My First Contribution

[Nick The New Guy]

This is my first thread I've created, so let me know if there is anything I should keep in mind next time.So, a quick background on myself. I work for a Fortune 50 company who has a requirement for all new engineering hires to become Six Sigma Green Belt Certified. For those who don't know what Six Sigma is, its a system that is designed around eliminating waste, and improving efficiency. I am using my training in this for my personal side project I've been working on. I am tired of playing all of the corporate games and creating value (currently managing a $200k+ project) for someone else to take the credit on and get a fat bonus.

That being said, Six Sigma has a few tools that the budding entrepreneur may find useful in specific situations. I am in the beginning phases of creating something of value for myself and my niche that I am targeting (more info will become available once I have something concrete well under way), and have found myself using the 5-Whys tool (ask yourself or another why something is the way it is 5 times in a row to narrow down the small goals to target).

For example:

Why does Uber have such great success?
(Because they appeal using their App)
Why?
(It is easier to open an app and hit "Request Uber" than it is to find a taxi service and call around)
Why?
(Because everyone has a smartphone and the route of least resistance appeals to humans.)
Why?
(A lot of people are lazy and want to be catered to)
Why?
(Society has made it the norm)

Uber appeals to the way that people in our culture have been raised, and it now seems natural to use an app to do our legwork. That is a fantastic way to add value to a large number of people! Whether or not this is too deep to go with the whys is up to you to decide, but this is a great way to find where wasted efforts are as well. Asking why you do something in a process over and over like this can highlight wasted efforts.

This answers many little questions that can potentially point you in the direction to focus your efforts and streamline your Fastlane Processes.

This was a long winded way of me saying, that these tools have the potential to be valuable if you can utilize them in the right way. The website I used to learn these tools as I was going through my training was isixsigma.com and it has a decent amount of info on the major tools as well as templates. Very simple to understand.

There are other tools that fall under the Agile Methodology (another tool set) that can aid value as well for those interested.

I wanted to share this tidbit from my experiences and hopefully by doing this, I can at least help one other person out along the way.

Thanks everyone!

 

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