Six Sigma and Innovation: it's in the way that you do it

A response to US Business Week articles on a perceived negative impact of Six Sigma on Innovation and Employee Morale...

A number of press articles have recently appeared which challenge the future value of Six Sigma as the methodology of choice for major corporations. They main point is that an emphasis on Six Sigma has stifled innovation and reduced employee satisfaction.

I have extracted the key arguments from three of these articles and have presented the Celerant view on each. While we do not refute many of these statements we do emphasise that these issues would not occur with the more flexible and holistic
Celerant approach to Six Sigma implementation.

This information could be used should clients quote from these articles as a direct challenge to Six Sigma or our Process Excellence capability.

Business Week : Inside Innovation -- IN Depth: Management
SIX SIGMA: SO YESTERDAY?
In an innovation economy, it's no longer a cure-all
By Brian Hindo in New York, with Brian Grow in Atlanta

The article says some US corporations (eg Home Depot) are realising that Six Sigma alone will not solve every problem and doesn’t do innovation. Celerant agree with that. We would never see Six Sigma as a cure all. We see Six Sigma as part of our capability tool-kit alongside our other capabilities such as asset management, supplier management, revenue growth, and innovation.

We also have strong experience in Design for Six Sigma which specifically addresses new product and process transformation. The article also attacks basic Six Sigma for achieving results at the expense of employee satisfaction. Celerant’s experience is very different. With our clients we only deploy Six Sigma is collaboration with their teams through an approach we call Closework™. In this way we achieve sustainable results and positive behavioural change.

For us Six Sigma does not only mean cost-cutting. For example, our most recent project work in deploying Six Sigma with a global client (Reuters) was focused solely at customer satisfaction. Finally, the article stresses the negative branding to employees of the term Six Sigma and suggest Process Excellence may be better. Celerant have used the term Process Excellence for many years already.

Business Week : Inside Innovation -- IN Debate
VIEWPOINT: HAVE IT BOTH WAYS; "Ambidexterous" companies can handle incremental change and bold initiatives
By Jeneanne Rae, Peer Insight, an innovation consulting firm.

The article suggests that Six Sigma fosters an aversion to risk, and that is counter to innovation. The article goes on to recommend approaches in which both Six Sigma and Innovation can co-exist within ‘an ambidextrous organisation’. Celerant agree.

Using Six Sigma to surface and manage risk is not the same as avoiding it. In fact, we have found that our clients who have deployed Six Sigma behave more boldly towards future change because they have a better organised and robust platform from which to launch new initiatives. Yes, initially the more creative brains in a company do see the process of Six Sigma as a threat. However, by working alongside these individuals Celerant are able to demonstrate that using Six Sigma provides only the framework – creative interpretation and creative conception of solutions remains the art of the practitioner.

Our approach is to raise the energy of the individual to engage with that process knowing there good ideas will be well managed downstream.

Business Week : Inside Innovation -- IN Depth
AT 3M, A STRUGGLE BETWEEN EFFICIENCY AND CREATIVITY; How CEO George Buckley is managing the yin and yang of discipline and imagination
By Brian Hindo

At 3M the mantra had been strongly Six Sigma for many years driven by charismatic CEO James McNerney. Current CEO George Buckly accepts the benefits of Six Sigma from a results and profitability perspective but believes there is a tension between efficiency and creativity. He is concerned that Six Sigma has gone too far in a company like 3M in crushing the ‘random, chaotic process that is innovation’.

This may be true for them. Celerant would never recommend deploying Six Sigma as sledge hammer solution to all problems. We believe every client situation is unique. We have seen from experience that only by applying a more holistic approach to a business will you achieve sustainable results. Focusing only on process through Six Sigma is just one part of any solution. Six Sigma deployment is never an end in itself.