As the year draws to a close, we wanted to share our top 10 entertaining and useful posts of 2014 with all of you. Take a look below and feel free to leave a comment on any of our pages.
Out of the hundreds of articles to decide from, our editors chose these as our top articles of the year (in no particular order):
10. What Benjamin Franklin Knew About Six Sigma
10. Benjamin Franklin is known by many for being far ahead of his time. In the United States he founded the first hospital, the first insurance company, the first circulating library, the first fire department and the first police organization. He was the first postmaster in the U.S. and drew the first cartoon in an American newspaper.
Given his track record, it’s probably no surprise that Franklin was also using key elements of the Six Sigma methodology hundreds of years before Six Sigma was a formally recognized discipline.
9. Navigating the Politics of Six Sigma Change
Six Sigma is a methodology based on the cold calculation of statistics and the dispassionate analysis of process performance.
It is designed to keep human biases and emotions at a distance.
However, when the changes recommended by a Six Sigma project disrupt the comfortable working lives of human beings, reactions are often illogical and irrational, based on fear, mistrust, insecurity and bias.
8. The Time-Traveling Hipster…and Six Sigma
You may be familiar with the urban legend of the time-traveling hipster. It stems from an image that has been circulating on the Internet for a few years now.
But did you know that the hype generated by this uncanny snapshot teaches an important lesson about Six Sigma?
7. Should Companies Pay For Six Sigma Training?
Improving efficiency allows Six Sigma professionals to cut major costs throughout a company.
Deciding to invest in Six Sigma is easy. The more difficult issue is deciding who should pay for the Six Sigma training. Should companies pay for their employees to become Six Sigma certified?
6. The Power of the Define Phase Makes a Planet Disappear
In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) changed the way we understand our solar system by declaring that Pluto was no longer a planet. A single decision nullified the one scientific fact that most people knew: the solar system has nine planets.
See how it relates to Six Sigma here.
5. Using Six Sigma at Your Desk
We know that Six Sigma can help an organization accomplish large and ambitious projects. It is for those who think big to improve organizational productivity.
It is also true, though, that individuals can successfully use Six Sigma principles on a much smaller scale. Employees can apply Six Sigma within the walls of their office or the space on their desk.
Six Sigma can be ideal for anyone thinking on a smaller scale to improve individual productivity.
4. The Six Sigma Secret That Helped Elect JFK
In the book Hardball, political commentator Chris Matthews distills the rules of politics and how candidates use them to get elected. At the top of the list is a rule commonly used in politics – and practiced with great skill and success by John F. Kennedy.
It worked so well that the Kennedy organization used it in his bid for presidency.
3. How the Movie Moneyball Helps Explain Six Sigma
It’s rare when popular culture uses Six Sigma principles to entertain the masses. It is rarer still when that entertainment incorporates professional sports. The rarest of the rare is when Six Sigma and professional sports are combined to help create a blockbuster movie.
Six Sigma, Major League Baseball and a hit Hollywood film all intersect seamlessly in the 2011 film, Moneyball.
2. Project Ideas for Business Sustainability – Parts 1 and 2
A great resource for business professionals looking to apply Six Sigma methodologies toward business sustainability projects.
Includes ideas and details on transportation, paper, lighting, solid waste management, water usage and electricity usage.
1. Six Sigma Helps Lick Tootsie Pop Mystery
No list would be complete without this classic.
Ah, the age-old question: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop. This article shows you how a vital Six Sigma concept has finally answered the question.
Be on the lookout for a whole lot more Six Sigma news, information and tips coming your way in 2015.
