1 Sigma Decisions in a Six Sigma World

Six Sigma has become the standard for product quality in our highly competitive world, but we are still wrestling with decision-making that is running at a less than one sigma success rate. Paul C. Nutt in his book, ?Why Decisions Fail? reports, ?For more than twenty years I have been studying how decisions are made, writing about what works, what doesn?t and why. The key finding is startling ? decisions fail half of the time.?

In this world of ?Continuous Improvement? it seems incomprehensible that we are still working with a decision-making process that results in a 50% success rate. Why worry about competition from off shore when decision-making with a 60%, 70% or even higher success rate would really give organizations a huge competitive advantage. The amount of time and money spent on bad decisions is incalculable and it boggles my mind to think about the cost of covering up bad decisions not to mention the blot a bad decision can be on a reputation or the personal friction it might cause.

Historically, most decision-making has been based on the ?rational model.? This involves: define the problem; state objectives; outline alternatives, estimate consequences; evaluate tradeoffs; recognize uncertainty; estimate risk tolerance; remove emotion and choose the best option. Somehow this whole process sounds negative to me. There is nothing positive about problems or estimating consequences. Evaluating tradeoffs signifies settling for something less than the optimum. Estimating risk tolerance doesn?t sound very positive either. Given that we are always faced with imperfect knowledge and the risk of unintended consequences in any decision, choosing the best option seems like a pretty risky proposition. My experience has proven to me that attitude is a huge determinant of success and if this process is negative by its very nature, it seems easy to understand why ?decisions fail half of the time.?

There is another school of thought that suggests when faced with a problem, it makes sense to create an hypothesis and then gather data to test the hypothesis. Unfortunately, this approach falls prey to some of the same problems with our traditional model. Problems equate to negatives. The symptoms of the problem may lead you to identify the wrong problem. Data gathered to support an hypothesis might provide the right decision but the wrong problem. Both the traditional and the hypothesis models are based on the ?how? of decision-making. The hypothesis approach appears to me to be an expeditious way to the same results. Since data shows that ?decisions fail half of the time,? it seems safe to say that reality is often more confused and messy than a neat model can allow for.

Peter Drucker once said, ?The best way to predict the future is to create it.? This truth also applies to decision-making. Decision-making is not a problem solving activity. It is an exercise in the construction of a preferred future. Traditional decision-making is grounded in the negative and in the past. The new way to make decisions is to establish a positive mind set, to fully appreciate the ?why? of decision-making and build from there. Since we move toward that which we define, what better way to make decisions than to utilize the Appreciative Inquiry process. Modified slightly as the Taking Aim approach, we ?marshal? our resources and think about the best of what is, our successes, the things we have done well and felt good about. This step sets up the positive attitude that is so critical to success. Next we get ?ready? by envisioning the perfect future or what might be. This desired future provides us with the answers to ?why.? ?Aim? is the next step where we actually design what should be and finally we ?Fire? or execute what will be. This is a much more positive approach and builds around the desired outcome rather than around the obstacles that may or may not exist. If in this process we can fully understand the why of what we are about to undertake, we can adapt to the vagaries along the way that can stifle a how based solution.

Appreciative inquiry is real and the supporting data is building. Paul Nutt in the book, ?Why Decisions Fail? points out that staying issue-centered is critical to good decision- making and AI is a process to stay issue-centered. Successful business users include Roadway, John Deere, Green Mountain Coffee and others.

We all agree that our customers deserve six sigma products. If our organizations are to survive; our customers to have an ongoing supply of our products; our owners are to earn a return on their investment and our associates are to have secure well paying jobs; don?t they deserve a better success rate on decisions than 50%. If that rate could be increased to 60% or 70% what kind of competitive advantage would you gain in your industry? Isn?t it time you thought about a new approach to decision-making?

Copyright Bob Cannon/The Cannon Advantage, 2003. All rights reserved.

Bob Cannon helps visionary leaders improve performance and profitability. He is the author of the new book ?Taking Aim for Better Decision-Making?, available at http://www.cannonadvantage.com. Bob can be reached at (216) 408-9495 or mailto: bob@cannonadvantage.com

This article courtesy of http://www.cannonadvantage.com

Effective Online Six Sigma Training

Six Sigma training is beneficial to employees as well as the organization as a whole. However, since Six Sigma training is expensive, many organizations stay away from it. Online training is the best answer to all these problems. It is cost effective and flexible.

The aim behind implementing Six Sigma is to design near-perfect business processes, which will boost overall business performance. However, these implementations are not always easy because they often involve the overhaul of whole processes and systems. These process overhauls can cost a lot of money. In such a scenario, it makes sense to opt for the online training. There is another option to hire Six Sigma professionals, but even that could prove to be non-effective and expensive.

Additionally, it has often been noticed that Six Sigma professionals do not have the right kind of presentation and teaching skills. Six Sigma concepts and methodologies are implemented through projects and systematic procedures. As online Six Sigma training is available at every stage of a project, it is the best solution for most organizations.

Why Online Six Sigma Training Makes Sense

Online Six Sigma training uses interactive software tools to explain some of the most difficult topics. It allows employees to learn at their own pace. They can pay more attention to the topics, which they may find a bit difficult. They can skip through the topics that they are already aware of. Employees can learn when they are have time and are receptive to the things that are being taught. In addition, online training lets employees assess their understanding of the subject.

Employees just have to register for the online test, take the test and get instant results. It is that simple. In addition, they will receive feedback based on their performance. If they find that their performance in a particular topic is less than acceptable, they can learn the lessons again and take the test again. They can even take the Six Sigma lessons in the comfort of their home. This way, online Six Sigma training proves to be very motivating and enriching experience.

Additional Benefits

Online training offers far more benefits to the organization than the employees. Once employees are trained in Six Sigma, there is no need to hire Six Sigma professionals. The organization also saves on the production time as online training can be done after office hours. Employees can be called upon to play the role of change agents, responsible for implementing Six Sigma concepts in the organization.

How To Select The Most Effective Online Six Sigma Training Course

For selecting the most appropriate online course, organizations need to check the level of expertise being offered, the quality of content and the affiliation of the course. In addition, organizations also need to check the employee training costs as quoted by various online Six Sigma course providers.

Online Six Sigma training offers a new perspective to ?quality? in an organization. It offers a sort of recognition in the respective industry and boosts the organizational confidence as well. Online Six Sigma training can definitely be considered to be a long-term investment that pays off in the long run.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Effective Online Six Sigma Training

Six Sigma training is beneficial to employees as well as the organization as a whole. However, since Six Sigma training is expensive, many organizations stay away from it. Online training is the best answer to all these problems. It is cost effective and flexible.

The aim behind implementing Six Sigma is to design near-perfect business processes, which will boost overall business performance. However, these implementations are not always easy because they often involve the overhaul of whole processes and systems. These process overhauls can cost a lot of money. In such a scenario, it makes sense to opt for the online training. There is another option to hire Six Sigma professionals, but even that could prove to be non-effective and expensive.

Additionally, it has often been noticed that Six Sigma professionals do not have the right kind of presentation and teaching skills. Six Sigma concepts and methodologies are implemented through projects and systematic procedures. As online Six Sigma training is available at every stage of a project, it is the best solution for most organizations.

Why Online Six Sigma Training Makes Sense

Online Six Sigma training uses interactive software tools to explain some of the most difficult topics. It allows employees to learn at their own pace. They can pay more attention to the topics, which they may find a bit difficult. They can skip through the topics that they are already aware of. Employees can learn when they are have time and are receptive to the things that are being taught. In addition, online training lets employees assess their understanding of the subject.

Employees just have to register for the online test, take the test and get instant results. It is that simple. In addition, they will receive feedback based on their performance. If they find that their performance in a particular topic is less than acceptable, they can learn the lessons again and take the test again. They can even take the Six Sigma lessons in the comfort of their home. This way, online Six Sigma training proves to be very motivating and enriching experience.

Additional Benefits

Online training offers far more benefits to the organization than the employees. Once employees are trained in Six Sigma, there is no need to hire Six Sigma professionals. The organization also saves on the production time as online training can be done after office hours. Employees can be called upon to play the role of change agents, responsible for implementing Six Sigma concepts in the organization.

How To Select The Most Effective Online Six Sigma Training Course

For selecting the most appropriate online course, organizations need to check the level of expertise being offered, the quality of content and the affiliation of the course. In addition, organizations also need to check the employee training costs as quoted by various online Six Sigma course providers.

Online Six Sigma training offers a new perspective to ?quality? in an organization. It offers a sort of recognition in the respective industry and boosts the organizational confidence as well. Online Six Sigma training can definitely be considered to be a long-term investment that pays off in the long run.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.