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Editor’s note: Several weeks ago, a young woman by the name of Aly Fields contacted us wanting to learn more about “quality” in general and Six Sigma in particular. A recent college graduate, Aly had taken it upon herself to earn a Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Why? Read her own words below. What intrigued us, and why we brought Aly on as an intern, is that her story of trying to enter the business world with college-only skills is not uncommon. What is uncommon is her approach to the problem: questioning experts in the field to get a competitive edge. We thought it would be fun and interesting for our readers, and ultimately useful to Aly, if she were to blog about her learning experience. So, for as long as Aly can stay (and it won’t be long before a smart employer will snatch her away), we are going to see the “quality world” from the eyes of a novice.
My name is Aly Fields, and I am a recent college graduate. I have spent the last 16 years of my life sitting at a desk defaced with pictures and phrases such as “I’m soooooo bored” or “Emily + John 4ever,” and listening to the drone of monotone teachers who sound too much like the teacher from Charlie Brown.
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Comments
Welcome!
Hi Aly, and welcome to the Real World(TM)!
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My perspective as an engineer then consultant in the quality sciences, then professor...
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A business degree gives you a general "what's up" of business, just as my engineering degree allowed me to learn how to be an engineer. You will definitely need more to bring enough value to an organization to get hired in this climate. There are a lot of business majors out there...
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First, I think the entire educational system (elementary on up to university) should have focused on getting statistical tools and thinking into your and every student's brain. It is a far more practical skill to learn and respond to the Real World(TM) than calculus or geometry (unless you are going to be an engineer or scientist, your probably only need to be introduced to calculus). H.G. Wells said, "Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write." A lot of the baloney in all media today would be defused with a little bit of statistical thinking. Of course, the corollary of this is that statistical thinking is needed in business, especially amongst managers and leaders. I teach in a Masters of Engineering program at the University of Colorado, which focuses on engineering management, and that is why an applied statistics class is a prerequisite for the program.
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Right across the sidewalk from us is the school of business. Both undergrad and MBA students have not been taught, and have shown great appreciation for, a logical way to run a business, of which Six Sigma is a component. (IMHO, Six Sigma is advanced problem-solving when the problem is quite difficult, it is NOT a particularly useful heuristic for the other stuff you need to know and do in order to run a business. It is an important component, but it is only part of the puzzle.)
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Here is a link to an introduction of how I think a business' objectives should be linked all the way through the company, so that everyone knows what is important, and why they need to work on certain things for the business:
http://www.csscu.com/index.php/bpe/bpe-articles-t/40-what-is-business-p…
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Good luck in your quest - learning about the scientific method and its application is business is important stuff.
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Oh, and read all my QD articles....:)
http://www.qualitydigest.com/read/content_by/42
The Real World
Hello Aly,
I read your blog article with great interest and felt I needed to reply. First of all, you do know quite a bit already about the real world - perhaps you just don't realize it. You have demonstrated the three most important employee qualities for any successful employee: (1) Willingness to learn; (2) Great Attitude; (3) Initiative/ Drive. (with these 3 qualities - all other skills can be learned where you work)!
You have also demonstrated your application of a very important business principal exercised by successful companies - Differentiation (You have differentiated yourself from your competition - fellow business students - to try to get ahead by completing Yellow Belt training). Many companies fail to do this and , as a result, end up competing on price and don't do as well financially as they could have.
You are right - the benefits of Six Sigma do outweigh the imperfections. This is a very useful set of skills that can help drive fact/ data based decision making which can save your company money.
As for other things to learn - I would suggest learning as much as you can about Lean Management Systems as this knowledge and skill is lacking in many companies especially in leadership levels (I'm also willing to bet you weren't taught much about that in your Business Program).
I wish you good luck in your job search!
PS: If no US companies are interested in hiring you, perhaps a canadian company, such as mine, in Atlantic Canada, may be.
The Real World
Aly:
I recommend a different perspective - do some grunt work. Go work on an assembly line somewhere for a couple of months, and experience the other end of the spectrum. You will be amazed how all of the principles you've now learned actually have to be applied, and the types of resistance you'll meet. You've schooled yourself, now open your perspectives. Then come back and tell us how it applies.
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