Vivian is a recognized expert, keynote speaker, trainer and executive coach in the principles of Customer Experience, Lean Six Sigma and Leadership Development. With a 20+ year career in Fortune 100 companies, General Electric and Humana, Inc., Vivian has extensive experience in successfully leading the development and execution of customer centered, quality-based, growth business strategies.

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There will always be a strong debate between Lean and Six Sigma people about using the 2 terms jointly. I am not positive of the lineage of it but I believe Michael George at the time of the George Group (later to be Accenture) coined the term. I assume he viewed the two methodologies as compatible and more effective in conjunction with each other versus separately. I am not even sure that many (Case in point being that many of today’s “Lean” consultants were trained as Lean Six Sigma Black Belts) disagreed at the time except for the very traditional Lean stalwarts.

Dr. Mikel Harry, credited as one of the founders of Six Sigma states that Six Sigma is not a culture and was developed as a quality tool to gain breakthrough performance for an organization. I adhere to that statement and think Six Sigma offers great opportunities for an organization and provides a very precise and workable structure in achieving this. I am not against the hierarchy of belts and the formalities of DMAIC, DFSS, etc. Many organizations need this type of structure to be successful. I am avid defender of Six Sigma in the Lean circles many times to the chagrin of others.

Lean was developed by the MIT group under Dr. James Womack from a study of automotive companies and more specifically the Toyota Production System. Its approach is based on continuous improvement with a direct correlation to PDCA and Dr. Deming’s philosophies. Lean made its first inroads in many companies and gains in popularities (IMHO) because of the ease of entry into the methodology. Removing waste and improving flow was Lean’s mantra in the 90’s and the tools of 5s and Value Stream Mapping soared in popularity. However, as Lean continued developing tools of A3, Hoshin and Standard Work became common place. But even more so, the culture of PDCA and the spirit of Kaizen started to take hold.

Six Sigma was the methodology of choice for many manufacturers as a result of the significant strides that GE and Motorola had made. Later, Lean seemed to gain and Six Sigma wane in popularity. Lean became the path to a customer as an enabler of some quick wins. You could then take the deep dive with Six Sigma when you wanted to get “serious”. As Lean continued to steamroll and Six Sigma still continued with somewhat lackluster performance many organizations and consultants dropped the attachment to Six Sigma and became “Lean”. Popularity does create a crowd. This may not be an entirely accurate description but it serves as a basis for my views and the following comments.

What makes Lean Six Sigma work? When you first start using any methodology, you are typically introduced through the tools. Using Lean initially versus Six Sigma makes perfect sense, it is an easier introduction. And why reduce variability on non-value activities? But sooner or later you get to the fork in the road. One path says Six Sigma and the other path is this thing they call culture (Lean). So do you want to take the deep dive with a breakthrough structured approach (still has a steep incline) or do you want to try and instill a culture of empowerment. There is not a right or wrong answer. You can take either. Where I disagree, is that you can take both.

Six Sigma has always been about structure and tools. It is very, very good and does an outstanding job when applied properly. In Six Sigma thinking, you can use Lean tools initially and get to 95%. To finish the job, you use Six Sigma. And as a result, Lean Six Sigma was developed. If your organization grew out of the Motorola and G.E. world it seems like a perfect fit.

If you adopt the Lean mentality and the spirit of Kaizen (continuous improvement is not an event) you become immersed in the culture of Lean, as Dr. Balle wonderfully described in the Zen Story about the mountain. Summed up in the blog post: Lean Tools and Culture as it Relates to Zen

Have you ever played yourself in a game? On a basketball court or even a simple game of checkers, sooner or later you have to pick a side to win. It is inevitable. This is the ultimate wedge between the two methodologies and can simply be stated. Six Sigma is a structured methodology and Lean is a cultural driven learn by doing approach. That is not to say that Six Sigma does not have its prototyping options and that Lean is not without statistical control (it did evolve from Deming). But it is saying that they are both on two completely different paths that you must choose between.

If you take the path of and see Lean as Lean, Six Sigma does not make sense and is not a compatible technology. There is a significant culture difference and approach. If you take the path of Six Sigma, you view Lean as only a set of tools nothing more and why not, Lean has a great toolbox. If you take the path of Lean you still can be just as efficient and just as effective as Six Sigma, you just do it differently.

I make no qualms about stating that I believe and follow a Lean philosophy. Lean works in my world much better. PDCA which is basically form a hypothesis, test it and adjust is what sales and marketing is all about.

I support the idea of Lean Six Sigma without hesitation. What I have trouble understanding is how you can be philosophically aligned in Lean thinking and practice Six Sigma. So I believe you must ask yourself; Which fork in the road do you take?

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I decided to clean off my book shelves this weekend and as a result I am offering a special deal on over 50 Continuous Improvement Book titles. For anyone that purchases from the Business901 Amazon Shop (which means that I must be the seller and shipper of the book) I will include the paperback version of the Lean Marketing House.   Review the titles that Include Little Bets, Adapt, Wikibrands, Kanban, Knowledge Management, Service Design, Decision Making and Six Sigma Marketing, PDCA, Scrumban and more!

Business901 Amazon Shop

This offer may be rescinded at any time.

I may decline non-domestic shipments if I cannot find an effective shipment method.

Offer automatically expires on 6/1/2011

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People start utilizing methodologies like Lean and Six Sigma and start showing remarkable improvements. However, the market is a living thing and most companies have a tendency towards improvement which means that the bar is being continuously raised. As a result the "average" continuous improvement project gets you absolutely nowhere. Unless you can make significant improvements there is only one way to make those improvements effective.

In any given product/market there are Critical to Quality components that are important to the customer that makes them buy your product over another. You may have the WOW, availability, price, etc. The market may define those CTQ’s or other CTQ’s differently and that is why they buy another product. The acronym may make it sound complicated but it really is not most of the time. I mean really does anyone buy an iPad for reliability or price. No, they buy it because it is cool and seemingly will make their life easier. You still have to be competent in other areas but they are not the driver of sales.

That dirty little secret is that most companies take an inside out approach to improvement and really don’t concentrate on the CTQ’s of the customer for retention and the CTQ’s of the market for acquisition. So if you take an outside in approach in improving quality you will improve more than the average guy and as a result improve market share and/or profits. It really is that simple.

I had three recent discussions on this very subject and they all took a slightly different approach but all had a central theme of Customer Value.

1. Dr. Eric Reiedenbach when we discussed Best in Market on the podcast Applying Six Sigma Marketing to become Best In Market. Eric discussed finding the Critical to Quality Issues that determined how a Customer defined Value in your Product(Service)/Markets.
2. Mike Bremer co-author of Escape the Improvement Trap: Five Ingredients Missing in Most Improvement Recipes. Mike discussed tying all improvement efforts to the CTQ’s components and more specifically to your Value Proposition.
3. Christine Moorman co-author of Strategy from the Outside In: Profiting from Customer Value. Christine discussed developing your strategies and the deployment of those strategies through an Outside in approach.

These are three very unique perspectives that really approach the issue of customer value totally different. They all take a different path, disdain average but arrive at the same place. They even agreed on the same metrics: Market Share and Profitability. I wonder if all three of them have found the Holy Grail?   

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Quality Conversations, serves as a platform for communicating the best and brightest strategies, methods and tools for all those interested in improving quality and business process excellence within their companies. QC initiates dialogue with local, state, and national experts in many of the well known quality disciplines as well as additional topics and guests of interest. Special thanks to Larry Parah for his work at www.iqualityprocess.com and for his support of this program.

P.S. Thanks Steve for having me.

The link to the show: Applying Lean or Six Sigma to Marketing

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