8.9 Conclusion

We opened this topic by talking about fitness and healthy habits. Losing extra pounds is not necessary or desirable for everyone. But for those of us that might want to, the journey can be challenging. It can be easier for some folks with a fast metabolism but, in general, it requires a strong sense of purpose accompanied by disciplined measurement. You will also likely need to study your fitness process, see what you are getting into your body in terms of food, how frequently, and so on; i.e., collect some baseline data.

Improvement projects function similarly. During the DMAIC Measure phase, you will start developing a much deeper understanding of your process. You will create operational definitions for what is essential for the customer, translating their expectations and requirements in a way that you can measure and manage them. You will likely need to prepare a plan to collect data and execute it as part of the process. You also want to ascertain that the measurement is valid and reliable.

Many of the tools you are using require you to involve your team. Their effectiveness and power increase with good team composition and properly set up sessions to deploy the tool in progressing with the project. Perhaps this is somewhat similar to getting into fitness: it is often easier when we have partners to work with and when they are the right partners.