What I learned most from 6 Sigma Training and Social Media Immersion

October 12, 2009 by Doug Mitchell

: Image via Wikipedia

When I got done with my 6 Sigma Black Belt training the question looming in the back of my brain was, “Why did we only spend about 1 day of 20 talking about change management and the corporate culture aspects of deploying 6 sigma as a business tool?” My gut told me that culture and inertia are the hardest things to overcome. So here we were handed a new tool kit but but only 1/20th of our training was spent explaining how to beat the house odds.

So it goes in the land of social media or new media engagement tools. So many “experts” and coaches engage clients and give them the tools…while the client says, “Just give this stuff to Jennie in Marketing…she just graduated and is in tune with “The Facebook” and that “Tweeter”. Not good.

While there is no perfect formula and I don’t advocate the “Wait until all conditions are perfect before deploying” model…I do think it’s wise to work with your client to assess and plan for the inevitable difficulty of who will drive these new marketing avenues when the cool factor declines. Are you embracing these tools as a key part of strategy or simply doing it ‘because’? Are you looking for clear and measurable results? Or…are you just dipping your toes in the water to if your strategy will reveal itself? I don’t think any of these strategies are wrong. But, they all depend on the most change resistant element in the mix…the human.