How has six sigma helped me?

I had mentioned in the introduction that six sigma is a process improvement methodology. The improvement in process is not limited to professional environment only. It can be utilized at personal level also. It can be directly or indirectly used for most trivial things like improving your time scheduling to most critical things like improving your personalized health care system.

After completing my six sigma certification, I have realized the importance of quantifying the world. An example at a very basic level would be - if a question is asked "When will you complete the XYZ task?". A non quantified answer would be - "in some time, in few hours, in a short while, will take longer etc..". A quantified answer would be - "In 3 hours, At 6.00 pm etc..". It makes you more organized and more structured.

Now from job point of view - Companies like GE, Motorola prefer people who are six sigma certified (at least Green Belt). In most of the companies that I have given my interview, the strongest point in my resume has been my Six Sigma certification.

Please post your comments and feedback.

Six Sigma Introduction

Motorola was the first company to introduce six sigma methodology 20 yrs back. Since then, this methodology has done wonders for many companies. GE, ABN Amro are few big companies that have adopted this methodology very sincerely. Rather, GE has played a major role in promoting six sigma methodology. Jack Welsh can be considered as the pioneer of Six Sigma.

For those who are totally unaware of six sigma might be wondering what exactly is six sigma methodology and how has it done wonders for companies. Well, the answer is that six sigma is a methodology that helps improving any business process by constantly reviewing and re-tuning it. It aims for perfection. The maximum defects that six sigma allows are 3.4 per million opportunities. For example, an average of 3.4 vehicle parts manufactured by Motorola can be defective from million parts manufactured. Six sigma means a standard deviation of 6 from the normal (Normal means the acceptable quality by the customers).As we move away from the normal, the defects increase exponentially. The existing process can be improved using a process called DMAIC.
D - Define
M - Measure
A - Analyze
I - Improve
C - Control

A new process can be designed in six sigma using DMADV:
D - Define
M - Measure
A - Analyze
D - Design
V - Verify

Six Sigma Introduction Video Link

There are various stages of six sigma certifications - Green Belt, Black Belt and Master Black belt. Green Belt professionals are the developers who either work on improving/designing the existing/new process. Black Belt professionals indulge in identifying and analyzing the pain area (area which has a scope of improvement).
Six sigma means quantifying each and every possible available information. It speaks in numbers. This is how measurement becomes so easy using six sigma.

I will explain every stage in details in further posts. Please give your comments on what do you expect from the blog and let me know if you have any questions specific to six sigma.