While I was going through my archives, I stumbled upon this correspondence I had with a very good friend and colleague Deb a few years ago in 2008. While the communication is a bit dated, I believe the subject is still topical, and I thought it might be a good idea to show this exchange the light of the day.
The first part is the question Deb asked me, although paraphrased, and the second is my (rather cynical) response to it. I hope you would like to read it for what it's worth.
Best
- Shreekant
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiring Six Sigma professionals
Deb: ".... [Shree], I am having a problem with Six Sigma. [...] Maybe sometime we can chat about black belts? .... I have become very biased in my thinking of the certification and I would love to hear from someone I trust to help me understand how a black belt thinks about project planning and execution.
I am at the point now that if I see Six Sigma black belt on a resume/CV it is almost an immediate rejection of the candidate. [...] I know that is not good because the fundamentals of Six Sigma are excellent. In my world it seems that it is becoming an impediment to
execution of projects. Maybe it is as simple as theory vs practice [...] Your opinion is of great value to me, and I hope I am not offending you. This has been on my mind for awhile now, and I do not know anyone I trust as much as you to talk about this."
My response:
" ... In terms of Six Sigma, yes I would like very much to speak to you too. [..] I am not usually signed in, but if we decide on a time, I can log in [..] Meanwhile, here are my two cents ...
I will not call you biased for what you do. Six Sigma is highly abused across industries across the world. I think you have diagnosed the problem correctly - it is theory vs practice. I have a few observations myself:
1. Black Belts tend to be more statistics driven rather than business problem solving driven. Finally, Six Sigma is only useful as long it helps us solve a problem we cannot otherwise solve.
2. Black Belts usually are experts in tools, but have very little to do with the actual business process. Hence, when it comes to coming up with possible solutions, their ideas tend to be limited.
3. To do Six Sigma, you need two things - one is data, the second is a problem.
- By data I mean one needs to have a mechanism to collect data. If not, most Black Belts spend time just collecting data (Measure phase of their usual Define - Measure - Analyze - Improve - Control i.e. DMAIC project phases)
- When I say there must be a problem, I mean that the problem that one is trying to solve using Six Sigma should be already thought about and people should agree that it cannot be solved without data analysis. E.g. if you want to reduce your cost of hiring, one solution is try and change your suppliers for manpower. If someone has tried that and still does not solve your problem, then only it makes sense to do a project. Else it will be an exercise in rhetoric.
4. A lot of Six Sigma improvement projects linger long because they are defined wrongly. There are some projects that are simple and give high benefits (these are Green Belt level). You can't have a Black Belt doing these. Conversely, there are some projects that are complex (like, say, reduction in Attrition). You cannot have a GB level person driving BB level projects.
5. People get too stuck to Six Sigma. Finally it is a tool-set, and sometimes you need other tools. If you have a hammer, all problems start looking like nails.
6. Some companies take Six Sigma too seriously. I have seen some centers where they calculate Sigma levels for each process, and they track it religiously. It is almost an obsession. But what is the use of this - they don't know. It is a classic case of the tail wagging the dog rather than the dog wagging the tail.
I guess these are some key issues I have been seeing, and hence, we too are extremely skeptical about people who say they are Black Belts. I personally love the structured approach of Six Sigma, and data-based decision making, but these above mentioned problems are what make Six Sigma a double edged sword. So we need to pick people carefully if we have to hire from the pedigree.
I have a couple of suggestions if you are looking at hiring some people. These are general, often unspelt guidelines that we use [...] ourselves:
A. When some says that (s)he is a BB, ask where the BB was done. If it was at a reputed and known institute or a company known for its Six Sigma implementation, then only we would give a credence to this certification.
[ ... names of institutes and companies that do certifications ... ]
B. More than the BB certificate, we are more interested to know the projects that were done. If the candidate gives only one example, it means that (s)he has done the project only for getting the certificate and has very little hands-on experience in implementing Six Sigma. We would like to see at least 2 to 3 projects done and what this person did in them.
C. We ask for more problem solving exposure - to see that (s)he understands the holistic environment. Maybe the person has gone through some training [on COPC, Lean, TQM, GE Workout, Project Management, CMMI, some such thing]. We have seen that an exposure to Innovation related topics is very useful, along with Six Sigma, since it complements the Improve phase of the Six Sigma project. [One such body of knowledge is based on a Russian concept called TRIZ - which is acronym for a Russian phrase of "Theory of Inventive Problem Solving". Another is Theory of Constraints (TOC) by Dr. Goldratt. Look these up for more info.]
I guess that is all as of now. Do let me know if this was useful.
Best,
Shreekant
First sent in 2008
Regards
- Shreekant
25 Feb 2014
The first part is the question Deb asked me, although paraphrased, and the second is my (rather cynical) response to it. I hope you would like to read it for what it's worth.
Best
- Shreekant
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiring Six Sigma professionals
Deb: ".... [Shree], I am having a problem with Six Sigma. [...] Maybe sometime we can chat about black belts? .... I have become very biased in my thinking of the certification and I would love to hear from someone I trust to help me understand how a black belt thinks about project planning and execution.
I am at the point now that if I see Six Sigma black belt on a resume/CV it is almost an immediate rejection of the candidate. [...] I know that is not good because the fundamentals of Six Sigma are excellent. In my world it seems that it is becoming an impediment to
execution of projects. Maybe it is as simple as theory vs practice [...] Your opinion is of great value to me, and I hope I am not offending you. This has been on my mind for awhile now, and I do not know anyone I trust as much as you to talk about this."
My response:
" ... In terms of Six Sigma, yes I would like very much to speak to you too. [..] I am not usually signed in, but if we decide on a time, I can log in [..] Meanwhile, here are my two cents ...
I will not call you biased for what you do. Six Sigma is highly abused across industries across the world. I think you have diagnosed the problem correctly - it is theory vs practice. I have a few observations myself:
1. Black Belts tend to be more statistics driven rather than business problem solving driven. Finally, Six Sigma is only useful as long it helps us solve a problem we cannot otherwise solve.
2. Black Belts usually are experts in tools, but have very little to do with the actual business process. Hence, when it comes to coming up with possible solutions, their ideas tend to be limited.
3. To do Six Sigma, you need two things - one is data, the second is a problem.
- By data I mean one needs to have a mechanism to collect data. If not, most Black Belts spend time just collecting data (Measure phase of their usual Define - Measure - Analyze - Improve - Control i.e. DMAIC project phases)
- When I say there must be a problem, I mean that the problem that one is trying to solve using Six Sigma should be already thought about and people should agree that it cannot be solved without data analysis. E.g. if you want to reduce your cost of hiring, one solution is try and change your suppliers for manpower. If someone has tried that and still does not solve your problem, then only it makes sense to do a project. Else it will be an exercise in rhetoric.
4. A lot of Six Sigma improvement projects linger long because they are defined wrongly. There are some projects that are simple and give high benefits (these are Green Belt level). You can't have a Black Belt doing these. Conversely, there are some projects that are complex (like, say, reduction in Attrition). You cannot have a GB level person driving BB level projects.
5. People get too stuck to Six Sigma. Finally it is a tool-set, and sometimes you need other tools. If you have a hammer, all problems start looking like nails.
6. Some companies take Six Sigma too seriously. I have seen some centers where they calculate Sigma levels for each process, and they track it religiously. It is almost an obsession. But what is the use of this - they don't know. It is a classic case of the tail wagging the dog rather than the dog wagging the tail.
I guess these are some key issues I have been seeing, and hence, we too are extremely skeptical about people who say they are Black Belts. I personally love the structured approach of Six Sigma, and data-based decision making, but these above mentioned problems are what make Six Sigma a double edged sword. So we need to pick people carefully if we have to hire from the pedigree.
I have a couple of suggestions if you are looking at hiring some people. These are general, often unspelt guidelines that we use [...] ourselves:
A. When some says that (s)he is a BB, ask where the BB was done. If it was at a reputed and known institute or a company known for its Six Sigma implementation, then only we would give a credence to this certification.
[ ... names of institutes and companies that do certifications ... ]
B. More than the BB certificate, we are more interested to know the projects that were done. If the candidate gives only one example, it means that (s)he has done the project only for getting the certificate and has very little hands-on experience in implementing Six Sigma. We would like to see at least 2 to 3 projects done and what this person did in them.
C. We ask for more problem solving exposure - to see that (s)he understands the holistic environment. Maybe the person has gone through some training [on COPC, Lean, TQM, GE Workout, Project Management, CMMI, some such thing]. We have seen that an exposure to Innovation related topics is very useful, along with Six Sigma, since it complements the Improve phase of the Six Sigma project. [One such body of knowledge is based on a Russian concept called TRIZ - which is acronym for a Russian phrase of "Theory of Inventive Problem Solving". Another is Theory of Constraints (TOC) by Dr. Goldratt. Look these up for more info.]
I guess that is all as of now. Do let me know if this was useful.
Best,
Shreekant
First sent in 2008
Regards
- Shreekant
25 Feb 2014
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