Know when to hold them. Know when to fold them.
Eldon Kao
Photo taken by me in Barcelona, Spain. 2014
There are countless resources that describe the traditional routes to success of six sigma projects such as through use of the DMAIC (Design, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) process. I’ve found that what’s often missing is the consideration of realistic scenarios where things don’t go as planned. Sometimes in the early project phases you get unfavourable results, and like poker, it’s crucial to recognize a bad hand when you see one and cut your losses early.
EVALUATION OF SUCCESS
Without a proper definition of success, it is impossible to determine how far along you are in your lean journey. Therefore, it is important during the Define phase to agree on a specific and realistic quantifiable target goal to use as an evaluation of success. Too often projects begin with good intentions for continuous improvement, but just have vague or unrealistic expectations of project goals. Some examples are as follows:
“Reduce cycle time for customer service” – too vague. What is the key metric? (By how many minutes? By what %?)
“Cut headcount by 50%” – unrealistic. As the project is focused on process improvement, the goal should reflect this. What is the process that relates to these personnel and how should it improve?
TOLLGATE ANALYSIS
A tollgate analysis is performed after each stage of the DMAIC process and should entail a checklist to determine whether or not all the necessary process steps have been completed and if the project should continue as planned. It may be tempting to only collect data that justifies the project but it is equally important to recognize any contradictory information. In order to mitigate project failure, the risks should be identified and managed through the Define phase. As many projects require heavy resources such as man-hours and capital investment, the earlier you can identify failure risks the better.
HOW TO FAIL
Sometimes projects fail in the initial project stages. Sometimes they fail after implementation under catastrophic circumstances. However, if a project is abandoned, failure may be a misnomer. There is always opportunity to scavenge on the remains of a dead project. Leverage the work already completed and look for opportunities to pivot from your original project goals.