I recently picked up the summer 2012 edition of the American Society for Quality's (ASQ) Quality Management Forum, which focused on creativity and innovation. Tracy Owens started off the discussion with his article, “Don’t Ask Him, He’s Not Creative.”

It was a thoughtful piece about creativity, quality, Six Sigma, innovation, and lean, and it prompted some thoughts about Six Sigma and the inherent challenges of being a quality professional.

One of the articles noted that quality professionals are frequently thought of as compliance officers rather than creative thinkers. I doubt that is considered true of Six Sigma professionals, but you may be considered problem solvers and statisticians in your organization. Certainly, the process control and standardization part of quality and Six Sigma are usually not considered very creative, but even there, some creativity is required. Certainly the design and improvement portions of our work require creativity, as do our organizations’ broader invention and reinvention efforts. It is fair to say that creativity and innovation are essential to the success of our organizations these days.

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