Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ At 3M, A Struggle Between Efficiency And Creativity

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
This article is worth reading on a number of levels. In a nutshell, 3M - the company behind things like Scotch Tape and PostIt Notes - applied the Six Sigma program to increase efficiency. Dave Snowden summarizes, "DMAIC, the Sig Sigma equivalent of the Ten Commandments, says it all. Define, measure, analyze, improve, control." And it appears to have worked - 3M was a lot more efficient. But it was also a company that thrives on innovation and creativity. And it appears that Six Sigma may have engineered that right out of the system. "Perhaps one of the mistakes that we made as a company-it's one of the dangers of Six Sigma-is that when you value sameness more than you value creativity, I think you potentially undermine the heart and soul of a company like 3M." Via Cognitive Edge.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Apr 19, 2024 05:25 a.m.

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