Very often organizations are confused about what Six Sigma is all about and end up spending the wrong way and getting inadequate results.

One way to look at it is to remember the Indian epics.

The analogy between Ramayana and Six Sigma is as follows:

Ramayana is about the defeat of the evil Rakshasa Ravana. This is the same as the elimination of root causes of the problems in a Six Sigma Approach. As long as Rama shot at the heads of Ravana, the heads kept coming back as they were like problems where the root causes continued.

The Define Phase in DMAIC:
The heart of the story is about Rama championing the cause of fighting evil. The Breakthrough project was clearly defined. The significant impact that was expected was that Sita would be freed from Ravana and would reunite with Rama.

In many cases this important step is missed out and therefore the results are not satisfactory.

To have a breakthrough, create Project and Business Champions who are hungry for improvements. Having only Black belts trained on Statistics will not help to define the problem.

Building a Six Sigma team:
Ram's success can be linked to his ability to align his Project team to the goal and he found a (Six Sigma Black Belt???) problem solver in Hanuman. Hanuman's acumen was not in Statistics (perhaps that was not tested at all). His most potent strength was his ability to think out of the box and surprise his allies and foes. When he had to search for the herb which would save Lakshmana, he carried the mountain. Instead of using RSM (Response Surface methodology), he made others take the "steepest path of Ascent". He only narrowed down the search by getting the mountain - that was the result of his DOE.

In no instance was there a pre-determined path or tool.

So if you want to have breakthrough successes, you need a team with a Ram, a Hanuman and everyone else who was on his side.

Measure Phase in DMAIC:
Data based approach is necessary and Hanuman provided the data in terms of a flying visit to Lanka. He understood the location of Sita. Without these efforts, the project would have taken a longer time.

An investment in collecting data is most essential. Ensure that the measurements are right as otherwise the data may not be useful.

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