Six Sigma For Managers

If you know very little to nothing about quality processes, statistics or the audacious goals of a 'Six Sigma' process, then this book is an excellent choice to get an overview. Just as the title says, this book is for MANAGERS and thus takes a broad, managerial view - as opposed to the "nuts-n-bolts" of the worker-bees who will do the work. But, the manager targeted for this book seems more a remote manager not too involved in the daily tasks of a full-out six-sigma initiative. Accordingly, SS guru/author Greg Brue defines broadly "what is six sigma" and highlights the main elements of the process (define/measure/analyze/improve/control) along with the leadership roles and importance of a "top-down" commitment. (ideal to refer to the Table of Contents). He also presents the basic financial arguements of how Six Sigma can pay for itself and improve many key business metrics - albeit in the most simplistic terms and without any mention of up-front investments (nothing is free to start). Positive points: clear language, nice paper quality, not one of those tiny paperbacks(!), an easy-to-read type-set, not too technical for the beginner, decent graphs, and mostly just a good overview of the many considerations and tools for the Six Sigma process. But, if you are a person who is more technical, statistical or has been to business school, this book is probably way too simple for other than a short reminder of what is important. You'll quickly read it through and say, "What's next?" The basic teachings here will really not equip you to lead a Six Sigma effort or effectively use its analytical or statistical tools in a meeting setting (not enough detail). Also, there were not enough detailed or compelling examples of how to use the statistical tools or and in-depth analysis of the financial payoffs. The few examples were only about 1-2 paragraphs in length so that should give you an idea of its depth. Again it is not a textbook but a quickie overview of what to consider and why it is important and how it can pay off. But, it should leave you with a firm sense of how Six Sigma is not merely "another quality program" but a company-wide, integrated initiative towards maximizing profitability, productivity and customer satisfaction (to name a few things) through measuring everything of importance from manufacturing processes to accounts receivable. And towards that goal, I found it useful to start the journey. Next stop ... a fat textbook with lots of graphs, charts, equations and highly-detailed business examples. If you did not know, "Six Sigma" refers to the statistical level of quality as measured by a defect rate (non-comformance to some spec) of only 3.4 per 1,000,000 occurances (or 99.9997% in-spec). Prior to the 80's this audacious goal was really unheard of until the age of precision electronics manufacturing and one alert Motorola engineer who first defined the goal and started this train rolling.

I wanted to know about Six Sigma. I read some articals, but did not get a good picture of Six Sigma. This book is quite readable, interesting and provides a good introduction to Six Sigma. I recommend it to any one as the first book towards Six Sigma initiative.

I was asked by my CEO to find a good boot camp book to give to key employees of the company. This was a great introduction to Six Sigma. We have contacted the author to help guide our company on our six sigma journey. I would recommend this as the starter book into the six sigma world. By the way, after 6 months with the authors company (SSC) we have over $2 million in savings.

As a manager with a 4-year background in Statistical Process Control, I cannot agree with the two reviewers that bashed this book. I can't say it's in depth, because that's one thing that it isn't: don't expect it in your Black or Green Belt's curriculum. But if you stick to the title, it will reward its readers (mostly managers, I'd hope). It deals in very clear and easy-to-follow words (even for those of you that have been out of school for many, many years) with what is Six Sigma, what it entails (in terms of cost, benefits, cultural mindset change), how to implement and sustain, etc. It even devotes an entire section to an overview of the statistical tools required to get your arms around Six Sigma for the first time. Again, I'd not use it as a reference for in depth matters, but as a primer on the topic, I think it does an excellent job.

In a world where the tech heads like to spin a basic concept such as Six Sigma into a incomprehensible philosophical maelstrom - Six Sigma for Managers has managed to get the basic concepts on paper in a comprehensible format. If you are looking for a book that is a statistical reference this is the wrong book. That wasn't the intention of the book. This is a good starting point for a manager who is trying to understand what Six Sigma is about. We meet managers with almost daily who have been duped by "guru's." Six Sigma for Managers keeps it simple and basic. A manager will walk away with the ability to make their own decisions about Six Sigma based on the basic concepts they have just learned.