In the rapidly changing landscapes of almost every industry in the world, it is about time you get introduced to the management guru who pioneered Deming-based Lean Six Sigma Management. This new management philosophy has sparked a revolution in the industry, allowing even small-scale businesses to learn and execute it and get excellent outcomes. However, developing this theory and testing it to perfection took years, which cannot be overlooked, and due to Dr. Gitlow, we can now speed up and improve the efficiency of our organizations.
The Beginning of the Transformation
Dr. Gitlow committed 45 years of his life to developing a meaningful management style that can benefit organizations. He was also deeply involved in research, which allowed him to keep up to speed on every minute aspect. He has been a full-time professor for 45 years at the Management Science Department of the University of Miami, Miami Herbert Business School. He also has a secondary appointment in the Department of Healthcare Policy and Management. As a student at the Stern School of Business, he encountered the legendary Dr. W. E. Deming, the creator of the System of Profound Knowledge, the 14 principles for management, and the 7 deadly diseases. From 1969 until his mentor’s death in 1993, Dr. Gitlow learned from him, which transformed his entire outlook and offered him a lot of exposure. He and a colleague founded the Deming Institute at the University of Miami.
Dr. Gitlow then had the opportunity to study under Dr. Noriaki Kano, who is now an Emeritus Professor at the Science University of Tokyo, in 1989. Dr. Kano is a master of the Japanese Way of Total Quality Control. While working with him, Dr. Gitlow had the opportunity to synthesize four of the most remarkable theories and create a revolution. To create the “Deming-based Lean Six Sigma Management” theory, three ideas were combined: the Japanese Way of Total Quality Control, Dr. Deming’s management theory, Six Sigma Management, and Lean Manufacturing.
Deming-based Lean Six Sigma Management
This theory is divided into three stages:
- Macro Model: The Macro Model (dashboards) is a layered structure of mission statements, job descriptions, objectives, and metrics (indicators) that describe employees’ roles and responsibilities.
- Micro Model: The Micro model highlights projects where the desired value of a key metric is not where it is supposed to be. The Micro model puts a project in place using the employees in the affected area/process to transition from the present flowchart of how to perform the job to a better flowchart of how to do the job, which overcomes the issues creating poor outcomes on the problematic metric.
- Management Model: The management paradigm is based on W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge and 14 Points for Management. To have excellent data, you must have an organizational culture that does not punish you for giving poor outcomes. If employees fail to fulfill their MBO-mandated target, quota, or deadline, instead of being penalized by the performance assessment system and the rank and yank system, their superior would encourage them.
Dr. Gitlow has written 16 books and published more than 65 scholarly articles on the subject to propagate the notion.