Introduction

In Chapter 5 we introduced the example of Company Island, a place where a lot of stuff is flowing around, but no one really has a grasp of the big picture. Whether you start your Six Sigma effort with Step One, or loop back to this effort later, the objective here is to develop the high-level view of the organization in essence, a map of your island showing how essential work gets done.

The map-making approach we ll describe here is somewhat like putting a puzzle together. We ll begin by forming a basic idea of how the puzzle should look just as you d get from the top of the puzzle box. Then we ll assemble the edges of the puzzle first or, since we re delicately balancing two metaphors, we ll define the coastline of the island where it links up with its customers. Then, we ll assemble the internal pieces of the puzzle, adding clarity to the basic image we first described. As with a puzzle this will involve some trial-and-error and, like map-making, some research, too. Usually, as the picture emerges it looks a little different from what you had expected, much as seeing a map of a place you ve visited often can reveal facts you never knew.