Chapter 4. Launching the Initiative

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

—Lao Tzu

Chapter 3 provided an overall deployment process for Six Sigma, based on the case studies from Chapter 2. We will now delve into the first phase of the deployment process, a step referred to as launching the initiative. This is probably the most important phase. If Six Sigma is poorly launched it will be very difficult to reorganize and regain momentum. People will have already become skeptical, and resisters will have ammunition. Taking into full consideration the key points discussed in the chapter will help organizations hit the ground running on their initial implementation.

We define the launch phase of Six Sigma to be roughly the period between making the decision to deploy Six Sigma, and completion of the initial wave of Black Belt training. At the end of this phase you should have in place:

• An overall deployment plan (strategy)

• The initial wave of projects

• Trained Black Belts, and other key players

These are the key “deliverables” for the launch phase and they should be considered in that order. Before developing the deployment plan most organizations need to address the key preliminary question of which major deployment strategy to utilize. This decision will affect virtually every aspect of the deployment plan, so it will be addressed first, followed by the three main launch topics. The chapter will be completed with an overall summary of the launching the initiative phase.