Recently I completed my Master of Science Degree with Boise State University and their Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Program, or OPWL for short. First, I want to acknowledge that this entire program piqued my interest and maintained that same interest throughout; however, it also ignited another passion for teaching for me that I can’t get over!
The OPWL program’s learning goals and the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) Performance Standards are nearly identical. (See table below)
At this point, you may ask yourself, “Why does that matter?” Bear with me. I have a point that I’m driving towards.
After graduation day (Literally, my first-day stepping foot on Boise State’s Campus), my wife and I got into an Uber to head to the Airport early the following day. It was here that I had my first post-graduation chat with our Uber driver. Our conversation got to the point of him asking what my major was. I tried to come up with my best explanation at 4 AM and likely failed at a decent articulation. After whatever I rattled off, his only response was, “Oh, that sounds a lot like Six Sigma.” That got me thinking about what precisely Six Sigma is. Why is it so well known? How does it compare to what I just completed in my graduate studies? Frankly, I put a ton of time and money into this program and just had it compared to something I have heard rattled off at work as a “black belt” or “green belt” training opportunity.
So, I did what any life-long learner would do. I spent countless hours reading articles, listening to podcasts, watching youtube videos, and ultimately thinking about how I could best articulate this in the future.
Question 1: What is OPWL?
OPWL is nested under the College of Engineering at Boise State. The idea is to build an individual capable of cultivating learning experiences focused on performance-based results. In addition, a culture is instilled within this program that focuses on the “proof” using evidence-based practices to get to those solutions. The types of challenges that the program focuses on are all-encompassing; process issues, individual performance issues, training improvement, design, and holistic workplace improvement.
The fantastic thing about this program is that it hits a myriad of workplace challenges. It forces you to work within the realm of all adult learning principles while also using systematic processes, like the Human Performance Technology (HPT) model, ADDIE, and LEAPS, which all find different ways to conduct a front-end analysis, cause analysis, intervention selection, design and development, intervention implementation and change, and finally evaluation. The key here is that as a Human Performance Practitioner (coined phrase within the program), you develop your skillset enough to know which model best fits the project.
Question 2: What is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma methodology calls for bringing operations to a “six sigma” level. What is that level? It is defined as 3.4 defects for every one-million opportunities (Bisk Education, Inc, 2023). Talk about a data-driven methodology! Their stated tools and methods serve the single purpose of streamlining processes and producing the best products and services with the least defects (Bisk Education, Inc, 2023).
Their two primary systematic methodologies are DMIAC and DMADV. Those are two acronyms for:
Define the problem and the project goals
Measure in detail the various aspects of the current process
Analyze data, among other things, find the root defects in a process
Improve the process
Control how the process is done in the future
(Data pulled from Bisk Education, Inc 2023)
DMADV, on the other hand, is typically used to create a new process or new product, and its defined acronym is:
Define project goals
Measure critical components of the process and the product capabilities
Analyze the data and develop various designs for the process, eventually picking the best one
Design and test details of the process
Verify the design by running simulations and a pilot program, then hand over the process to the client.
(Data pulled from Bisk Education, Inc 2023)
Question 3: How do the two compare?
Simply put, Six Sigma is another tool and methodology that an HPT can add to their toolkit when faced with a problem. At first glance, it appears that if you have a highly data-driven organization, money, production rates, etc., then Six Sigma seems like a fantastic way to ensure that the evaluation of your intervention would go smoothly. That is, if the defects are more than 3.4 defects per one-million opportunities, then one would need to enter another analysis to see why they are not meeting the performance goal of fewer than 3.4 defects per one-million opportunities.
Conclusion:
The benefit I see from the program I just graduated from versus comparing it to, “Oh, that sounds like Six Sigma,” is a deep tool kit versus just bringing a hammer to the construction site. If I bring my hammer, every problem looks like a nail… however, if I bring my work truck with all my tools, I can use the right tool for the job.
As stated in this article, I think Six Sigma has its place. I see the benefits of using objective data sources to help evaluate if your interventions are working. I also see some gaps in how the program seems to lay out a complex process like “defining the problem” and “analyzing the data,” though. Since I have not attended any of the training offered by Six Sigma, I cannot describe all of the sub-components of their DMAIC and DMADV methodologies. From the outside looking in, I struggle to see how they are looking at this from a systems point of view to show the interrelatedness of the issues and to assist in finding the root cause of a problem set.
Ultimately, I’m interested to know your thoughts on the subject. Please educate me more on the inner workings of Six Sigma if I have missed the mark here.
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