Six Sigma, Kaizen, Lean, and other variations on continuous improvement can be hazardous to your organization's health, writes Ron Ashkenas, managing partner of Schaffer Consulting and author of the new book Simply Effective.
While it may be heresy to say this, recent evidence from Japan and elsewhere suggests that it's time to question these methods. In the past year Japan's major electronics firms have lost an aggregated $21 billion and have been routinely displaced by competitors from China, South Korea, and elsewhere. Looking beyond Japan, iconic six sigma companies in the United States, such as Motorola and GE, have struggled in recent years to be innovation leaders.
3M, which invested heavily in continuous improvement, had to loosen its sigma methodology in order to increase the flow of innovation. Ashkenas recommends three new ways to approach continuous improvement: customize how and where continuous improvement is applied; question whether processes should be improved, eliminated, or disrupted; assess the impact on company culture.
That said, when referencing Japan, the author should have noted the extreme exchange rate challenges manufacturers in Japan have faced -- especially when selling to US customers. Read more at the HBR blog.
While it may be heresy to say this, recent evidence from Japan and elsewhere suggests that it's time to question these methods. In the past year Japan's major electronics firms have lost an aggregated $21 billion and have been routinely displaced by competitors from China, South Korea, and elsewhere. Looking beyond Japan, iconic six sigma companies in the United States, such as Motorola and GE, have struggled in recent years to be innovation leaders.
3M, which invested heavily in continuous improvement, had to loosen its sigma methodology in order to increase the flow of innovation. Ashkenas recommends three new ways to approach continuous improvement: customize how and where continuous improvement is applied; question whether processes should be improved, eliminated, or disrupted; assess the impact on company culture.
That said, when referencing Japan, the author should have noted the extreme exchange rate challenges manufacturers in Japan have faced -- especially when selling to US customers. Read more at the HBR blog.
