Author: tjustman

Six Sigma or Lean? No. It’s Process Excellence

Posted on by tjustman

These clipart people are aimlessly wandering the streets of Seattle until the next Process Sherpa post hits the Interwebs.

“As the saying goes, you can’t improve what you don’t measure.  It also turns out you can’t improve what isn’t defined!”

Improving Processes Doesn’t Require Buzzworthy Methodologies

I chuckle at the occasional post on LinkedIn pitching the false debate: Six Sigma or Lean?  Which methodology reigns supreme?  In reality (or perhaps just my reality?) it’s not Six Sigma vs. Lean.  It’s Process Excellence.

If I could I whisper it into your ear like Dustin Hoffman’s dad’s friend in “The Graduate” (an ancient reference I know) I would!  “Process Excellence…”

Before explaining myself, first I’ll share my view on Six Sigma vs. Lean in the way I was taught back at Hogwarts: Six Sigma typically improves a single variable – choose a measure and beat it into submission.  Lean looks at the process holistically and improves in more general terms: waste, time, etc.  And both methodologies offer great tools that we should use if they add value.  To use a food analogy, even though the buffet has a vegetarian and non-vegetarian section, nothing prevents us from grazing from both!  Just use a fresh plate PLEASE.

Back to Process Excellence.  Why am I whispering it in your son’s bewildered and slightly triggered ear?

Because in over 7 years of direct consulting within two companies in numerous engagements, I just didn’t seem to reach for my Six Sigma and Lean toolboxes nearly as much as I did for my Process Excellence toolbox!  And what’s sad is that a) I think this is the rule not the exception in most settings, and b) this toolbox doesn’t get all the attention its more buzzworthy pals get!  But in the end it’s not the sizzle, it’s the steak when you’re just plain hungry.  Process Excellence requires some heavy lifting.

Also, the Lean and Six Sigma toolkits require as prerequisite an established process with maps, mission, measures and the process should be in control.  Can you utilize those methodologies without having met those initial requirements?  Sure, but your first priority must be to establish the process – to do the Process Excellence work – anyway!  

As the saying goes, you can’t improve what you don’t measure.  It also turns out you can’t improve what isn’t defined!  Example: “fix our fulfillment process!”  Okay… first, what is this fulfillment process expected to deliver and to whom, and what are the customer’s expectations?

In a future post I’ll cover in detail what the Process Excellence toolkit is, but if you’re familiar with the DMAIC model, Process Excellence consists of the D, M, and C phases.  Define, Measure, and Control.  I’ll also come back to why my experiences in Financial Services required mostly Process Excellence work vs. Lean or Six Sigma.

Make sense?  What did I forget?  Comment below!

 

First Post, Welcome, and what’s a Process Sherpa?

Posted on by tjustman

Welcome to my little bit of the Internet! The purpose of this website is to connect my passion for business process improvement with those who share my passion or could benefit from it. I like the idea of sharing my experience with others to make positive change in the world!

                  Hillary and Norgay

What’s a “Process Sherpa?” On a practical level, I must admit it’s a domain name that hasn’t been taken! Ok, then what’s a Sherpa? Sherpas are the mountain people who live in the Himalayas and they are renown for being guides for mountaineers attempting the treacherous ascent of Mount Everest. These people are natural mountaineers, acclimatized to the oxygen-deprived atmosphere in the mountains. They lead the way, they know the route and the pitfalls, they carry oxygen bottles, and they make the journey possible. Sherpas seem to have been somewhat missed by history. If you’re like me (old!) you grew up being taught that the first person to climb Mount Everest was Sir Edmund Hillary, yet there was no mention of his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay! Now I don’t know how Mister Norgay took that snub but let’s assume the role of the Sherpa was to turn the mountaineer’s resources into success. The Sherpa takes the strategic direction from the intrepid mountaineer and turns it into accomplishment, without perhaps need for praise or fame, but satisfaction for a job well done. Part silent partner, part subject matter expert, and part project manager. In this context I seek to be your Sherpa of business process. You bring the strategic goal and I bring the know-how and the execution!

I ask for your strategic direction but what about mine? My objectives are to create awareness of tools, tips, pitfalls on the road to better processes. I want to share my stories – successful ones as well as failures – to engage your interest and open conversations. And I want to do it with my voice intact – I seek to avoid the dry, corporate, and clinical you get from my peers and really make this work FUN! Because life is too short, and I really want to work with fun people! I also NEED your input, your feedback, your stories, because I have so very much to learn!

So welcome aboard! please bring your comments, moaning, wailing, and complaints. Challenge me where applicable, and make me think deeper, because I aim to do the same for you!