Customer Reviews

Six Sigma for Everyone

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George Eckes has written a concise, thorough introduction to the theory and practice of Six Sigma, the management philosophy that Jack Welch called the most important initiative of his entire career at General Electric. The book provides a look at every aspect of Six Sigma. In some places, it seems a bit too detailed for so short a book - particularly when the author introduces the variety of statistical charts, graphs and tables used in the analysis phase of Six Sigma. But that is a quibble. Eckes also gets a bit self-serving when, in the question and answer chapter, he takes a swipe at consultants who agree to work on a contingency basis, for a percentage of the savings a client achieves, instead of for a fee. In fact, we, where we are always glad to avoid a squabble, note that managers who use this book may achieve some level of business improvement without hiring any consultants at all.

Just finish reading this book. Good introduction-level material on the Six Sigma topic. This is not to say that the book is superficial or obvious. The book takes a logical cook-book approach to Six Sigma and how to implement a Six Sigma effort. If you are a manager that wants to understand Six Sigma and the essential elements of a Six Sigma program, this book is a good start. I really liked the section on the 10 Common questions about Six Sigma. However, if you want examples of detail statistical models and metrics, your should look elsewhere.

George Eckes has written a concise, thorough introduction to the theory and practice of Six Sigma, the management philosophy that Jack Welch called the most important initiative of his entire career at General Electric. The book provides a look at every aspect of Six Sigma. In some places, it seems a bit too detailed for so short a book - particularly when the author introduces the variety of statistical charts, graphs and tables used in the analysis phase of Six Sigma. But that is a quibble. Eckes also gets a bit self-serving when, in the question and answer chapter, he takes a swipe at consultants who agree to work on a contingency basis, for a percentage of the savings a client achieves, instead of for a fee. In fact, where we are always glad to avoid a squabble, notes that managers who use this book may achieve some level of business improvement without hiring any consultants at all.

This is an essintial book for those leading the initiative in lean. Recommended for all quality and managerial personel

"Six Sigma for Everyone" is a good place to start learning about Six Sigma -- what it is, why it matters, and to whom it applies. I have read many books on Six Sigma (and I am a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society for Quality) and I found this book to be among the best "summary" guides for the Six Sigma methodology.

George Eckes, the author, addresses both the strategic and tactical components of Six Sigma in this concise book. Eckes also utilizes a "top 10" framework for technical tools, "soft" tools, and common questions for Six Sigma. These top 10 lists help the reader digest common questions (and their answers) in an easy-to-read and understand format.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in learning about Six Sigma as a methodology -- from both a manager's and a practitioner's point of view.

For a much more detailed review of Six Sigma, I recommend The Six Sigma Handbook: The Complete Guide for Greenbelts, Blackbelts, and Managers at All Levels, Revised and Expanded Edition. For those readers interested in more of a "dictionary" type Six Sigma book, I found
The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook: A Quick Reference Guide to 100 Tools for Improving Quality and Speed to be an excellent reference.

Finally, for a good overview of some of the basic statistics underlying the Six Sigma methodology, I recommend Statistics for Six Sigma Made Easy.

For those who dont know what Six Sigma stands for (say, 3.4 unhappy customer experiences per million opportunities), this is a good book, especially if his/her company is not yet a practitioner of Six Sigma and he/she just doesnt want to appear ignorant in front of other business executives. It's short, but has covered, though briefly, the key tactics and tools. The "key learnings" section in the end of each chapter and Chapter Six "The 10 common questions about Six Sigma" are definitely pluses. However, if one really has to work it out, I am afraid this would not be the optimal choice.

p.s. I am obliged to disagree with the author a Six Sigma Consultant's descripton of Six Sigma as the "Most popular management philosophy in history" and a surefire weapon for business warfare.

After some time I needed to contact the seller (very courteous) to see if the book was going to ship as my class was starting soon. It arrived the next day coincidentally. The second issue was the condition was not 'new' as it was underlined on more than a few pages.

This Is a good book for anyone wanting to understand Six Sigma a little better. I had a basic overview of the Six Sigma concept but this book helped explain it in much more detail. I would recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about Six SIgma.

This is a good book for the person that may be involved in Six Sigma. It instructs you about how the process works and what is required of you. A book that I highly recommend.