LAQLSystems Way – By: Dr. Aecio D’Silva, CEO, Moura Technologies, and Dr. John Kyndt (Director of Professional Sciences, Bellevue University).
In our training courses, lectures, and consulting on continuous improvement and innovation as part of sustainable quality leadership programs someone upfront always asks the following question:
What is the difference between our Lean-Agile Quality Leadership System (LAQLSystems Way), Lean Management (Toyota Way), and Six Sigma Management (GE Way)?
In fact, if a company, organization, or business is considering or reviewing the options for implementing a program of Continuous Improvement and Innovation the first question that may arise is which technology to use.
Your business can be in aquabusiness, renewable energy, agribusiness, mining, pharmaceuticals, conventional energy, biotechnology, health care, cosmetics, transport, or research and development. It may consist of a factory, office, farm, laboratory, hospital, airport, schools, university, shopping mall or any other activity of delivering products, services or technology, one of the first decisions you will have to make is which program/system that will choose how to continuously innovate your business and stay ahead of the competition.
First of all, you should know that differences between LAQLSystems, Lean Management, and Agile Methodology are very few or almost none. The basic difference is the driven focus of LAQLSystems in Quality and creative-systemic-quality thinking.
With the exception of this point, they are basically just different implementation methodologies, with a strong focus on attitude and great fidelity to the innovation teachings of Dr. E. Deming.
However, there are basic and fundamental differences between LAQLSystems and Six Sigma management
Today with the global success of Lean Production Management (Lean Management) led by Toyota and Boeing and the Six Sigma administration by command-control promoted by GE, it is important to understand the structural differences between these two business approaches.
LAQLSystems Way vs. Six Sigma Way – Defining What is What
To understand this better, let’s begin with some simplified definitions, starting with the Six Sigma Way. Six Sigma is many other things beyond high stress and command-and-control from top to down. It is strictly a statistical program (establishing the maximum of 3.4 defects per million parts produced).
It is also a set of tools (GR & R, Stats descriptive, regression, DOE, etc.), a system for identifying and solving problems in the processes (e.g., DMAIC, PIDOV, DMADV), but is also a command-control management philosophy and highly stressful.
LAQLSystems Way or Lean Production, on the other hand, is all the things mentioned above for Six Sigma, except the stress and statistics. LAQLSystems and Lean also use a set of tools (PDCA, kanban, ERP, Poke-Yoke, Andon, VSM, Standardization, Intense Visual Factory, etc…), but applies these with a much more personal focus having great respect for the people.
LAQLSystems, particularly, is a process that usually begins with personal changing of attitude, sustainable approach, using 5s (sort, set, sweep, standardize and sustain) and PDCA (plan, do, study, and act) to solve root challenges (which others call problems) at all levels.
LAQLSystems Way or Lean Management is based on 1) long-term thinking-planning, but taking excellent care of the present; 2) the right process produces the right results; 3) process-driven-oriented system; 4) developing people and partners and building people, not just products; 5) continuously identifying and solving root challenges drive organizational learning; 6) lean, learning, continuously improving system; 7) company’s sustainable culture vision, mission, and values that go beyond short-time profit; 8) constantly adding value from the customers’ perspectives in everything we delivery; 9) sustainable leadership commitment and determination to continuously invest in our people and promoting a culture of continuous improvement; and 10) the right combination of company sustainable quality culture, process, continuously trained people and root challenges solving that can create an always learning enterprises with sustainable operational excellence in every area of the company.
LAQLSystems Production System (LAQLS-PS) uses intensively correct attitude, creative-systemic-sustainable analysis plus the vision approach of Profound Knowledge introduced by Dr. E. Deming (PDSA, SPK) and Kaizen (change incrementally and continuously for the better).
LAQLSystems Way to succeed must be an essential philosophy or leadership-management lifestyle involving all, from the CEO to the janitorial staff, with a focus on a business participative and sustainable leadership where clients/customers always come first, where workers have the right attitude and practice, and where, continuous training, improvement, transformation, and innovation are relentlessly and decisively stimulated.
The best definition of LAQLSystems is to put the client/customer first in everything, have the right attitude and do the right thing right, at the lowest cost, at the first time, with zero waste, maximum results, and efficiency, passionate with quality, always changing, transforming and innovating with sustainability.
LAQLSystems Way vs. Six Sigma Way – Difference in Results
Both approaches can be applied successfully. However, the results obtained in terms of always putting the customer first, have the right attitude, eliminating waste, and respect/engagement/ involvement of employees (we call ACIS – Agents of Changes, Innovation and Sustainability) in achieving the vision, mission, values and strategic objectives ( short, medium and long term) of the company differ from one another completely.
There are also obvious differences between the tools used in each method, although the processes implemented have some similarities to each other. For example, Kaizen can be mapped through the steps of DMAIC or vice versa.
So what is the difference between LAQLSystems and Six Sigma? The biggest differences can be found when LAQLSystems or Six Sigma is applied predominantly as the only way to manage the business, company and/or enterprise.
Both include training as an essential component, but there is a profound difference between the approaches used and the stress generated in the system.
Although both LAQLSystems and Six Sigma set a basic requirement to have professionals being trained to be successful, LAQLSystems adds three additional values in training that are not in Six Sigma.
Three central concepts of a LAQLSystems culture are to have: 1) ACIS trained to have the correct attitude; 2) Great emphasis in sustainable processes all over the company, and 3) a focus on multitasking with sustainability which enables all workers to operate in virtually all functions within the company. The ACIS is cross-trained in the processes of daily work, not just specifically in LAQLSystems tools.
These are important distinctions in implementing LAQLSystems programs. A workforce trained in the correct multifunctional attitude wherever is possible is essential in reducing stress at the workplace, as well as, doing job rotations, which maintain a high level of enthusiasm of ACIS and at the same time cuts the root of the natural tediousness, fatigue, bad mood, work-related diseases and natural boredom that inevitably comes to one who does the same thing every day.
LAQLSystems Way vs. Six Sigma Way – Time and Performance Measurements
Another significant difference becomes evident in the use of measurements of time and performance. Both LAQLSystems and Six Sigma emphasize performance measurements, but the approaches are diametrically opposed.
Six Sigma aims to measure the process performance in direct relation to the problem being worked on as the most important measure of business success through dashboards. It is, therefore, very project-level oriented.
These dashboards are generated by pushy command-and-control, carrot-and-stick approaches, or top-down style and the process rarely involves or reaches factories’ production areas or shop floor. Thus, workers do not really know how and why they are doing their jobs.
LAQLSystems, on the other hand, focuses on the measurement on the shop floor and places leaders and ACIS in the production areas or what the Japanese call Gemba, we call Batente – the real workplace – to help, train, and see for themselves how things are going.
This boosts performance measurements with sustainability from bottom to top, starting with the work cell and proceeding to the plant and the top level. This is obtained by the mandatory practice of the concept of visual factory or signaling of all that is happening in the workplace or Batente.
The idea is that the effectiveness of a Visual factory should be so perfect that a person with one eye covered could go fast on a bicycle through the plant and in the end, will be able to tell what is happening in the production hall. Everything has to be seen and be obvious to all.
These different approaches illustrate the main difference between the philosophies LAQLSystems Way and Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a philosophy of command from top to bottom that only occasionally involves the production areas whose main practitioners are mid-level managers and engineers, while LAQLSystems is a bottom-to-top leadership-management system that integrates all employment levels with sustainability.
LAQLSystems Way – Leader Must Be a Server
The Six Sigma improvement projects are chosen for performance analysis at a high level and imposing changes down the throats of the workers, with almost no involvement of those who actually do the work.
LAQLSystems, Way, on the other hand, is characterized by the sustainable idea that the environment is one of our customers and the leader should be to serve, assist and train the ACIS because he is naturally one of them.
Everything is based on less impact possible to the environment, the correct attitude, and participative sustainable leadership where everything is done and moved with customers first in everything and with leaders whose main function is to do everything to enhance the success of ACIS (workers).
Leaders of LAQLSystems go to the areas of production, processing, or Batente where the work actually happens to see what’s going on, helping, applying continuous improvements and training all ACIS to sustainably succeed on their tasks.
Unlike Six Sigma, the vast majority of training in LAQLSystems companies is made in the work environment or learning-doing and helping everyone succeed in their functions. Although a highly user-friendly online learning center available 24/7 will reinforce all that is taught in the Batente. The success of one is the success of all, and vice versa.
For this to be achieved continuously, leaders and all the ACIS have to have the right attitude, respect for the environment, correct values and implement communication skills, continuous training, and promote learning at all times and occasions possible.
Another fundamental difference between LAQLSystems and Six Sigma is the focus given to internal competition between workers. Unlike Six Sigma, LAQLSystems aims to eliminate internal competition and encourage maximum cooperation, group achievement, and removing fear.
Who has implemented Six Sigma or worked in the GE Jack Welch time knows how this management encourages fierce internal or domestic competition between workers and the resulting distrust and high stress caused to all employees, their morale, and damaging teamwork.
It’s like a snake swallowing snake where the famous laws of the jungle reign. That is, the means do not matter; the important thing is to arrive first. Success may be attained, but the damage it does to the environment, the spirit of the workers, and the team, as a whole, is often devastating. Sustainability has no place in this working culture.
On the other hand, LAQLSystems Way with a focus on continuous improvement initiatives and innovations, and respect for our people and customers first start from the bottom up primarily at the individual ACIS and his attitude or his/her relentless desire and determination as a member of a sustainable work cell, to change, transform and innovate his/her own work with sustainability.
Moreover, there is another striking difference between LAQLSystems and Six Sigma at the leadership level.
LAQLSystems Way – Bond of Mutual Trust between ACIS and Leaders
With LAQLSystems Leadership being extremely focused on attitude, sustainability, and communication, this creates conditions that allow ACIS always to have an excellent and improved performance, with a bond of mutual trust or as a sacred contract that is built between ACIS and leaders.
This contract implicitly implies that the continuous improvements suggested, tested, implemented, and adopted by LAQLSystems Way, will not result in dismissal, loss of jobs, or harm to the environment.
It is like a kind of moral super glue that creates strong and lasting bonds of trust, mutual respect, and dignity for all. Everyone knows that thanks to this sacred bond when fewer ACIS are required in a sustainable work cell, they are not given the pink slip, but relocated to other areas of the company.
Six Sigma, on the other hand … Well, leave it for someone who has already implemented this management system in his/her company to talk about the experience….. as they became unemployed … and henceforth …
Are You Thinking of Implementing a Continuous Improvement Program?
Of course, there are many more differences between management LAQLSystems and Six Sigma, and a few between LAQLSystems and Toyota Lean Management Way but the above are basic core differences and we hope that can help you in making the initial decision about which system to use in your program/project of Continuous Improvement and Innovation with Environmental Sustainability.
Books of Prof. Aecio D’Silva
