Lean Six Sigma For Leaders

17The Practitioner's Perspective

THERE IS A fantastic quote by Jim Lovell that reads, ‘There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful you need to be a person who makes things happen.’ Jim should know, he was the commander of the Apollo 13 mission which was recovered safely in 1970, and one of only 24 people who has been to the moon.

Successful Lean Six Sigma deployments require people to make things happen – practitioners.

Practitioners in a Lean Six Sigma deployment are those who bring the principles, approach and toolkit to life. Activities undertaken by practitioners might include: delivering improvement projects or running rapid improvement events; providing coaching, training and support to others; managing a ‘pipeline’ of potential improvement projects or opportunities; guiding the selection of projects; communicating about Lean Six Sigma activities and results.

These individuals have an important part to play. Not only because of the importance of the activities they are undertaking but because their work (as well as the input from leaders) helps to ‘position’ Lean Six Sigma within the organisation and influence perceptions. Is Lean Six Sigma seen as important to the success of your organisation, division or department? Are others inspired to get involved?

Clearly then, the support and infrastructures that leaders provide to practitioners are vital. The sections below ...