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Lean Versus Six Sigma...  and the Winner Is?

First annual study by Lean & Six Sigma executive recruiting and search firm The Avery Point Group finds that Six Sigma dominates Lean as the more prominent methodology by a wide margin.

Today's competitive global business environment leaves little room for error and inefficiency, which explains why Six Sigma and Lean have become part of today's everyday business language. Many extol the virtues of these continuous improvement methods as a way to drive out waste and reduce variation in everything from customer service to overall process performance. However, which continuous improvement methodology is more prominent and popular?

"As part of our executive recruiting practice we track a large amount of industry trend data in order to better target our business efforts and serve our client base," says Tim Noble, managing principal of The Avery Point Group. "We monitor three main indices to give us a long- and short-term view of the disciplines we service. We look at the number of books published each year by topic, the number of Internet keyword searches, and the number of jobs posted online by keyword."

Based on these three indices, Six Sigma still dominates Lean as the more prominent and popular methodology by a wide margin.

Over the past five years both methodologies have seen an explosion of books published covering their topics, which will only help to elevate the interest in Six Sigma and Lean as more business leaders become immersed in the published materials now being made available. Each year, however, books published on the topic of Six Sigma consistently outpace Lean by a wide margin.

Based on Internet search engine keyword search counts, Six Sigma search inquiries still outpace Lean inquiries by a 2-1 or greater margin. However, keyword searches on Lean have been gaining ground recently.

Based on Internet job board postings, the use of the keyword Six Sigma outpaces Lean consistently by more than 50 percent.

The difference in prominence between Six Sigma and Lean may be due to the fact that Six Sigma has been able to move beyond its roots in manufacturing into other disciplines, while Lean is still largely perceived as a tool to improve manufacturing processes. "This perception is changing as more and more businesses across the board are looking to blend the best of each methodology to accelerate their continuous improvement efforts," says Noble. "Companies are increasingly realizing that these are truly complementary tool sets and not necessarily competing philosophies."

In the end, the real winner is any company that successfully engages in some form of continuous improvement, regardless of whether it is Lean, Six Sigma, or some other well-executed approach. "I can't think of any company that claims to be world class that is not utilizing some form of continuous improvement approach," says Noble. "World-class status is a constantly moving target defined by both your customers and your competitors. Without a continuous improvement approach you're not even treading water in today's global economy."

Avery Point Group:  Retained & Contingent Executive Search for Lean & Six Sigma Talent

The Avery Point Group is a global executive recruiting and search firm that assists companies in identifying, assessing and recruiting mid-level management to senior executive Lean & Six Sigma talent. Our firm leverages its principals’ decades of executive Lean & Six Sigma operations and staffing experience to provide the highest quality executive search services.

Visit our main website:  AveryPointGroup.com 

Visit our Lean Sigma website:  LeanSigmaRecruiter.com

Download our web brochure:  
Executive Search Brochure (PDF)

Learn more about our process:     LeanSigmaSearch.com

Visit our Jobs Blog:  LeanSixSigmaJobs.blogspot.com

How is Our Lean & Six Sigma Executive Search and Recruiting Firm Different?

With our team’s significant Six Sigma and Lean executive experience, we are uniquely qualified to help our clients find, assess and recruit the right continuous improvement and operational excellence talent. Our key principals are Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Lean trained by globally recognized industry leading Fortune 500 companies and have real-world executive experience leading their application in manufacturing, distribution and service-based industries. Our key principals have managed global operations and led key Lean & Six Sigma initiatives in Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America and throughout Asia.

Our principals, with their global perspective, understand what it takes to find, assess and recruit talent for companies to succeed in today’s global economy. Unlike other Lean & Six Sigma executive recruiters and search firms, we truly speak the language of our clients and candidates.

How Critical is the Right Continuous Improvement Talent?   

According to a leading business magazine study, only 2% of plants have reached world-class manufacturing performance, with an additional 23% making significant progress toward this enviable status. The common theme found among these superior operations was a fully implemented and effective continuous improvement methodology.

Of the plants that have made little or no progress toward world-class performance, 53% reported having some level of continuous improvement effort already in place. The study very pointedly suggests that these improvement efforts might be suffering from half-hearted and unfocused efforts or worse yet, disinterested or incompetent leadership.

The overall findings of this study point to the fact that most operations could dramatically improve their performance by having the right leadership talent in place. Our focus is to help our clients find the right talent to maximize their continuous improvement / operational excellence efforts and help them achieve world-class performance.