When I recommend Lean Six Sigma or Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) to an engineer, he or she just rejects it with many reasons or just ignore it and goes away in many cases. In such cases, the engineer may not know anything about Lean Six Sigma. It could be understandable because people tend to ignore or reject whatever they don’t know.
When Lean Six Sigma gets rejected by people, I honestly feel disappointed. But it is also a fun lesson and a good opportunity to think about Lean Six Sigma more deeply through a conversation with them.
Actually I had such experience today, and he rejected Lean Six Sigma (actually it was DFSS) because he believed that “Lean Six Sigma (or DFSS) prevents an innovation”. So I was able to think if Lean Six Sigma or DFSS really prevents an innovation or not.
He said that Lean Six Sigma prevents an innovation because of “No Freedom”. He seemed to believe that Lean Six Sigma makes people like a robot in an inhumane way. If his belief is true, why many leading companies keep developing the innovative products with Lean Six Sigma and DFSS?
There are many tools in Lean Six Sigma and DFSS which stimulate an innovation. Those tools not only solve a current problem but find a seed of innovative idea and technology for future products, services and processes.
Such Lean Six Sigma and DFSS tools could be:
- Voice of Customer Analysis
- Brainstorming
- Affinity Diagram
- Concept Engineering
(Concept Generation Technique & Concept Selection Technique) - House of Quality or QFD
- TRIZ
- FMEA
- Design of Experiments (DOE)
- Lean Kaizen
Those tools encourage team members to join to a group discussion and stimulate their brain so that many new ideas come from different perspectives, wide experiences and deep knowledge.
When selecting the best idea or concept, it tends to be selected a one with less risks for current situation. But non-selected ideas or concepts could be a future innovation. The Lean Six Sigma tools record all ideas and concepts for finding an innovation in future.
The engineer said that Lean Six Sigma prevents an innovation because of “No Freedom”. I don’t think so. Rather Lean Six Sigma expands the freedom of thinking. Probably he is a lone-wolf and dislike a group discussion for a new idea. Such a lone-wolf may dislike the Lean Six Sigma approach more than others.