Ostensibly a "manager's book" for Six Sigma. which translates to: not much depth. This in turn translates to: teaches you to do nothing actually useful so don't waste your time here unless you want a long winded 40,000 foot introduction to GE Six Sigma methodology.

Another problem with Six Sigma is there are really two schools: Motorola and GE. The Motorola methodology actually teaches one how to use statistical principles to build better quality in, how to maintain it, and how to continuously improve it. The GE school, where former CEO Jack Welch really stole the Six Sigma name from Motorola and changed it to suit his own purposes, is a structured methodology for improvement where six sigma statistical principles are just one of many tools used to effect improvement change (sometimes it isn't used at all). Despite what the subtitle says, this is a GE Six Sigma introduction book and will tell you little about the original Motorola way.

I any case you can probably forget about it. Six Sigma is strictly old school now. Nobody does SS properly anyway and most concerns have moved on to program du jour Lean Manufacturing which is often mistakenly called Lean-Six Sigma, and where even fewer statistical principles, much less six standard deviations, are used. ( )

The Six Sigma Way puts in your hand an easy-to-follow 5-step roadmap to implement Six Sigma in your organization, department or section. The roadmap starts high-level then is broken down to tools and techniques used as needed in the project.

What makes this book remarkable is the integration of Six Sigma in the overall system of the organization. Unlike many books, it does not start immediately with DMAIC, it rather starts with identifying the core processes and key customers of the business, defining customer requirements, measuring the current performance, prioritizing improvement initiatives and implementing them (which is the main play of Six Sigma), and last by expanding and integrating the Six Sigma system.

The authors tried to debunk several myths that haunted Six Sigma system. They emphasize the applicability of Six Sigma in service industries even more than in manufacturing. They tried to dispel fears about heavy statistics in Six Sigma projects. And they showed how tools and techniques should be used only when needed and where feasible and useful throughout the project life cycle.

Although it was not explicitly mentioned in the book, authors integrated Lean concepts with Six Sigma. Mapping the process and classifying each step as value-adding, non-value-adding, or enabler is a key concept in Lean to get rid of wastes (Lean) ahead of variation reduction (Six Sigma). Besides, sustaining a solution in the Control phase by standardizing procedures and using mistake-proofing techniques is all about Lean.

In support of the 5-step roadmap the book contains checklists for each of the DMAIC phases. One can use these checklists as gateway checks to move to the next phase. Dedicated sections for Advanced Tools in Six Sigma and for Glossary are a great help for both novice and experienced Six Sigma practitioners.

The bottom line, I highly recommend this book for any Six Sigma professional as a reference and as a training material for Six Sigma newbies. ( )

I thought that this book provides a pretty good grounding in 6 Sigma. I really enjoyed seeing how the authors made the between the philosophy and the practical tools and techniques associated with the concept.

The only thing I did not enjoy was that the book was trying to distance itself from the Total Quality Movement of the 80s and the Process Reengineering movement of the 90s. I would prefer to see the authors acknowledge the learnings and acknowledge the development of the concepts that have led to 6 Sigma as an approach. ( )