A major misunderstanding regarding Six Sigma is its fabricated definition, (e.g. “Six Sigma is a fact-based decision-making methodology…”). I’ve seen people willing to attack anyone utilizing common sense to make decisions without facts. One of the reasons for taking such a strong position is that practitioners develop affinities for statistical software programs, which creates a perception of righteousness after the software gobbles down some numbers. This perception is wrong.

There’s nothing wrong with the software, the Six Sigma practitioners are the ones who don’t use the programs appropriately. In the Six Sigma arena, software is like a crutch—everyone gets one and then limps around with it.

During an online Six Sigma discussion forum, I once presented a hypothesis and asked for members’ input. Suddenly, I received a rash of replies about how “dumb” I was for making a decision without facts or numbers. People love to talk about measurement-system analysis anytime someone uses numbers, but Six Sigma practitioners must realize that numbers don’t represent the total information about an event and statistical software doesn’t solve problems. Crutches can never become legs.

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