IEE Book Excerpt: Anatomy of a Successful Black Belt

(Smarter Solutions Inc.: Austin, Texas) -- Today’s Six Sigma Black Belts need more than technical and analytical skills. They also must work with others, using capabilities that include teaching, mentoring, coaching, and motivating. Here are 10 capabilities essential for a Black Belt today, as defined by Forrest W. Breyfogle, III, CEO of Smarter Solutions Inc.

•   Fire in the belly: Has an unquenchable desire to improve the way the organization does business.
•   Soft skills: Works effectively with teams and in other organizations.
•   Project management: Gets things done successfully and on time.
•   Systems thinker: Understands that work is accomplished through processes and that long-lasting results come through systematic improvements to these processes.
•   Multitasker: Has no problem managing and scheduling several activities concurrently.
•   Unstructured environment manager: Performs well in chaotic environments.
•   Big-picture thinker: Aligns efforts to affect significant goals. Avoids analysis paralysis.
•   Analytical skills: Reasons adroitly and is comfortable using mathematical techniques such as algebra.
•   Organizational navigation skills: Can work around barriers without invoking higher authority.
•   Critical thinking skills: Conceptualizes, analyzes, synthesizes, evaluates and applies information from multiple sources.

Adapted from The Integrated Enterprise Excellence System: An Enhanced, Unified Approach to Balanced Scorecards, Strategic Planning, and Business Improvement (Citius Publishing Inc., 2008), by Forrest W. Breyfogle III.

For more information, visit www.smartersolutions.com

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