LSS verses 6-Sigma
A business colleague (not a quality person) recently asked me: What is the difference between Lean Six Sigma and Six Sigma?
I opened my mouth confident that I knew, but then closed it without saying anything, because I realized that I wasn't really sure. It seems to me that it is not so much a difference as it is a matter of degree. Obviously they are closely related, but Lean probably relies on less complicated statistics, uses more basic tools, and is applied more generally than in highly technical settings where 6-Sigma might be used.
More to the point however, is my colleague’s confusion about yet another bit of q-jargon or label that gives non-q folks the impression that we are constantly jumping from one failed approach to another --- the “flavor of the month” and its related complaint – we are promoting a panacea – the latest and greatest that will solve all our difficulties.
An interesting point made at the MBB dinner the other night is that we are in the business of process improvement….and therefore it makes sense that we would improve our own professional practices. If we look at the quality profession over the last 50 years, it has been a progression of adopting new tools without necessarily discarding what has come before. As we communicate with our non-q colleagues, it might be helpful to help them understand this point.
My two cents
Russ
