Most of the textbook definitions of Six Sigma talk about Six Sigma being a strategy, methodology, metric, philosophy etc. There is another definition that I use in my training programs frequently.

Lean Six Sigma provides you with world best methods of data driven decision making.

If you are working in an organization or running a business, it is inevitable that you shall need to use data in decision making. Some pointers that highlight the importance of data driven decision making are given below.

• Even if one uses brainstorming techniques with teams, one can generate and use data.
• The use of basic cause-effect approaches for analysis like fishbone diagram get strengthened only by effective use of data.
• All functions in an organization generate data of various kinds. It makes sense to learn correct methods and techniques that help in decision making for business success.
• Analysis of wastes in a process requires data (like cycle times, takt times, value added time, non value added time, productivity, etc)
• Finding whether internal/ customer requirements (or regulatory requirments) are met requires data driven techniques like hypothesis testing.
• Forecasting methods are essentially a set of data driven techniques.
• Comparison of two or more sets of data( for comparing vendors, technology, techniques, materials, processes, customer types, teams etc) is a common need.
• Market research or R&D makes us of data all the time.
• Problem Solving is strengthened by usage of data.
• Project Management requires data driven decisions.
• Performance management cannot be considered fair unless data is capured, analyzed and used properly.

To get more ideas on how Lean Six Sigma is useful in a specific Industry or Functional area, please make use of tags present at the top right section (found after clicking on forum tab above).

Thank you sir for a more holistic and broader definition for Lean six sigma..

Noted and easily understood

Thnq sir for dis simple and effective quote...

Very useful inputs.

"Data" when stitched appropriately using a logical tool / platform, gets transformed in to meaningful "information" to be used in the various facets of business.

Hello Sir,

Very rightly, your explanation of 'Six Sigma' simplifies the entire jargon. This definition / explanation will prove very useful while dealing with resistence within an organisation and re-iterating use of data collection for an analysis.

Thanks, Amol

that is very correct, thanks sir

Thanks for sharing this . Provides holistic view of importance of data driven decision making .

Thanks for your view on DATA. We usually quote in our training program as "We believe in god and rest of them bring data"

Quite insightful I must say. Thanks to IT, we have huge data for almost everything.

So it gets equally important to understand the relevance of the data and extract information from the data.

Six Sigma helps in making the data speak and make correct decisions using data.

 

Indeed a great knowledge.

Thanks for sharing this. It is really simple and easy to understand.

Thank you sir. It was very helpful. But how different is it from data analytics then?

The difference with data analytics is highlighted by a very popular definition - by Michael L George. 

"Lean Six Sigma is a business improvement methodology that maximizes shareholder value by achieving the fastest rate of improvement in customer satisfaction, cost, quality, process speed, and invested capital"

 

Lean Six Sigma provides an entire approach for business improvement including methods of identifying, defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling. An "analytics" person may contribute in some of these phases (mostly (define and analyze) 

 

Hope this helps. 

 

 

 

 

 

coming from banking industry i was finding it difficult to convince my self about the relevance of six sigma from my present role point of view .

 

but all my doubts are cleared.

where there is decision making involved - six sigma approach is needed.

 

no management can manage a thing without taking this approach

 

thanking you for putting the whole hing in such simple, short form and firmly introducing the concept of Lean six sigma.

 

This was very informative. Thanks for sharing.

This is good peace of information

Quiet interesting to acquire knowledge in a simplest way. Thanks to all.

Valid quotes "Data Driven Decision Making"

Thank you very much for such valuable information.

Lean

''Lean is a business philosophy used to continuously identify, reduce and eliminate the wastes from all walks of business''. (Source: The Six Sigma Way, Tata Mcgraw Hill)

Lean concept is used to identify Non-value adding activities in the processes and strategically remove it from the end-to-end value stream.

Six Sigma

''A flexible and comprehensive system for achieving, sustaining and maximizing business success''. (Source: The Six Sigma Way, Tata Mcgraw Hill)

It is uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined usage of data & facts, statistical analysis and diligently attention to managing, improving, and re-inventing the business processes.

Precise! It's the data that is vital. Thank you!

Insightful and broadly classifies the significance of data required for decision making! 

very useful and informative. Thank your very much Sir.