Lean Six Sigma and College Life

After listening to a guest speaker in class this past week talk about Lean Six Sigma Certification, I realized that it was something that I wanted to learn more about. Before this academic year, Lean Six Sigma was something that I had never heard of, it was foreign to me. But in my classes I have heard small mentions of it and slowly learned things about it here and there. After completing some research I learned that Lean Six Sigma is defined as “A methodology that relies on a collaborative team effort to improve performance by systematically removing waste and reducing variation.”  This method defines 8 types of waste:

•        Defects
•        Over-production
•        Waiting
•        Non-utilized talent
•        Transportation
•         Inventory
•        Motion
•        Extra-processing

These types of waste started my thought process of thinking about how Lean Six Sigma methodology could not only be utilized in the workspace but it could be transferred into everyday life. Even though I am not Lean Six Sigma certified, I realize that I could use their methodology to complete my everyday tasks and also my schoolwork. For example, Extra-Processing is defined as “More work or higher quality than is required by the customer.” This could easily transfer to a concept such as studying. If I am studying for an exam, it’s best to study what I need to know so that I am prepared for the exam. If I over study or give myself more work than necessary to do well it could end up being a waste of my time because none of that information I spent my time studying was on the exam. Another example could be pulled from Waiting. Waiting is defined as “Wasted time waiting for the next step.” This could relate to procrastination while doing homework. I know I am not the only one among my peers who can sometimes waste time when trying to get homework done. The distractions of being at college, social media, and living with friends can all get in the way sometimes. These times spent “waiting” to move to the next step in homework could be eliminated with just a little more focus. Thinking of these Lean Six Sigma concepts in my everyday life will hopefully help me in my journey through the rest of college.

Reference: https://goleansixsigma.com/8-wastes/