Chapter 15

Understanding the People Issues

In This Chapter

arrow Gaining buy-in from others

arrow Tackling resistance to change

arrow Clocking the culture of your organisation

Six Sigma and Lean originated from industrial manufacturing backgrounds, with early emphasis on tools and techniques. Now, however, most managers accept that recognising and handling the people issues is the biggest challenge in implementing Lean Six Sigma successfully.

Lean Six Sigma aims to make change happen in order to improve things. Human beings, like most creatures, are cautious and sceptical about change – it spells danger. Humans have an inbuilt resistance to change, especially if somebody tells us it’s going to be ‘good for us’. Most people fear losing something they have as a result of change.

Dealing with personal fear and loss is another big challenge in implementing Lean Six Sigma, but few enthusiasts in statistical theory cover this in their extensive training.

Understanding people is key to implementing a Lean Six Sigma project. Almost always, if Six Sigma and Lean projects fail, people issues of one form or another are the cause. In this chapter we offer guidance and tips for managing the human aspects of ...

Get Lean Six Sigma For Dummies now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.