What is Lean Six Sigma?
Sarah Morgan
03 January, 2013
Many people ask us, what is Six Sigma, and why is it so popular?
Lean Six Sigma is a management philosophy that has transformed organisations, helping them become more effective and efficient. It was originally developed by Motorola in the U.S.
There are four different levels of Lean Six Sigma:
Yellow Belts™ are trained in the basics of Lean Six Sigma, and can typically carry out performance improvements within their teams.
Green Belts™ are trained and certified at a more advanced level in the tools and approach of Lean Six Sigma. They tackle change within their business in addition to their other responsibilities.
Black Belts™ are professional change agents fluent in the Lean Six Sigma approach and tools. They deliver major performance or efficiency transformations for a business. They usually are Change Leaders.
Champions™ are those that sponsor performance improvement projects. They are usually process managers trained to pinpoint where transformations are needed and help remove barriers to change implementation.
This method has had great success and is one of the most used by all types of organisations. The demand for Six Sigma Green Belt™ and Black Belt™ certifications has increased dramatically at Firebrand, especially with our combined course, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt™ ICGB™ & Lean Six Sigma Black Belt™ ICBB™, which will get you both certifications in just 10 days.
George Eckes uses an interesting story called Three Blind Men and an Elephant to introduce the concept of Six Sigma.
The story goes like this:
Three blind men touch different parts of the elephant and draw very different conclusions. One touches the tusk and says it’s a spear; the other touches his torso and says it’s a wall, and the third blind man touches the tail and says it’s a snake.
The point of the story is that, depending on your perspective and viewpoint, an elephant can mean very different things. Six Sigma is a metric, it’s an improvement methodology, it’s a management philosophy and it creates a common language throughout the whole organisation.
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