For decades, Six Sigma has been the gold standard in process improvement—a proven methodology for reducing defects, improving yield, and driving measurable operational gains. It delivered tremendous value in manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services. But in today’s shifting business landscape, a question lingers: “Why hasn’t Six Sigma evolved to speak the language of strategy and finance?”
|
ADVERTISEMENT |
That question struck me during my executive MBA program as I was learning about managerial accounting tools like cost-to-serve and activity-based costing. These tools offered powerful insights into how value is created, consumed, and lost—yet I had rarely encountered them in more than 20 years of leading Six Sigma and continuous improvement (CI) initiatives.
The disconnect was clear: While Six Sigma had matured operationally, it remained largely siloed from enterprise decision-making. Improvement efforts were scoped based on process pain points, not margin erosion. Teams were trained to reduce waste, but not to model ROI or uncover cost-to-serve inefficiencies. And although CI leaders knew how to solve problems, few were empowered to prioritize the right ones from a business perspective.
…
Comments
Six Sigma is a self-confessed con man's destructive fraud.
What a farce! Six Sigma's OWN CREATOR, admitted in his "Six Sigma Story":
"Six Sigma Champions are con men"
“All you have is smoke and mirrors”
"Six Sigma is a snow job" – a FRAUD
“Six Sigma is more like a cartoon cult than a real attempt to improve things.”
"Companies that implement Six Sigma typically do worse than their competitors and it’s not hard to see why."
https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/worlds-worst-management-fads.html
91 % of Six Sigma companies have failed (Qualpro survey). Some like Ford claim "success", however, a long term study of hundreds of Six Sigma projects at Ford showed an average of 1 in 5 parts defective AFTER improvement for “successful” Six Sigma projects.
Six Sigma is a destructive scam based on pure farce. It started with uni drop-out, Mr Bill Smith and his out-of-control molding process that happened to drift “as much as 1.5 sigma”, because of his tampering. Smith’s buddy, self-confessed con man Harry, a school teacher, “proved” Smith's disaster happened for every process ... based on the height of a stack of discs! Most folk never bothered to check. Harry called this nonsense "the pillar" of his fraud.
“Neutron” Jack Welch at GE described Harry as a “madman” and said no one had any clue what he was talking about. Jack handed over $1B anyway. A scam was born! GE has now thrown the Six Sigma trash out.
EVERY aspect of Six Sigma is worthless, from its normalization nonsense, to its irrelevant enumerative methods, to its paralytic DMAIC.
Dr Wheeler, the world’s leading process statistician, calls Six Sigma “GOOFY” and the stuff of “the tooth fairy”.. CBS calls it the most stupid fad of all time.
How the Six Sigma fraud was born:
https://youtu.be/0kZbJLHK_4M
Lean was tacked on to prolong the Six Sigma Scam.
There is never justification to stray from the giants of Quality Dr Shewhart, Professor Ishikawa, Professor Lewis, Professor Deming, Dr Taguchi and Dr Wheeler, for the lunacy of Six Sigma’s self-confessed con man.
Thank you for your…
Thank you for your perspective, Dr. Burns. While I recognize Six Sigma has its critics and has not always been applied well, the methodology—like any tool—is only as good as the intent and context behind its use. My article proposes an evolved approach grounded in value creation, not dogma. I welcome respectful dialogue and diverse viewpoints as we push the quality profession forward.
Add new comment