Is the goal within the organization to be perfect in every respect? Perfection is elusive, of course, but it can and does represent an enviable goal. More importantly, the concept of perfection helps everyone in the corporation to develop a working model to maximize excellent service at every level.

This is not a theory alone; the suggestion that you can work with other employees and managers to improve service is a crucial requirement in a competitive market. Thus, Six Sigma, as an integrated approach to creating effective working models, is much more than a tool for improving productivity, creating internal teamwork, or reducing costs. In fact, it serves as a model for corporate attitude that goes beyond the whole team approach that has permeated corporate project work for so many years.

Two attributes need to be present in order for any quality control program to work. First, that program cannot be isolated or defined as a function that occurs in the plant alone, or in the office, department, or subsidiary. It has to be a working philosophy that applies from the boardroom to the mail room; everyone can participate in an overall quality control approach to corporate success. In fact, the real success stories in the corporate world have been able to demonstrate effective, corporate-wide quality ideals.

The second attribute is that “quality” itself cannot be applied only to one portion of the corporate environment. Quality control has its root in manufacturing, where it was applied to develop ways to reduce defects, increase productivity, and ensure on-time delivery of goods. Today, quality control is just as important in the service sector, and quality control measures can be used effectively by applying the lessons learned in the manufacturing industries. Six Sigma is a quality control approach that can and should be applied to all interactions: with customers, vendors, other employees, between management and departments, within manufacturing or production departments, and even between corporations and regulatory agencies.

In other words, the idea of quality control is not simply a method by which management tries to cut costs, squeeze out more units of production, or give employees a voice on an internal team. While all of those benefits accrue from a quality control program, they are among the results of a more universally applied and systematic point of view. A traditional organization has boards and officers at the top, operational leadership, and then managers and employees far down the line. The more complex the organizational chain of command, the more difficult it becomes to achieve any meaningful or effective quality control. It becomes easy for a manager to recognize a problem elsewhere, but to shrug it off. “It’s not my problem” is the default position.

With the universal approach to quality, we recognize something that is both obvious and all-important. Any problem within the company is a shared responsibility because, ultimately, defects (whether related to product or service, customer service, communication, or compliance) are going to affect the corporation and all of its employees, officers, and stockholders. In the long term, dynamically organized and effectively managed corporations are going to succeed, and segmented, inert, disorganized, bureaucratic, and ineffective corporations are going to lose customer base. As markets decline, those companies also experience declines in vendor relations, employee morale, and internal communication.

Quality, for all its mundane attributes, can be far more than the trite concept that so many have come to view with well-deserved cynicism. If quality control is only an expression used to describe management’s way of dealing with cost overruns, it has no significance beyond that limited application. A quality control program that demands better results without involving the worker in the broader corporate-wide idea, can be of limited value alone. For those corporations that prefer demanding higher quality without creating a sense of real teamwork, the opportunities are going to be missed. Ultimately, their competitors—who recognize the opportunities to create very effective and dynamic quality programs—are going to take market share away.

Six Sigma is an effective approach to a broad-based quality control program. It is far more than the traditional approach, in which internal teams are created to reduce production defects, solve problems within one department, and address problems in isolation. Six Sigma is more than a quality control program with another name; it is a quality-based system for reorganizing the entire approach to work in every aspect: productivity, communication, involvement at every level, and external service.

Because Six Sigma and its guidelines improve performance and communication on many levels, it changes not only the outcome (service, production, or communication) but affects the very way that we communicate with each other and with customers and vendors. Programs may begin with focus on a single problem, such as errors in customer deliveries or the inability to keep products in inventory, but the solutions are not isolated. If a vice president responds to a problem by insisting that it be fixed at the departmental level—and without examining its broader implications—an opportunity is lost. If that same vice president involves the entire corporation in a study of how and why such problems evolve, they will find more permanent solutions. This does not mean a complex, expensive analysis has to be used; rather, Six Sigma is designed for rapid, simple problem solving that involves all levels and all contacts (employee, customer, vendor).

This book is designed to show, step by step, how Six Sigma works and how it can be used most effectively. Whether you are an executive or manager trying to change your approach to problem solving, or an employee in a corporation with a Six Sigma program, this book is structured to lead you through each step of the process. It includes definitions in margins, placed at the point of discussion. This enables you to master the terminology as you read along. We use many examples, checklists, and graphics to further help you in developing a working knowledge of Six Sigma.

If we hope to become more effective in production, service, and communication, we need not only to improve our internal approach; we also need to help our fellow employees, supervisors, and managers to move along the same path. Effectiveness on every level is the goal and purpose to Six Sigma. The broad-based quality ideal—an appreciation of what is needed to strive for perfection—requires that everyone in the company understands its importance and their part in achieving it.