Process Improvement Blog

Guest Post: Six Sigma - A Splendid Waste of Time

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 02:12:00 +0000

Kanishk's Note: One of the foundation of any continuous improvement process is: Feedback.
So, here is a very honest and direct feedback on Six Sigma from our guest author, James Lawther.
I will address his points in a separate post.

I work in the service industry. For my sins I am responsible for process improvement.

Six Sigma is widely regarded as the process improvement methodology of choice. The logic is that as an industry we are data rich, so a process improvement methodology that is data led has to be a good thing. Consequently there has been a huge investment in Six Sigma training over the past few years. I have master black belts and black belts and green belts and yellow belts coming out of my ears. Thousands, if not millions of pounds have been spent on Minitab licences, training manuals, and consultants.

And I guess that 99% of it has been a splendid waste of time, let me be stronger, Six Sigma has precisely no practical application in my industry at all (might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb). If that sounds a little strong let me explain why.

Six Sigma is a great tool for process improvement. If you have a multimillion pound production line that makes light bulbs at 1,000 a minute and 1 of them fuses the instant it is plugged into the power there is really only one way to diagnose the problem. Like it or not, it is going to involve a fishbone diagram and a bit of regression analysis. When you have a problem like that you need all the surgical precision you can get to find the root cause and fix it. You need a statistical scalpel.

The service industry doesn't work that way though. We don't invest millions in dedicated production lines and supply chains. We invest millions in databases and people.

Now here is the thing: databases and people are flexible, you can add bits, change bits, do extra stuff, provide bespoke outcomes for bespoke customers. And as a consequence we do. It sounds great but we end up with the curse of proliferation.

We end up with a production line that produces 1,000 shapes of light bulb in a thousand different colors at one every 3 minutes. We don’t care how many of them work; we are too busy looking for the one our customer wants.

We don’t need statistical scalpels; we need common sense and a mop to clean up the mess.

James Lawther gets upset by operations that don’t work and apoplectic about poor customer service. Visit his web site “The Squawk Point” to find out more about service improvement.

About Squawk Point: The Squawk Point is about the way large organizations work. The way in which organizational design, business processes, operational delivery and staff ambition and motivation interact. It is about the myriad of ways in which clever people make life difficult for themselves, their colleagues and their customers.

Identification via Isolation

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:57:00 +0000

Recently I had an interesting conversation with a software developer who was particularly frustrated with the people complaining about the end results of her software program. At a high level, this software process looked something like this:

These complaints were not her big problem. Taking every feedback seriously, she would delve into her code and later identify that the problems were not due to programming errors or “bugs”. Rather, these problems were originating further upstream from the inaccurate data records which were used as an input to her program. So, her main frustrations were:

Why do the database people keep providing incorrect data?
Why is programming first to be blamed at?

Issue #1 is a classic process issue known as “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. And #2 is due to general human tendency. Whenever we see an erroneous result, we tend to dig (or even blame) the step which immediately precedes the final result.

An ideal and easy way to resolve #1 is to establish the service level agreements (SLAs) among the internal supplier & customer. In this case, the programmer is the internal customer of the database analysts (DBA). So, she defined a clear set of requirements/expectations from the data streams which are the inputs to her programming process. And the DBAs were instructed to achieve those expectations before providing their outputs. The DBAs can develop their own internal quality checks to validate the data and provide those results along with the data-stream to the programmer. In manufacturing world, this is similar to suppliers providing completed inspection checklists and test results with their parts shipments to the next customer.

Issue #2 is a bit complex one to deal with. Here, programmer is up against the general human tendency rather than any logical argument. After some thought, she came up with her own solution. She created a controlled sample of the data-sets by validating them herself first. Then, every modified version of her program was first tested by using that “controlled sample” and the results were analyzed. Now if the new, current data-sets (which were also being modified in parallel) do not produce the same results as being produced by the controlled sample, it is easy to conclude that problem lies in the data integration and not system-level programming. This is what I call, “identification by isolation”.

Situations like these keep reminding me of the importance of root-cause analysis in our daily lives. We don’t need a fancy formal training or certificate in order to become an effective problem-solver. In fact, being humans, this skill is hard-wired in our brain. We need to recognize and sharpen it by using common sense and a focus on resolving the issue, and not just whining about it.

How to Measure Anything

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:50:00 +0000

About an year and a half ago, I was struggling with a measurement problem. Being a Six Sigma Black Belt it was clear that in order to make sustainable process improvements, I need to quantify process performance and establish a sound measurement system around it. In a continuous physical process, where you are making a product or part, it can be done relatively easily. But in a transactional environment it is not easy to normalize a measurement and establish a simple, yet sound metric.

Then, I came across this great book, "How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business". And no wonder this became one of my favorite books. A few important things which I learned about measurement are:

Concept of Measurement:
Measurement is a set of observations that reduce uncertainty where the result is expressed as quantity. Note that the uncertainty has to be quantified, but the subject of observation might not be a quantity itself.

Object of Measurement:
Using a short series of connections, called Clarification Chain, we can see intangibles becoming tangibles:
1. If it matters at all, it is detectable/observable.
2. If it is detectable, it can be detected as an amount (or range of possible amounts)
3. It it can be detected as a range of possible amounts, it can be measured.

Four Useful Assumptions:
1. Your problem is not as unique as you think.
2. You have more data than you think.
3. You need less data than you think.
4. There is a useful measurement that is much simpler than you think.

These concepts sound very theoretical, but will become more clear in the context, once you read the book and the accompanied text. Whenever, I get into the measurement quandary I think of these things and it helps me to look at my problem in an entirely new light. In my experience, most important of these are the four useful assumptions. In a normal day-to-day business operation, I come across so many situations, where "we have no data" is the "root cause" of the "problem" we are seeing. Come on, that can't be possible. Look at all the data/IT systems we have built around us in last 10 years. I force my thinking as "we gotta have this data somewhere"!

And this is how I now look at my measurement related problems.

Customer Service: 2009 Hall of Shame

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:23:00 +0000

Earlier, I have posted about Customer Service Hall of Shame survey in 2008. Recently, I found that 2009 survey results were released in June. Somehow, I missed the article that time, but nonetheless found it very interesting when I read it eventually. Providing an efficient and reliable Customer Service is of utmost importance to run a successful business. And surprisingly, so many companies fail to do so, again & again & again.

"How a company handles adversity can tell you a lot about its character. Does it stick to its guns, keeping the customer first? Or does it stick it to customers, raising prices and cutting service?

The recent economic turmoil has given companies a chance to prove their mettle. But many, particularly in the hard-hit financial-services industry, have failed to do so."

9 of these companies have featured in the top 10 listing of this survey in 2008. And despite their efforts to improve their customer service in reaction to such surveys, they still make it there. Now what is so challenging about improving customer service.

In my opinion, customer service is actually a very complex process to improve. Inherently, it is intangible and difficult to quantify issue. One can certainly weave a problem statement around "issue resolution time", "time of hold", "number of calls", "number of issues resolved in a certain amount of time", or what not. But the problem is that none of these measurements directly correlate to "customer satisfaction".

An efficient and great customer service is not just limited to "politely talking", "logging the issue", or "directing the call to a department". It is in fact, a function of a set of good communication skills, technical knowledge of product/service, an understanding of people's feelings, & the dynamics which come into play when an irate customer calls the customer service.

Cash for Clunkers

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:05:00 +0000

The recent "Cash for Clunkers" program from US government to augment the car sales was a great success, at least, for the auto companies which were craving for sales. Per the official website, www.cars.gov:

"The CARS program ended sales on the Monday night with nearly 700,000 clunkers taken off the roads, replaced by far more fuel efficient vehicles. Rebate applications worth $2.877 billion were submitted by the 8 p.m. deadline, under the $3 billion provided by Congress to run the program."

During this time, the auto dealers came up with some creative marketing strategies to allure the customers to buy automobiles from their piled up inventories and full lots. The Fuccillo Automotive Group in New York state is known for it's aggressive marketing and "It's Huge" campaign. One day got a mailer in my mailbox with a car key, followed by an invitation and offer number next day. It was pretty enticing offer, except for the fact that I was not looking to replace my 2007 Scion TC. But if I'd be driving a clunker, and spending an awful amount of money on gas, Fuccillo's marketing strategy would have certainly worked on me.

Risk Analysis in Process Design

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:09:00 +0000

Any good process improvement project, will have a slide with the before & after process map. The "before" process map depicts the process as-is, ideally at the project/initiative kick-off. The "after" process map shows the future state of the new, improved process. The hypothesis here is that the new, improved process, if implemented, will result in waste-elimination, reduced cycle-time, higher efficiency, increased output etc. depending on the scope of project.

Now, when the project leader, who is usually the Black Belt or Master Black Belt, presents this proposed process to either the leadership team, champion, or key stakeholders to get their buy-in, one question is usually asked.

"What are the risks involved with this new process? What can we potentially miss if we implement this process? What will fall apart if we stop following the current process?"

In my opinion, a very simple tool can be used to address these valid concerns. I call it Risk-Opportunity chart. I am not sure if it is a part of the standard Lean/Six-Sigma tool-set, but found it to be very useful. In the form of a classic four-blocker, this tool provides an excellent visual of not only the risks involved, but the opportunities associated along with. Remember that with every risk, comes an opportunity.

The Risk-Opportunity matrix will look like this. This is definitely a team-based tool. The Black Belt or project leader will facilitate this tool with the project team members, consisting of the process-owner and key experts of current process.

Steps:

1. Assemble the team in a room. Post the "before" and "after" process maps posted on a side-wall (on flip charts). Draw the four-blocker on a flip-chart.

2. Start going over the "after" process map step by step while asking the question: what are the potential risks involved here? You may refer to the "before" process-map whenever needed. (Having a high-level SIPOC of current process will immensely help)

3. Quantify every risk as Low or High per team consensus. For every risk, ask what is the associated opportunity. Quantify the opportunity as Low or High per team consensus.

4. Write the risk/opportunity pair in appropriate block of the four-blocker.

After finishing the data-collection, chart a strategy to address these risks involved in the priority shown as 1-2-3-4 . This tool will greatly enhance your understanding of the new process and its potential impact on other processes as well. Also, the visual created will come as a handy tool to communicate the analysis to others.

Let me know if you have questions or feedback regarding this.

Process-Mapping on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Sometimes, the wealth of real knowledge freely available on WWW just amazes me. It just depends on us, how we choose to spend our time and utilize the power of Web 2.0 in enhancing our knowledge base and honing our skill-set. For instance check this video on "Process-Mapping in Lean Six Sigma". Gone are those days, when companies had to higher highly paid consultants to train their work-force in process improvement tools, when the good quality stuff is available online...free. However, it does a lot of motivation and focus to do such things online. Maybe that's why the classroom training still exists. Anyway, enjoy the video:

Think Process!!! ....But how?

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:00:00 +0000

In those rare cases, where an explanation of Process & Process Management (per my previous post) is able to generate the other person's interest, the conversation usually goes this way:

Him: "Interesting! So, you are a process improvement professional."
Me" "Yeah! sounds like fun ..isn't it?"
Him: "Maybe for yourself..... So, tell me one thing.."
Me: "Sure"
Him: "What is your general approach when you are doing problem-solving and/or process-improvement?"
Me: " Well...The mantra of success is always: Think Process!. One has to develop his process-based thinking and the ability to visualize a process, no matter how complicated the problem is."
Him:"Hmmm.....but how do you do that?"
Me: "Well, maybe it just comes naturally...or ...aaaannn...I don't know. Seriously!"

This conversation sent me through the thinking path: How do you develop the process based thinking? And the answer came in the form of a SIPOC, an acronym for Supplier, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers. In Six-Sigma DMAIC roadmap, SIPOC analysis is used the Define phase to map the high-level process and the relationships among suppliers, process, & customer via respective inputs & outputs. A quick search over Google brought this excellent link on SIPOC Analysis and the steps needed to perform one. A typical SIPOC diagram for a project looks like this:

Now coming back to the point, how does SIPOC help to generate process based thinking? Whenever you are trying to understand a problem symptoms, try to identify what is the main process involved here and what are it's inputs and outputs. Next, think about who is supplying the inputs and how can they impact the quality (in either positive or negative way) of the process and it's outputs. Next, identify the outputs and whom and what they impact, i.e. the customers or other processes. Let me give a simple example:

Say, one fine morning, your coffee doesn't taste good, or rather let's say it tastes real bad. Now the Process here is coffee-making. The equipment used is the coffee-maker and the process parameters are temperature, length of time for brewing, etc. The Inputs of the process are coffee beans, and water (and sugar, creamer, etc.). Suppliers are coffee-bean company, & water supply (or bottled water company). Output is off-course the coffee (which is of bad quality) and the Customer is the coffee-drinker (in this case, is yourself).

I agree that this is a very simple example compared to the processes we deal with in a business or organization, but the idea is that one's thought process has to be aligned in a SIPOC way. This will help you a lot in ....guess what...."thinking process".

Data.gov

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:22:00 +0000

Recently, I found this cool website, which is essentially a huge data-dump. It has all kinds of data-sets to play around and hone your statistical tool skills. From my six-Sigma training and the subsequent trainings I have given to Green-Belts, I found that the data-sets used in the examples, and practice sessions are very boring and manufacturing oriented. This website, www.data.gov, has some really cool data which can be more meaningful in teaching the analytical & statistical tools to the Green/Black Belts. The website introduction is:

"The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Although the initial launch of Data.gov provides a limited portion of the rich variety of Federal datasets presently available, we invite you to actively participate in shaping the future of Data.gov by suggesting additional datasets and site enhancements to provide seamless access and use of your Federal data."

"Data.gov includes searchable data catalogs providing access to data in three ways: through the "raw" data catalog, the tool catalog and the geodata catalog. "

I downloaded the "Airline On-Time Performance and Causes of Flight Delays" data-set and started playing around with it. It has all kinds of data, which can be used to make interesting and more engaging case-studies, than the standard age-old examples from manufacturing, cycle-time, etc. still being used in the trainings, where a good majority of people are from transactional backgrounds. Well, I'm working on making something from these enormous data-sets and will put them here soon.

Enjoy playing with the data!!!

Process Management

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:09:00 +0000

For last few days, I have been thinking that what should be the first post on this redesigned blog. And after some thought, I decided to post on the concept of "Process Management". Time and again, people ask me what do I do? Merely saying that I am a "Six Sigma Black Belt" actually doesn't help much. It is usually followed by a "What do you actually do?" look. Then I try to explain my job further by talking about quality, continuous improvement, and process management. So, what exactly is process management? What is a process? What is process improvement?

Based on my experiential learning, I have made a visual to explain these terms and their inter-relationships. And now I will try to explain them.

Process: A series of steps, or tasks which add value to their inputs and result in an output. An input can be in the form of information or a physical material. Similarly, the output of a process can be in the form of a material, product, or information.

Process Improvement: It includes a series of tasks with the sole objective of improving the process. The improvement can be in terms of improving the quality of the output, increasing the efficiency of the process, or reducing the operating cost of the process itself. The data generated from process-monitoring and the feedback on the output need to be analyzed properly to identify the improvements needed in the process, or in the process-monitoring to get a better picture of the process. The last but not the least is the execution of those improvements leading to process management.

Process Management: Process Management means the ability to manage processes efficiently and improving them continuously. It encompasses an expertise in utilizing the tools-set of Six-Sigma, Lean, Project Management, Systems Thinking etc., the art of devising right strategy, and the ability to drive change in the system & among the people. It is the efficient process management which results in a sustainable change/improvement in the process.

Now, processes exists at each and every layer in the hierarchy of an organization. Those at the high level are termed as business processed, while the ones in the subsequent layers are called functional processes. And never forget that no matter what your process is, it needs to be improved!

The New Look

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:19:00 +0000

I have launched the Process Improvement Blog in an entirely new look. It was "The Photoshopper" who suggested me the redesigning of this blog and then volunteered to lead this task. Myself being a demanding quality professional, it was not easy for him to come up with a template which satisfies all my requirements. Using his experience in Photoshop, HTML coding, and vast knowledge of blog tools, widgets, do's & dont's, etc. this blog finally got its new look.

I think it looks lot more smooth, and is more user-friendly than its predecessor. Please feel free to leave your comments on the new design. Now, the pressure is on me to post regularly and keep the blog alive in steeply growing blogosphere.

If you are looking for some freelance design services to get a new website, blog, or logo I would highly recommend contacting "The Photoshopper".

Blog under Redesign

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:25:00 +0000

This blog is under schedule maintainence and redesign from 6/28/09 to 7/1/09.
Thank you for checking it now. Don't forget to check the redesigned blog. I will need your comments and feedback on the new design and content.

The redesigning is being done by The Photoshopper. You can see the progress of the new theme design Here.

Minitab Method Chooser

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:54:00 +0000

If you are even remotely related to either of the following professions: Quality, Six-Sigma, Reliability, or Quantitative Analysis used in agricultural/clinical/medical research; I' am sure you have used or heard of Minitab at one point. Minitab is the most widely used software package for data-analysis and statistics. I use it for all sort of data crunching I need to do as part of Six-Sigma projects and I really like it. The package in itself has evolved a lot and become lot more user friendly rather than statistician friendly as it used to be long ago.

One thing I like in particular is the Resources section on their website, which has lots of tutorials, tips, and tricks on using the software. Recently they have released a"Method Chooser". If you are wondering what it is exactly, then let me quote it from their website:

"Method Chooser directs you to the Minitab analysis that’s most appropriate for your data and your objectives. This tool provides an interactive decision tree for each key area and includes concise explanations and concrete examples for support. Use it to quickly grasp the basic requirements and perform the right analysis, every time."

In essence, it is a detailed statistical data-analysis roadmap to lead you to the right analysis for your data-type and your intended purpose of analysis. I have used such roadmaps in past and they tend to be very useful. This time, Minitab has really done a terrific job by putting the most comprehensive roadmap, I have ever seen. You can download the whole package from this link. It consists of five sections as following:

Basic Statistical Tests
Regression and ANOVA
Measurement Systems Analysis
Control Charts
Capability Analysis

Here is a screen-shot of an example from the road map. The examples described in the main window are corresponding to the analysis shown in the left menu bar. Isn't it great that you don't have to flip through pages or scroll around to match the text with the road map?

"On a side note, I find the name "Method Chooser" to be very funny. I am sure some statistician coined this term, and not a marketing or sales guy."

Iconoclast

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:18:00 +0000

Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently by Gregory Burns was my first read on the interesting concept of neuroscience to get an idea of how our human brain works. An Iconoclast is defined as the person who attacks settled beliefs and perhaps, we all are aware of this definition. Now, interestingly, I found that there is a a neuro-scientific approach to explain this iconoclastic behavior which made me look at this behavior in a positive way.

Per this research, our brain has three natural roadblocks that hamper the innovative thinking:

Flawed Perception.
Fear: Fear of failure/public ridicule/unknown.
Inability to influence others.

I thought about my past experiences, when I couldn't make an iconoclastic (or bold, out of the box) decision and found that a good majority of the times, at least one of the above roadblocks was at work. I will try to summarize some key takeaways from this book to remove these roadblocks. But remember that you would need to read the book as the research experiments and the detailed examples will enable you to grasp these takeaways :

In order to think differently, try to perceive things differently. And remember that vision is not same as perception. Perception is a product of mind and brain, not eyes.

The most likely way you will perceive something, will be consistent with your past experience. So provide your brain something it has never processed earlier to force it out of predictable perceptions.

Imagination comes from the visual system.

Brain takes shortcuts to preserve the energy, also called efficiency principle.

Repetition of same tasks/activities/places leads to diminished neural responses by our brain, called repetition suppression. So, keep bombarding your brain with new experiences to force your brain out of its categories.

Brain remodels itself under stress and remembers the unpleasant experiences. ('So, while time heals the wound, as far as brain is concerned, scars remain")

Use cognitive reappraisal technique to regulate the expression of fear. "This simply means reinterpreting emotional information in such a way that the emotional component is diminished." Essentially, it means manage the situation through your EQ.

Fear interacts with the mind's perceptual system and alters the decision-making process. Especially, "the fear of social isolation is deeply woven into human brain."

The Law of Large Numbers: "The human brain is so susceptible to the opinions of others that it is willing to disregard its own visual inputs." How to deal with this: Isolate yourself and think independently, associate with like-minded individuals, develop a tough skin, don't force yourself to come to a unanimous decision.

Networking with non-iconoclasts: Social intelligence has two key aspects: familiarity and reputation."Increase the world's familiarity with you and develop a reputation so that people are drawn to you." E,g.: Small World Experiment. Know the connectors of the society and use your networking skills to gain public exposure. "Iconoclast eventually needs to make his audience comfortable with his idea".

Lean kanban Point of Use Example

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Found this great video on Lean Kanban on YouTube and thought it is worth sharing here for the readers!!!

Surveys & Data-Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Conducting surveys is a widely used method of data-collection, especially when one is trying to use the opinion of people regarding a product or service. The biggest advantage of this technique is the direct hold of "Voice of Customer". It also proves to be a useful tool in those situations where the data actually doesn't exist is very difficult to get hold of, like salary surveys, college rankings etc. In such cases, certain organizations conduct a survey of professionals, or colleges to gather the data, analyze it, quantify the results, and make interpretations.

This is where the problem occurs, the interpretation, and not the data. Recently I read the IndustryWeek's 2009 Salary Survey. Conducted and published annually, this survey targets the professionals in the manufacturing industry. This survey is quiet detailed and presents the average salary results by industry, education level, geographic region, race, company-size, and what not. You can see the detailed Charts & Tables here. But writing about this survey is not my point, however the interpretation is.

The summary of the survey, as expected due to the current economic scenario, is:

"As the U.S. economy gets leaner and meaner, IndustryWeek's 2009 Salary Survey reveals that the average salary for manufacturing management has dropped to $95,248."

But what prompted me to think about the survey methodology is this:

'When asked, "How satisfied are you with your current job?" 76% say they are "very satisfied" or "satisfied," which is actually a slight bump up from the 74% response rate in both 2007 and 2008. And when asked about their choice of manufacturing as a career path, 80% say they are "very satisfied" or "satisfied," a slight dip from the 83% in 2008 but slightly better than the 79% in 2007. Clearly, both resiliency and pride are still alive and well in the U.S. manufacturing industry."

Now this is a contradiction, isn't it? How come the people are satisfied even when the salaries are going down, and rather worse, even jobs are going away by thousands? The answer lies in the paragraph immediately following the above, which, in my opinion, is the biggest pitfall of "Survey & Interpretation" technique.

"In this year's survey, nearly 1,700 readers participated in our anonymous survey, ........"

Now guess, who are the regular readers of IndustryWeek??? The professionals in manufacturing world...obviously. So the survey itself is limited to only those who are somehow related to manufacturing profession. no wonder, so many of them are "satisfied" or "very satisfied". Probably the people who are not satisfied have already changed their profession or didn't bother to respond to the survey.

Isn't it similar to Apple sending a survey to all iPhone users asking how much they like their iPhone? Probably the people who don't like it have already switched to some other phone.

Thus, one needs to be extremely careful in selecting the sample from which (s)he wants to draw his survey results. Your objective is to get the best out of this tool and use the results to improve your products or services. And be aware of your sampling constraints while drafting the survey questions.

Coversational Capital: Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:45:00 +0000

As an Amazon Vine-Voice reviewer, I get an opportunity to review their products. Recently I read and reviewed Conversational Capital: How to Create Stuff People Love to Talk About. This was my first read on marketing and brand management. And it was certainly an interesting one too.

Key Take-Away: In order to be successful in today's competitive world, any product or service has to go beyond mere customer satisfaction. Designers, producers, manufactures have to keep the fact in mind that it is not the just the key attributes which matter, but rather it is the whole experience of using that product/service which matters to the customer. And it is this valuable experience which results in the best publicity for any product or service, i.e. the word-of-mouth publicity. It happens when your customers themselves become your brand ambassadors.

The experiential delightment which a customer gets from using your product or service. Authors have packed eight such "experience amplifiers" together and named them "Engines of Conversational Capital". These are more or less, the concepts which we already know, but packaged together and linked to each other. Citing examples from various brands and their marketing techniques, authors have done a good job in explaining their point.

1. Rituals
2. Exclusive Product Offering
3. Myths
4. Relevant Sensory Oddity (RSO)
5. Icons
6. Tribalism
7. Endorsement
8. Continuity

Examples of some successful brands through such word-of-mouth publicity: Apple iPhone, Cirque Du Soleil, IKEA, Hermon-Miller Aeron chair, Black AmEX card, Toyota Scion, Ben & Jerry, Nokia, and numerous others which are used in this book.

Overall, I would recommend reading this one to understand how the brands and their marketing folks try to entice us, the customers, towards their product.

Cause & Effect Relationship

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:23:00 +0000

As a Quality Engineer & Six Sigma Black Belt, I have learned a lot of tools useful in improving processes & problem-solving area. The most important concept with multiple application across different business processes is definitely establishing right "Cause & Effect Relationship" among various events. A good majority of the time, I have seen that people confuse between an event and a process.

Simply stated, an event is a single occurrence whereas a process is collection of such events linked to each other in time and space. In a root-cause analysis or problem-solving investigation, our job is to establish the right cause & effect relationship among various events which ultimately result in a problem, defect, or poor performance. Always remember that a whole process is almost never a cause of any problem. A particular event (or in some cases, a collection of events inside that process) are usually the cause of the problem.

Consider the following example:

A car slipped on a patch of ice while taking a turn. The driver lost control and the car hit a tree. Thankfully no-one was hurt in the accident.

The effect is very clear here, i.e. the accident. But what was the cause? Is it driver losing control, speed of the car, or patch of ice? The patch of ice resulted in the slipping of car. Where did the patch of ice come from? A nearby broken water resulted in the water leakage. How did ice formed? Sub-zero temperatures in the wee hours of morning resulted in the transformation of ice to water.

This is where the real investigation comes in. You need to focus on the details, collect data, and establish C&E relationship among the events resulting in the problem or failure.

Tools for C&E:
The best tool to master this concept is Apollo RCA. Check this link for details on their books & training material.

Another tool, I have found to be of great use for this purpose is Inter-Relationship Diagram. though it looks a bit complex, but is actually very easy to perform with a team of people.

Hope this post was helpful to you.

1000 Visitors....yooo..hooo

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:15:00 +0000

Thanks to all of you for visiting my blog and taking the visitor count to a four-digit number. Whether you randomly stumbled upon this blog, or purposely reached here while searching a term related to any of the post, you are still a visitor.

Today, I have changed the layout of this blog and chose the template which will give a wider reading space. Thus, readers have to scroll less while reading the posts. I myself hate the white space on the sides on other blogs and websites. I's time to lean the blog.

While trying to keep up with posting on the blog, I am constantly seeking contributors who can bring learnings from their invaluable experiences and educate others. So, if you are interested please feel free to contact me.

Once again thanks to all my visitors.....I will keep posting..as much as I can.

Root Cause Analysis

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:30:00 +0000

Often, outside my work, I come across people who are curious about problem-solving and root-cause analysis (RCA). Most of the time I have observed that they do have a basic idea about RCA, but do not know exactly how to do it. As a Quality Engineer in my previous role, I have conducted RCAs and trained people on the various tools for this purpose. These days a lot of material is available on internet with very good step-by-step process on using the Quality tools like 8D, Fishbone, Affinity Diagram etc. But before starting such investigation or quality improvement initiative, it is imperative for one to thoroughly undertsand a few things. From my experience, I would summarize following:

1. Do not focus your on the problem or issue as visible to you. No matter whether you are fixing a manufacturing or transactional process, often the problem as seen or observed is a mere symptom of a bigger problem hidden underneath. For example, a fever is a measurable symptom of a disease. The disease can be a simple flu, a stomach infection or something else. Combination of such symptoms help a doctor to identify the root-cause, i.e. the disease itself.

2. Avoid the human tendency to run to fix the most easily identifiable causes while failing to see their impacts on other processes. Such a behavior can result in creating other problems in future. Essentially, get rid of "fix it" or "putting a band-aid" or "jumping to solutions" mentality. Rather, try to develop investigative mind-set.

3. Avoid to rush to do what you yourself really like to do. This is the most common pitfall. Depending on our own area of expertise and sometimes our passion, we try to find root-cause(s) in areas/processes we like ourselves.

4. Make sure to dig deeper into a problem to identify the root-cause or causes. Root cause is most fundamental underlying cause of a problem. Use tools like 5-Why, and Process-maps for this purpose. Be prepared to dig a few levels to find it. See the figure above. I took this screen-shot from a slide I prepared to conduct RCA training for other employees.

In continuation to this post, I will write about Cause & Effect relationships in problem-solving.

Problem Solving Flowchart

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:05:00 +0000

I always find it interesting when people use their otherwise useful skills in a humorous manner. Take a look at this "Problem Solving Flow Chart". Just think about how many times either you or someone in your acquaintance has followed this chart either completely or even partially. Just don't be surprised with the results. Keep laughing...it's good for health!!!

Reality Based Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Now, this one was surely new to me. No matter how many times I have experienced it, either myself or through others managers, I never recognized the concept of "Reality Based Leadership". Check this article from Fast Company!

"A new revolution in leadership is brewing and is coming to be known as Reality-Based Leadership. A Reality-Based Leader is one who is able to quickly see the reality of the situation, conserve precious team energy, and use that energy instead to impact reality."

"Reality-Based Leaders simply refuse to argue with reality."

This is so true. Now, when I look back and think about my experience, I can see how much time I had wasted in arguing against reality, while failing to accept it at first. And then, sooner or later, I accepted and worked my way around it. This good article tells:-

- How do you know if you are, in fact, arguing with reality? - How to stop the argument with reality?

In my opinion, it is first very necessary to find out, how and when are you fighting with reality. You need to know exactly know the reality, not the reality as perceived by those around you. This is where the fact-finding skills come handy. By questioning the so called "facts", we can unearth the true facts and thus bring out the actual "reality". Once faced with this "reality", whether it is strange or familiar, we, as leaders, can take right decisions.

The Six Sigma Way by Peter Pande

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:56:00 +0000

Read it thoroughly! yes, that is the best way I can describe this book.

"The Six Sigma Way" by Peter Pande is THE best book on Six Sigma. Peter Pande has done a great job in explaining the concept of Six Sigma through this text. If you are Black Belt, or Master Black Belt, or just someone thinking to go that path, this book will prove to be a very useful source of information. Most companies provide their own training material for Six Sigma. However, such material is only good to know the various tools, their examples and how to use them. In order to be successful in this profession, you need to go beyond that material to understand the philosophy of Six Sigma. This book talks about all those "behind the scenes" things, which one needs to understand in order to properly implement Six Sigma and manage multiple projects. I found it useful on top of my training material and classroom training. Moreover, the authors have an extensive experience with Six Sigma, which brings a practical aspect to their writing and language, a very necessary attribute to enhance reader's understanding.

This book is divided into three parts:

I. Executive Overview - Understanding of Six Sigma and why it works. It is also good to build your pitch to convince your leadership team.

II.How to Prepare for Implementation - what are key roles in Six Sigma, how to select right people for those key roles, and how to get buy-in of key stakeholders.

III. Roadmap: Steps on how to actually implement Six Sigma. tells you how to select the processes and projects to make a solid impact on your business.

In my personal opinion, as a Six Sigma professional, you will always learn something new, every time you go through the pages of this book.

Customer Service: Once Again

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:22:00 +0000

Last time, I wrote about Customer Service Hall of Shame. Just today, I read another interesting article on customer service. This one is the latest issue (10/08) of Quality Digest. Written as an open letter to the customer service departments of every company, this article addresses almost every experience, one can have while calling a generic customer service number (which usually starts with 1-800 or 1-866 etc) .

Really funny and very true...this letter is a must read. Below is the excerpt that I found hilarious.

"Sixth, I want to thank you for repeatedly reminding me that I probably could have found the answer to my question online at your incredibly complex and difficult-to-navigate web site. (I know this because, as any rational person would do, I checked your web site before calling.) In fact, during the 30 minutes I was on hold waiting to speak to your customer service representative, I am sure that your automated system told me that at least 7,000 times. Once would have been sufficient, as would the apologetic reminder that you value my business and you’re sorry to keep me waiting."

Click here to read the complete article. Feel free to share your stories with Customer Service.

Attributes of a Black Belt

noreply@blogger.com (Kanishk | कनिष्क) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:54:00 +0000

Six Sigma Black Belt is a very challenging and demanding job, no matter, how enticing the title might sound. There are multiple stories on how the term "Black Belt" was coined and if it has any link to karate. As various sources indicate, this term term was coined in Motorola in the early days of Six Sigma and is, indeed, drawn from martial arts. "Black Belt" term signifies a systematic, intensive training to achieve a certain depth in the skills needed to perform the required tasks successfully. It requires a mental discipline and experience to attain that level.

Apart from the technical and statistical skills, there are some other skills, which a Black Belt has to possesses and demonstrate in order to successfully execute his/her projects. Below are a few of them, either from my own experience, or from leftovers of some article/book.

A Black belt has to be patient, yet persuasive. Let the data drive the conclusion and not just the past experience, intuition or gut feeling of either yourself or your champion, or your team members. Follow the road-maps taught in your training.
Demonstrate leadership skills, to keep your team members focused and achieve the desired results. Never use "Just Do It" approach.
Be imaginative and creative in driving the improvement process. Think outside the box and use the power of your data and Six Sigma tools.
Black Belt should be able to translate the vision of leadership, their intention, to the real world, i.e. his/her team. The challenge here, is to communicate the visions at lower levels of hierarchy without losing the real essence.
Black Belts are change agents working with their teams to execute the vision of their leadership. They should be able to overcome resistance to change from others and get them to practice new behavior.
Be ready to take responsibilities and risks. If something goes wrong, only you are accountable for it. If everything goes well, whole team gets appreciation.
Question every process, and every step in the process. Rethink the existing business processes and improvise them.

Remember, that this is not an all inclusive list or the success-mantra. There is always more to it....