I write a great deal about the difference between lean, Six Sigma, and kaizen on the production floor and in the office. Despite the fact that many of us have figured out that the same tools can be used in those very different environments with some translation for context, the training in the tools and methods hasn’t caught up.

I still see that the norm is for everyone in an organization to be taught the same methodology and tools in the context of production process improvement. Absolutely, it is good, in my opinion, for everyone to be shown and educated in the organization’s improvement methodology. Continuous improvement must be a cultural endeavor, and a culture can’t be established among just a few of the group.

Unfortunately, because the context of the training is that of the production floor, a great many of those being educated don’t see how the methods or tools are meaningful to them. In fact, they get frustrated that they must sit through several days of training they know they will never apply. I could go on, again, about how we need to adjust our training to suit our personnel’s actual work, but instead I’d like to show each of us how we can try and do our own translation.

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