From its inception, Six Sigma was considered revolutionary. The six original pioneers who implemented the methodology at Allied Signal--the only true Senior Master Black Belts--vowed that the system would unearth inefficiencies in business operations that lead to outrageous levels of defects and extraordinarily wasteful operating costs. The quality of a company’s output would improve, they said, saving an estimated 20 to 40 percent of budget in cost of poor quality.

The methodology soon delivered everything its pioneers had promised.

Once Six Sigma was introduced to GE CEO Jack Welch, who gave the methodology his unabashed endorsement, there was no stopping the flurry of executives wanting to take the fast track to vastly improving their company’s bottom line.

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