5 votes
Rank4495
Idea#4985
The U.S. Government should be obsessive in collecting data about its programs and how they perform. With data in hand there are techniques avaiable (Lean, Six Sigma) to determine how effective a process or program is. By calculating its sigma level (6 sigma is near perfection) analysts can determine where improvement efforts should focus in order to get the largest Return On Investment.
These techniques are prevelent in industry so the wheel does not need to be reinvented.
Tags: six sigma efficiency return investment
While I agree that Lean and Six Sigma are effective tools, have you ever seen them put into place by a government agency? I am an LSS Green Belt. Talk about top heavy, time consuming and burdensome!
I am a corporate-level LSSMBB in the USAF. I just came from a Major Command (MAJCOM)-wide efficiency initiative that I worked the last 6 months. I do agree that the bureaucracy does get in the way and makes things frustrating.
My suggestion is to collect data - be it maintenance times on planes, throughput yield on aquisition documentation, ...
By analyzing the data (assuming a normal distribution) we can determine what sigma level certain processes are at. You would probably want to work on a 1 or 2 sigma process before a 3 or 4 sigma.
Ultimately you are "racking and stacking" those things that need to be worked.
The bureaucracy is another issue as you know.
