Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Leadership Handbook Review

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Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Leadership Handbook ReviewTwenty-eight people contributed material to this book, including Thomas Bertels who also served as editor. What we have here in a single volume is a focus on "the critical factors that can make or break the implementation of Six Sigma in an organization." The contributors identify, explain, and then support these principles with real-world experiences and examples. "By placing Six Sigma in this context, this book will, in fact, be useful for any executive, manager, or employee who wants to understand how Six Sigma can help address the particular challenges of their organization." This book was written with empathy for non-technicians (such as I) as it responds to questions such as these:
* What is Six Sigma?
* Why Six Sigma?
* Why NOT Six Sigma?
* Where and how to begin?
* Whom to involve in Six Sigma initiatives?
* What is senior management's role?
* Major cultural barriers and how to overcome them?
* How and when to implement Six Sigma program?
* How to measure progress?
* How to sustain process improvement?
My own rather extensive experience suggests that all organizations can improve HOW they conduct business. Some processes may involve development of new products or services, others production and/or distribution, and still others order processing. Whatever. Not all organizations, however, need a full-blown Six Sigma program. In fact, a majority of such programs either fail or fall far short of expectations.
Among the many substantial benefits of this book is the guidance it provides to decision-makers when they struggle to determine the nature and extent of process improvement initiatives needed. You don't need a full-blown Six Sigma program inorder to, for example, reduce cycle time while improving first-pass yield. Among the most valuable chapters in this book are the last two. With appropriate modification, the principles, strategies, and tactics in both Chapter 24 ("Measuring and Auditing Results") and in Chapter 25 ("Developing Change Leadership Capacity") are relevant to any organization, regardless of size of nature. In my opinion, each of these two chapters (all by itself) is worth far more than the cost of the book but the value of both is even greater, of course, when their material is absorbed and digested at the conclusion of the sequence of chapters. I also want to commend the remarkably informative Foreword, Preface, and Introductions well as are three appendices: "Basic Six Sigma Concepts," "Case Study: Six Sigma in Small and Medium Enterprises," and "DFSS Case Study."
Previously, I have reviewed and praised the works of Forrest Breyfogle, Subir Chowdhury, George Eckes, and Peter Pande, each of whom has written brilliantly and eloquently on the subject of Six Sigma. I continue to recommend their works without hesitation or qualification, as I shall now do also with Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Leadership Handbook as well as the three Rath & Strong Pocket Guides and the Six Sigma Road Map. Given the importance of process improvement, and given how many hours and dollars can be saved by even one improvement, it makes sense to obtain resources such as these and then derive maximum ROI from each.Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Leadership Handbook OverviewAchieve unparalleled customer satisfaction and greater profitability with this essential handbook! Six Sigma is a proven and highly effective business initiative for improving customer satisfaction and increasing the efficiency of processes. Rath & Strong's Six Sigma Leadership Handbook highlights the critical factors that make or break implementation, offers key best practices for getting it right the first time, and offers real-life examples and case studies that light the path to success. With Rath & Strong, you'll get an overview of the tools, methods, approaches, benefits, and risks that are associated with each element of the methodology.

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How You Do... What You Do: Create Service Excellence That Wins Clients For Life Review

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How You Do... What You Do: Create Service Excellence That Wins Clients For Life Review
Frankly, I doubt if there are any head-snapping revelations left concerning customer service but I continue to be impressed by recently published books in which their authors offer thought-provoking perspectives, insights, and suggestions worthy of careful consideration. Just as there is a buyer for every house, in publishing there is a buyer for every book. My task as a reviewer is to help those who read my comments to decide whether or not the given book seems to be directly appropriate to her or his own circumstances, needs, and interests. How You Do...What You Do offers a case in point.
Bob Livingston achieves his objective of presenting a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program that (with appropriate modifications, of course) could be put in place by almost any company, whatever its size and nature may be. I think that his book can also be of substantial value to individuals in sales, especially those who are relatively inexperienced although much of what he shares could serve as "reminders" to sales managers.
Obviously, the best an organization can do to support its sales initiatives (as opposed to its marketing initiatives) is to "free up" its salespersons - as much as possible - from responsibilities that are unrelated to the cultivation, solicitation, and post-sale process. Less time consumed by paperwork means more time available to nourish customer relationships. A company can maintain zero-defect quality control of each product it sells. It can also ensure that there are no foul-ups with order processing, delivery, invoicing, and technical service. An appropriate analogy would be to carrier jet pilots who also depend on an efficient system to provide the information they need, then get them and their planes safely on their way to each target destination. As Livingston explains very well, companies should be customer-centric, indeed customer-driven and develop a culture that recognizes what Peter Drucker observed decades ago: "If you don't have a customer, you don't have a business."
Of course, selling today must take into full account that customers have more choices than ever before, that many (if not most) products are commodities or at least widely viewed that way, and that in general, customers are much better informed than in years past, largely because of immediate access to more and better information, much of it provided by Web sites. (There are several Web sites that direct people to other Web sites. They function as an electronic concierge" and can be quite helpful.) Purchase decisions - including the decision to purchase nothing now or soon - usually involve several people (what Michael Boylan characterizes as a "circle of influence") rather than a single decision-maker, so cultivation strategies must be diversified and "customized" and yet (somehow) coordinated effectively. If you don't think that's tricky, try doing it.
As Livingston fully understands, no sales program or system such as his (or anyone else's) can ever replace a knowledgeable, likeable, principled, and energetic salesperson, nor was it intended to be. On the contrary, it should be viewed as an enabling device that saves a salesperson precious time and energy, improves identification and pre-qualification of prospective customers, and in other ways (to repeat) "frees up" her or him to focus on cultivation and solicitation initiatives.
His book will help those in sales to gain a better understand of what to do...and how to do it. (Those who read between lines will also get some tips on what not to do...and how not to do it.) Livingston's book can also help CEOs and other C-level executives to gain a better understanding of why a customer-centric, indeed customer-driven culture must be established and then sustained.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Joseph Michelli's The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company and two of Leonard Berry's books, On Great Service: A Framework for Action and Discovering the Soul of Service: The Nine Drivers of Sustainable Business Success as well as Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force co-authored by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.How You Do... What You Do: Create Service Excellence That Wins Clients For Life Overview
Between the challenges of escalating competition, well-informed clients, and dismal customer service, today's marketplace is becoming more and more crowded.The result is that your clients have more influence and choices than ever before.If you or your organization do not consistently satisfy and surpass their expectations, your clients will take their buying power elsewhere.It's that simple.But by establishing service excellence as your top strategic and cultural priority, you will foster the strong relationships needed to win--and retain--loyal clients.

In this breakthrough book, customer service expert Bob Livingston gives you practical tools for transforming your approach to serving clients by strengthening "how you do what you do."Whether you're a business leader, a client service executive, a sales manager, or an individual, you can differentiate yourself from competition by adopting Livingston's simple yet proven roadmap for achieving Service Excellence.

In How You Do . . . What You Do, Livingston imparts a clear, step-by-step blueprint for transforming your culture, attitudes, and behaviors by illustrating how to:

Develop and live your Purpose and Values
Understand your clients' soft needs, and create plans to satisfy them
Seek continuous improvement by stimulating creativity and innovation
Keep your service-oriented culture growing
Create a passion for Service Excellence

Livingston draws upon a lifetime of experience in which he has achieved measurable success helping many companies shape their service cultures--most notably CROSSMARK, an international consumer products sales and marketing agency, whose remarkable transformation stands out as one of the strongest proof statements for this methodology. Throughout, Livingston benchmarks other great companies renowned for their service excellence, including Accenture, Henry & Horne, ECRM, The Nielsen Company, TBWA\Worldwide, Four Seasons, and many others.

Properly executed, this compelling and inspirational approach to service virtually guarantees the client loyalty that will set you apart from competition, and distinguish you by How You Do . . . What You Do.


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Tools for Project Management, Workshops and Consulting: A Must-Have Compendium of Essential Tools and Techniques Review

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Tools for Project Management, Workshops and Consulting: A Must-Have Compendium of Essential Tools and Techniques ReviewI am the author and I am posting some review I have received.
Prof. Dr. Tom Sommerlatte - Management Consulting expert
"This book is of the kind you always wanted but didn't think would or could ever exist: the universal field theory of problem solving. "
Read Preface by Tom Sommerlatte
www.Themanagement.de
'Again a book on tools', was the first thought that crossed my mind, when I was asked to review this book. Andler's book presents tools and techniques for consulting, workshops and project management. It would seem that there many books already on this topic on the market. Well, the book is actually a pleasant and positive surprise, and there are three reasons for that:
- All tools are catalogued at the start and assigned to a consulting/problem solving process. The author used his own consulting practice experience and only selected tools and techniques that he considered valuable and useful for the various situations and problems.
- Before the reader enters the sections with the detailed explanation of each tool, a problem solving process and framework is introduced. Again, the author's professional experience shows.
- One can clearly see the origin and foundation of this book: it is from the practice for the practitioner'.
The book is not a scientific, theoretical paper on the backgrounds and theories on models and methods, but rather the opposite. Each tool is explained in a cook-book style logic following the steps: Intention (Why and when do I use it), Purpose (What does it do), Instruction (How do I do it), Hints and tricks, examples, templates, cross-reference to other tools in the book, sources. Based on the approach and focus of a very pragmatic and practical book, Andler sees the typical user of this book as being professional consultants, employees of an internal consulting/advisory department, managers, who want to know more about problem solving. Andler also offers two bonus sections in the book: Check questions for quality assurance of your work and work scenarios. Andler calls it a shopping list of tools for various scenarios like e.g. feasibility studies, strategy workshop, project definition phase, etc.
www.Consulting-insider.com
The first challenge in your first consulting job is project management. One of the most importance things that is expected from a consultant or young business professional is to be competent in executing project tasks under pressure and delivering excellent results. Various standard methods exist which can be studied and acquired with different levels of efforts and ease-of-use and can then be applied to the many problem- and project scenarios. The biggest problem for graduates and less experienced consultants is the insufficient experience for the selection of the right approach and right choice of tools in order to be successful. Whilst many projects don't fail because of a lack of solutions or technology, but rather because of the inter-personal dissonance; however the right selection of tools and techniques in order to work effectively and efficiently is also a vital part of a success project management. Nicolai Andler 'tools for project management, workshops and consulting' how to select the right tool. Amongst the 100 tools and techniques, you will find some of the more familiar models and frameworks like the SWOT analyses as well as many less known and still practical tools.
Text translated from the German source).
www.Projektmagazin.de
The All-In-One-toolbox for management methods.
The author's goal was to provide a practical and simple although comprehensive collection of tools and techniques, which are easy and applicable immediately without having to go through wads of theory. Well, he did excellent. Don't expect solutions - however plenty of tools that will help to find solutions to your problems.
The biggest value add is the systematic structure, which enables you to quickly find the tools you are looking for. The tools are categorised and labelled by application area, purpose, effectiveness, ease of use and applicable problem solving process step.
The illustration and explanation for each tool is concise, easy to understand and supported by instructions, examples, templates and tips.
Overall, a very practical compilation that surely will not remain unused.
Content: 4 out of 5
Practical orientation: 5 out of 5
Understandability: 5 out of 5
Entertainment value: 1 out of 5
(Text translated from the German source).
www.Business-wissen.de
The book is a useful toolbox to resolve problems and to lead projects to success. The reader will learn which tools is best used in which phase of a project- or problem solving phase and how to be go about it step by step.
Anybody who wants to expand or improve his problem solving techniques will find this book useful. The format layout is especially helpful with the direct implementation and application. The classification of the tools within a superior (problem solving-)framework makes it particularly easy to find the appropriate tool for the job.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Prof. Dr. Schelle - German Association for Project Management
Andler's book stands out of the unmanageable amount of project management literature as he does not address for the 175th time the same topics and does not repeat what can be read in every other project management book. The author presents tools in the broadest sense and consolidates all types of available tools in a concise and comprehensive way. To help the reader, the author created categories and assigned the tools to those categories, based on their purpose and applicability.
The project management section does not provide anything new for an expert in this field, that was not to be expected. However, an interested reader can find plenty of other simple but useful tools in the many other sections, which he would have had to collect cumbersome from many different books. And, many of the about 100 tools can be applied in a project management context as well. The whole toolbox is well arranged and laid out and supported by many examples.
Conclusion: a very useful and pragmatic book that will save you a lot of time.
Prof. Dr Haberfellner - University Graz (Austria)
Getting to grips with Andler's encyclopaedia is easy and quick, as it explains well how to best use the book. There is an outstanding overview of the problem solving steps and the methods that are relevant in each of the four problem solving steps (which are diagnosis, goal setting, analysis and decision making'). Selecting the right tool is easy as the book supports this well.
It is almost impossible to have an absolute complete list of all tools and methods as this area is in constant change and development. Nevertheless, I would have wanted to have some specific tools mentioned, such as the critical path method.
Some of the mentioned tools (e.g. hypothesis, helicoptering, 3P statements, span of control) I consider not really tools but rather guidelines or support techniques for other tools and methods. I would have also wanted an index to find the a tool based on the various synonyms that exist for the same tool. The author considers consultancies, consultants and the related professions as the key target user and not the novices. Well, I think that particularly the beginners like university graduates or new joiners without little competence in methods and tools will benefit tremendously from this book as it provides an overview over the numerous methods and many excellent instructions and examples for the application of the tools.Tools for Project Management, Workshops and Consulting: A Must-Have Compendium of Essential Tools and Techniques OverviewTypically today's management tasks include project management, running workshops and working with consultancies - all complex activities, which require a multitude of skills and competencies. This book gives you a reference or cookbook-style access to the most important skills in a user-friendly format.Nicolai Andler presents in his book about 100 of such tools arranged according to task complexes. To make personal use of the tools as easy as possible, they are grouped into task-specific categories entitled Define Situation, Gather Information, Creativity, Goal Setting, Organisational Analysis, Technical Analysis, Strategic Analysis, Decision Making, Project Management, Checklists and Questions as well as Scenarios.Elements of information this books covers:- Relevant and appropriate for your needs- Up to date and as timely as possible- Comprehensive and sufficiently wide in scope, combined with a practical level of detail without being too academic- Reliable information from numerous tested sources and real implemented cases- Accessible and easy-to-use due to many different search options and self-help guidesThis book is a unique reference work and guide for those wanting to learn about or who are active in the fields of consulting, project management and problem solving in general. It presents cookbook-style access to most important skills, including a rating of each tool in terms of applicability, ease of use and effectiveness.

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