Introduction and Key Deliverables

Imagine you have decided to lose some weight by using the new Six Sigma Diet Plan. With the help of a well-defined problem ( I m 25 pounds over my optimal weight ), some carefully recorded, valid measurements, a review of your eating and exercise processes, and the advice of a doctor and some fitness instructors, you implement a solution of changed diet and increased exercise. You are so successful that you go beyond the goal you set for yourself and lose 27 pounds. And just in time for Thanksgiving!

How might this success story end? As with Six Sigma, so with diets: It depends.

Old habits are hard to break. Maybe you pile on an extra helping of stuffing, skip jogging on rainy days, order whole-milk lattes instead of non-fat. And before you know it the scale is back up where it started. The alternative takes more discipline: You decide to control your weight by keeping an eye on your eating and exercising processes and by keeping some charts on your weight and eating patterns. You even manage to get your cholesterol down, and people say you re looking great.

Six Sigma companies face much the same challenge as the dieter. When Process Improvement or Design projects achieve their goal of reducing defects, discipline is essential to sustain the results. It s more complicated than losing weight, of course, because a process involves many people, not just the dieter. Do Six Sigma gains ever fade when solutions are turned...