The Purpose of Lean Six Sigma

Vative has been inspiring people and organisations to continuously improve through the proven methodologies of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) since 2006. When we ask people to say the first thing that comes to mind about LSS, the answers are mostly about reducing waste, improving efficiencies, having more effective processes, and increasing capability. However, too often, LSS and Continuous Improvement are linked to what we need to do, as opposed to the real reasons of why we need to do it. Understanding the ‘why’ or the purpose of LSS is vital to ensuring people are engaged and motivated to sustain Continuous Improvement. To understand the ‘why’ you can observe how individuals’ lives are transformed as a result of doing LSS, or address customers’ perceptions of our products and services. The important thing is that we must always start with building trust and loyalty with our internal customers first (i.e. our own people). This will positively impact on our products and services, which in turn builds trust and loyalty with our external customers.