Lean Six Sigma and Innovation

Over the last decade, companies and organisations in nearly every industry all over the world have introduced Lean Six Sigma to increase customer satisfaction and to deliver impressive results. An outstanding example is General Electric, the company who has made Six Sigma as popular as it is today.

Another term that has drawn tremendous attention in the business world is Innovation. On the one hand, Lean Six Sigma works towards very low variation in processes with high efficiency. Innovation, on the other hand, seeks to find undiscovered, uncertain territory. Such efforts are rather inefficient. Innovation requires risk-taking, making mistakes and learning from failures.

Can a corporate culture be developed on both key thinking patterns in order to get the best out of Lean Six Sigma Efficiency and Innovative Solutions? Does it make sense to think Innovation Six Sigma?…

by Uwe H Kaufmann

10 Dec 2012

Job Redesign

Job redesign is about redesigning the tasks in a job so that it fits staff and business needs. For instance, tasks that can be done in isolation can be assigned to a telecommuter, duplicate tasks may be eliminated. One full-time job may become appropriate for two part-timers. Two employees may split a job, but work independently of each other.…

by Diana Yeo

16 Sep 2012

Seven Habits … – Habit 3: Drive Continuous Improvement

Working with management teams of our clients often takes them away from their business for a few days. They frequently get in touch with their teams at home. Sometimes I involuntarily eavesdrop their part of the conversation. “How is it going? Is everything ok?” is a very common question they ask their teams. When they get some kind of “yes” they feel much better.…

by Uwe H Kaufmann

18 Jul 2012

Seven Habits … – Habit 4: Focus on the Process

When was the last time you reprimanded someone for a job not done perfectly. I guess you can remember easily. And, when did you tell someone that she did an excellent job? If you have issues answering the second question whereas the first one comes to you easily, I suggest you go on reading.
…

by Uwe H Kaufmann

29 May 2012

Six Sigma In The Bloodstream

One day I was asked why I left the stable, “money-printing” ISO 9000 business to join the riskier Six Sigma environment. My explanation went something like this: “Well, I think it makes more sense to implement a real business improvement and management system than to hang a nice certificate in the CEO’s office.”…

by Uwe H Kaufmann

15 Apr 2012

Anatomy of Success in Lean Application for the Service Sector

Lean application outside of the manufacturing sector is frequently met with scepticism. Oft cited reasons are that service providers do not ‘manufacture’ anything and that there is no ‘production line’ to speak of physically. All that is seen are desks, chairs, phones and computers.…

by Perry Tong

22 Mar 2012

Complaints – The Tip of the Iceberg

“Voice of the Customer” – VOC in short – is a key topic in all kind of customer service, TQM or Lean Six Sigma training and related project work. There are two main categories for VOC data, reactive and proactive.…

by Uwe H Kaufmann

5 Mar 2012

Seven Habits … – Habit 2: Moment of Truth

The Moment of Truth is the short time frame when a customer experiences the product or service that many people have prepared often over many months. It is the moment when a small, often unintentional mishap has the huge potential to spoil the result of hard work by others in the organisation behind the scenes. Good process managers know this and put their focus on the Moment of Truth.

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by Uwe H Kaufmann

28 Jan 2012

What You Measure is What You Get

Developing a compelling vision and mission statement as well as a sound strategy is vital for any organisation. Equally important is the translation of the strategy, the strategy deployment, into…

by Uwe H Kaufmann

11 Dec 2011

Managing Volunteers

Olympic Games are unthinkable without the invaluable support of thousands of volunteers. For most organising committees, this fact alone posts a major challenge in preparing and running the games since they often do not have experience in managing an army of unpaid workers. The always available IOC ‘cook book’ is not more than a good start, since the behaviour and attitude and hence the requirements for hiring and managing the crowd of helpers depends much more on the culture of the people with their upbringings, beliefs and traits, than it is influenced by instructions and SOPs. After all, an unpaid worker has nothing to lose. If he perceives being treated unfairly, he walks!…

by Amy BC Tan

23 Nov 2011

What Makes a Good Leader for Change

In response to evolving conditions, you came to realise that your organisation must change. Change leadership consists of project sponsor, with overall responsibility, seconded by a project manager. These people will be your change agent – the ones upon which success of your initiative will rely.…

by Amy BC Tan

31 Oct 2011

Seven Habits … – Habit 1: VOC

Ting is a sophisticated traditional Chinese character that exemplifies the most important activity related to customer service in an impressive way: Listening. The old Chinese already knew that by listening you open your ears (not the mouth), you treat the speaker as a king, focus wholeheartedly with 100% attention.…

by Uwe H Kaufmann

8 Sep 2011

Business ABC – Inspired by Beautiful Nature

Captured on a sunny Sunday Morning in Singapore – Inspired by our beautiful nature. Photos by UK.

by Uwe H Kaufmann

2 Sep 2011

Contextual Thinking – The Key to Success in Communicating Innovative Proposals

You may have heard and read much in the last few years regarding creativity and innovation. Or you may even have attended a creativity workshop that you found interesting and fun that has helped you come up with some new ideas. Now your current employer may be requiring innovative input. However, you find that your suggestions are mostly ignored or frowned upon. This is mainly because nobody has told you the „The Secret of Contextual Thinking”.…

by Hector Ramos

1 Sep 2011

The Best Coach I Ever Had

At some point in our life, some of us may have experienced a person who helped us to see our own strengths, who shaped our thinking and spurred us to move on. Often, this person does not even know how much impact he had on us. We probably never told him … that he is the best coach we ever had.…

by Amy BC Tan

Articles and Case Studies

Lean Six Sigma and Innovation

Job Redesign

Seven Habits … – Habit 3: Drive Continuous Improvement

Seven Habits … – Habit 4: Focus on the Process

Six Sigma In The Bloodstream

Anatomy of Success in Lean Application for the Service Sector

Complaints – The Tip of the Iceberg

Seven Habits … – Habit 2: Moment of Truth

What You Measure is What You Get

Managing Volunteers

What Makes a Good Leader for Change

Seven Habits … – Habit 1: VOC

Business ABC – Inspired by Beautiful Nature

Contextual Thinking – The Key to Success in Communicating Innovative Proposals

The Best Coach I Ever Had

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