Imagine investing thousands of pounds into upgrading a core factory or service process, only for it to consistently churn out a high volume of defective products. In the world of operational excellence, you wouldn’t just accept it. You would immediately flag it as a broken, low-sigma rating process, map the value stream, and fix the root cause.
Yet, when it comes to how the industry trains people in Lean Six Sigma, we are doing exactly that. Running a highly defective process.
If traditional Lean Six Sigma training were subjected to its own methodology, it would be classed as a failure. The “defect rate” of standard training courses is staggeringly high. Why? Because a vast quantity of the professionals who attend traditional classroom or online training never actually deliver a live improvement project.
The industry has built an environment where variance is the norm rather than the exception. Let’s look at the two distinct paths traditional training usually takes:
The result of this systemic failure is predictable. Swathes of companies pay substantial fees for face-to-face or digital courses. At the time, the feedback forms are glowing. Delegates generally enjoy the training while they are in the classroom. The concepts make sense, the energy is high, and everyone feels productive.
But once they return to their day jobs, the new behaviours fail to materialise. Without structured support, the daily whirlwind takes over. The company sees zero return on investment (ROI), the tools are forgotten, and Lean Six Sigma gets a bad name all over again.
We’ve seen this script before. Everyone knows that generic “management training” regularly fails to change long-term workplace behaviours. It is never a flaw in the concepts themselves. It’s entirely due to the training approach. So why are we allowing the continuous improvement industry to make the exact same mistake?
The uncomfortable truth is that high-volume training is easy to sell and easy to book. It makes companies feel good about “doing something” for their teams, allowing leadership to check a box and show they have invested in development. Over time, many large Lean Six Sigma organisations have grown tired of fighting the uphill battle of doing things the right way, which requires small volumes, Master Black Belt support, toll-gate reviews, and strictly defined strategic projects. Instead, they have shifted their focus to give the customer what they ask for.
You can see this clearly in how training has been watered down. Over the last two decades, the number of contact days required to achieve a Green Belt or Black Belt has steadily shrunk, sacrificing depth for convenience.
At Counter Gravity Consulting, we don’t participate in the high-volume classroom factory. We believe that true operational excellence cannot be taught out of a generic, mass-produced textbook.
There is another way. When you engage with us, you won’t get saturated, one-size-fits-all teaching. Instead, we offer:
We don’t promise a generic, big-bang classroom event that fades by the following Monday. We promise a structured, deliberate approach that delivers genuine, measurable success for your organisation.
Ready to transform your business improvement strategy? Get in touch with Gavin and the team at Counter Gravity Consulting today.
