do with county government? I have no idea. The methodology of define, measure, and so on has been extended beyond production plants. It could help. But it means everyone thinks oblectivley, and works together towards a solution. I don’t know that there’s anything in six sigma for dealing with opposition parties, and special interests.
The interviews I saw impressed me, maybe this guy can build a concensus. But the track record of outsiders coming in and making real change is that it isn’t as good as it sounds during the campaign. So we’ll see.
Sorry, that’s “objectively” not “oblectivley”, and a defect in my comment. So I think I hit about two sigma…