Martin Brenig-Jones - Lean Six SIGMA for Leaders: A Practical Guide for Leaders to Transform the Way They Run Their Organization

1. Chapter 7
2. Chapter 14
3. Chapter 17

1. Chapter 2
2. Chapter 3
3. Chapter 4
4. Chapter 5
5. Chapter 6
6. Chapter 7
7. Chapter 8
8. Chapter 10
9. Chapter 11
10. Chapter 15

MARTIN BRENIG-JONES
JO DOWDALL

This edition first published 2018

2018 Martin BrenigJones

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Brenig-Jones, Martin, author. | Dowdall, Jo, 1975- author.
Title: Lean six sigma for leaders : a practical guide for leaders to transform the way they run their organisation / Martin Brenig-Jones, Jo Dowdall.
Description: Hoboken : Wiley, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017058782 (print) | LCCN 2018006783 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119463368 (epub) | ISBN 9781119463375 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119374749 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119463375 (ePDF)
Subjects: LCSH: Leadership. | Six sigma (Quality control standard) | Strategic planning. | BISAC: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Leadership.
Classification: LCC HD57.7 (ebook) | LCC HD57.7 .B744 2018 (print) | DDC 658.4/013dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017058782

Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: Rova N/Shutterstock

Ian Swain, CEO, BQF

This is a different sort of Lean Six Sigma book, that not only guides leaders through the principles and the approaches, but provides case studies and stories from leaders who have used it. It goes beyond the theory and talks about practice, addressing real life challenges and considering Lean Six Sigma from a range of perspectives.

There is a lot more to Lean Six Sigma than problem solving and process improvement! The principles set out by Martin and Jo can underpin all aspects of leadership. These are in line with the fundamental concepts of excellence set out in the EFQM Excellence Model: adding value for customers; creating a sustainable future; developing organisational capability; harnessing creativity and innovation; leading with vision, inspiration and integrity; managing with agility; succeeding through the talent of people; sustaining outstanding results. Also aligned is the concept of applying learning, creativity and innovation to what an organisation does and how it does it, to improve what the organisation achieves.

This book also outlines how Lean Six Sigma can be used by leaders to support other aspects of the leadership role which they may have thought to be separate or mutually exclusive. As the Agile movement grows for example, and its value is increasingly recognised outside of the world of software development, the book shows that it's possible to harness both Agile and Lean Six Sigma, and do so with pragmatism. Martin and Jo have also considered the fit with strategy deployment, process management, innovation and winning hearts and minds.

Managing change is a theme that runs through every section of this book, in leaders' stories and case studies especially. I would urge you to read this section! It's refreshing in its honesty and you're likely to recognise the circumstances and situations described. The stories are also shared with the benefit of hindsight, which we all know is a wonderful thing.

Years of experience are shared in the book. It doesn't matter what type of leader you are, or where you are, you should read it!

We've written this book for you, assuming that you are anyone in a leadership role in any kind of organisation and that you are interested or intrigued to learn about the use of Lean Six Sigma. It's based on a heck of a lot of practical experience over many years, meeting and working with leaders in all sorts of positions, in all sorts of organisations, in all sorts of sectors!

Following on from the success of Lean Six Sigma for Dummies we were kindly invited to write this book by Wiley Publishing. I (Martin) must admit that I have often joked in executive workshops that given the title Lean Six Sigma for Dummies that book was written very much with executives in mind and you have taken this in good heart as you often do see yourselves as dummies when it comes to this kind of thing. Of course, that isn't at all fair but what I have discovered is that you want to be able to pick up a book, read it through quickly, pick up the key points very much focused on your role as a leader, whilst not getting bogged down in the technical detail of different tools. You want to see how you and your organisation can use this stuff and by the way, you don't even have to call it Lean Six Sigma. In fact, I was rather hoping the title would be Lean Six Sigmaor whatever you want to call it for Leaders. We will explain why, but most importantly we wanted to write a book that you could relate to, with plenty of real life examples, real case studies, from real leaders' perspectives.

So, covers how Lean Six Sigma can be used (and is most frequently used) as an approach to solve problems business problems, technical problems, production problems, HR problems, financial problems any problems!