Organizations have gained much in process improvement from implementing lean practices and Six Sigma projects. However, these efforts did not prevent our financial crisis from occurring. Lean Six Sigma, total quality management, and other process improvement methods have helped organizations improve. However, these endeavors often occur in organizational silos, where the benefits are not felt at the big-picture level. Because of this, when financial times get tough, lean Six Sigma programs are often downsized and Black Belts and Master Black Belts are laid off.

Often lean and lean Six Sigma projects can evolve into a hunt for defective processes, resulting in the steering committee members pounding their chests in a Tarzan-like fashion proclaiming how much was saved. However, after Six Sigma deployment, many organizations are finding that while $100 million was reported in savings, executives in the big-picture world cannot seem to find the money.

Lean Six Sigma and other improvement techniques are not a business system. The tools of lean and Six Sigma are powerful, however, there could be an even better use of these tools in a business system framework for a transition toward achieving the three Rs of business—everyone doing the right things, doing them right, and at the right time.

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