Due to recent comments on this blog post (scroll down to view the comments section), I want to acknowledge that the definition of Lean in this post is incomplete. The goal of this post wasn't to offer definitions of Lean, Six Sigma, or any other methodology, but was rather to state that the focus of improvement efforts should be on using all the available tools, whether those be Lean or Six Sigma tools or both, to make the necessary improvements. Thank you to those who left comments and opinions. I appreciate your viewpoints and discussion on this topic. -Carly Barry

When I first started working...

Choosing an appropriate Six Sigma project is challenging, and one of the biggest areas of risk involves the size and focus of the project. A simple form referred to as a SIPOC can be a big help when it comes to selecting a project that has a high likelihood of success.

I explained in some detail what a SIPOC is in an earlier post, but here's the bottom-line version. The SIPOC acronym stands for Suppliers - Inputs - Process - Outputs - Customers. A good SIPOC form makes it easy to capture basic information about a process, who and what plays a role in it, the steps involved, and who is affected...