Six Sigma failed…

“Not invented here syndrome” is like making a statement to Prof Moradian or Prof Natarajan that your forecasting methods is flawed it does not work in my industry, company or department. Is not it prudent to ask if it worked somewhere, how did it happen? Let us take an analogy –
Organization = Laptop
Department = Microsoft Excel (MS Excel)
When I make a statement–
“You know what,
1. Mathematically, 2+2 is not equal to 4 in MY MS Excel therefore Mathematics is flawed
2. My MS Excel is different from the rest of the world because 2+2 in not equal to 4 in MY MS Excel
3. My laptop is different from the rest of the world because 2+2 in not equal to 4 in MY laptop”
If 2+2 is not 4 in your Excel it is not that the math is incorrect, perhaps your algorithm or your laptop processor is at fault. In this analogy Mathematics could be Six Sigma. I have heard that IBM failed in implementing Six Sigma (late 80’s to early 90’s), GE is extremely successful, why?

Lately, in one of our simulation class Akshat’s team questioned “why Six Sigma failed in our company in the simulation?” one of my teammate wrote on facebook – “After 3 round of simulation today Pravin Krd accepted the disadvantage of using six sigma as corporate project :-)”. I went back to basics to answer this question. What is six sigma? Six Sigma is about vision, philosophy, management system and achieving aggressive goals. Six sigma is also a toolbox and a means to satisfy customers. If Six Sigma fails in an organization it could fail due to – improper vision or management, issues with the goals or incorrect use of tools. The basic philosophy of Six Sigma is reducing defects, how can reducing defect be a failure in a company? If I ask you what you would prefer “good enough” with 99% accuracy or 99.99966 what would you prefer from the following?

Three sigma (99% accuracy) processes –
5,000 incorrect surgical operations per week.
2 short or long landings at most major airports each day
Six Sigma (99.99966% accuracy) processes –
1.7 incorrect surgical operations per week
1 short or long landing every five years

Naturally, your answer to this would be better accuracy. Six Sigma is all about facts and working logically to reduce defects, and what follows is reduced cost, customer satisfaction etc. I am not a Six Sigma guru or I am not professing it, I am only trying to put some facts – “the six sigma way”. Experts can jump in and suggest or inform why six sigma could fail and share success stories.

Source –
Breakthrough Management Group India training on Six Sigma certification. This Data was a sample from USA.
Class Blue ocean strategy simulation (BOSS)