Companies often have numerous Six Sigma projects in the pipeline, and Six Sigma belts are busy working on projects. However, statistical thinking suggests that not all projects will be equally successful. In fact, the amount of improvement could vary significantly from one project to another. In an attempt to understand how employees could improve the degree of success of their projects, one discovers that there’s a significant focus on applying statistical tools, particularly design of experiments (DOE). Contrary to utilizing DOE as a first step, the project staff should spend time analyzing processes to gain better knowledge of the project. The more process knowledge a team or an individual has, the faster a project can be completed.

While working on projects for several years, I’ve come across many professionals with years of experience. These professionals believe they know almost everything: They resist to new ideas and don’t want to be bothered. I remember tactfully asking one of these professionals, “If you know everything, how come your process is having problems?” The person realized then that he didn’t know everything and that teamwork could help his process.

What’s process knowledge?
Based on concepts of the process thinking, process experts must be able to learn the following aspects of a process:

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