Completing a Six Sigma project is cause for celebration. A dedicated project team has worked tirelessly to apply the tools and techniques of Six Sigma to create a new process or improve an existing one. And this new process is not just a theoretical improvement. As required by Six Sigma methodology it has been tested and proven in a rigorous pilot program.
Now you’re ready to flip the switch and put the newly-minted process into action. Then all that’s left to do is sit back and watch the benefits roll in.
Not so fast. Creating technically brilliant improvements is not the end of the journey.
Estimates indicate that 98% of process improvements that fail are technically good solutions. The difference between improvement projects that succeed and those that fail involve the people who implement them. Employees who will use the new process must accept and embrace it, and they must be willing to make the changes it requires.
Change Is an Unnatural Act
We all support change as long as it is someone else doing the changing. Change interrupts comfortable routines and makes us suspect that we will lose something. Change can be threatening. We praise change with our voices yet we fear it in our hearts.
The mistrust of change is a messy obstacle that doesn’t respond to the logical and scientific methodology of Six Sigma. Another solution is required to help employees embrace change.
Overcoming Resistance to Change
Companies like General Electric (GE) have been at the forefront in overcoming the factors that cause resistance to beneficial change. In the early 90’s, GE CEO and Six Sigma champion Jack Welch pressed the company to develop an initiative to help employees embrace and accelerate change.
Welch wanted to instill a corporate culture at GE that would prepare it to adapt to the increasingly rapid pace of change. Quickly adapting to change, Welch believed, allows organizations to fully benefit from the improvement of Six Sigma quality initiatives and gives them a competitive advantage.
Under Welch’s direction, GE created what became known as the Change Acceleration Program (CAP). This plan was built on the founding belief that organizations needed two elements to effectively implement change.
Technical Strategy – This is what Six Sigma provides, it is the change itself. The end result of the DMAIC cycle is a new and improved production process with a timeline for implementation including key milestones and a resource plan.
Cultural Strategy – This addresses human needs and creates new behaviors that reduce resistance to the change. In contrast to the cold scientific methodology of Six Sigma, this strategy uses the softer, more people-friendly skills of effective communication, team building and group facilitation to make sure that the people executing the change actually support it.
Where to Apply CAP?
Using CAP to prepare your organization to adapt to change caused by Six Sigma projects and rapidly increasing technological advances helps your company become more agile and better prepared for the future. CAP is typically used for:
- Projects with strategic and critical importance
- Projects that impact many people, locations and functions and require support for change
- Projects that require input from multiple functions with multiple perspectives
- Projects that demand changes to bring large pay-offs
Your workers can be either the biggest asset or the biggest obstacle to successfully implementing a new process improvement. The Change Acceleration Process helps employees embrace change and can help your business implement improvements from Six Sigma projects.
