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The Difference Between Six Sigma and TQM

Every week someone calls to ask about the difference between Six Sigma and TQM. My answer? Almost none.

What's the same?

1. The tools are the same. According to a recent Quality Digest Survey, most companies are getting the biggest Six Sigma benefit from: flow charts, root cause analysis,and statistical process control (SPC). Far fewer companies are using Design of Experiments (DOE) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD).
2. The process is essentially the same, except that you now need to include a cost of quality analysis to measure the bottom line results.

The big differences are that:

1. Six Sigma is focused on bottom line, measurable results. 
   
2. Six Sigma measures defects in parts per million (PPM) instead of percentages (%).

So why does it seem so confusing? The science of complexity theory holds the answer. One of the key mechanisms in complexity is called "tagging."

Tagging

When you change the name of something, it can change how people perceive it. Let's face it, many companies tried TQM or other quality management systems in the 1980s and 1990s. At least half the time these efforts failed, which left a bad taste in people's mouths. (Of course, Big Six Sigma has a similar failure rate.)

How do you sell quality to people who have been burned by quality? You change the names (i.e., the tags). It's no longer steak; it's fillet mignon. and you can charge more for it. Six Sigma is a classic example of this process.

The names have been changed to profit the consultants. Here's a cross-reference guide to help you bridge what you know about TQM and quality into Six Sigma.

See? All you have to do is rename something to make it so different that everyone will think it's something new!

What's the difference between a green belt and a black belt? Answer: about two weeks of training into statistical methods for hypothesis testing and DOE, and you get a copy of some very expensive but hard-to-use statistical software (hint: It's not the QI Macros).

If you're an experienced quality professional, you already know this stuff! It's like learning a new language. In Spanish, libro means book. In Six Sigma, DMAIC means PDCA. Just learn the new tags!

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