Top Down

Improvement Insights Blog

Posts tagged "Top Down"

Lean Six Sigma Implementation – Top Down or Middle Out?

Traditional Lean Six Sigma wisdom says to start top down, but that’s a sure fire way to fail. Here’s why:



“Hi, I’m Jay Arthur, author of “Lean Six Sigma For Hospitals” and the QI Macros [software].

“I think there’s a lot of conventional wisdom in in Six Sigma and Lean and Six Sigma that says, “Oh, you must start with the leadership team.” Well, I was reading this book that was recommended to me, “Creating A Lean Culture.” This was used by Virginia Mason up in Seattle to transform how they deliver health care. I thought this was interesting about how Lean typically starts and grows.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Agile Lean Six Sigma, Improvement Insights, Jay Arthur Blog, Lean, Six Sigma.

Top Down Change Doesn’t Work

Everyone seems to think that top down, leadership-driven is the only way to implement Lean Six Sigma. It’s not.

50 years of research proves that it fails half the time. Yep, 50% failure rate. That’s less than 1 sigma.

This type of failure is so common that it even has a name: The Stalinist Paradox.

Posted by Jay Arthur in Improvement Insights, Lean, QI Macros, Six Sigma.