The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook: A Quick Reference Guide to 100 Tools for Improving Quality and Speed

by Michael L. George, John Maxey, Mark Price

Provides the tools for implementing Lean Six Sigma - what they are, how they work, and which to use. This book presents the tools and concepts needed to understand, implement, and leverage Lean Six Sigma. It provides analyses of nearly 100 tools and methodologies - from DMAIC and Pull Systems to Control Charts and Pareto Charts.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Reference, Productivity, Leadership, Professional Development

225 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Michael L. George is founder and President of The George Group, the largest Lean Six Sigma consulting practice in the United States. He wrote the successful and influential Lean Six Sigma, also published by McGraw-Hill.

Source: Bookish

Reviews

[Go Ask Jordan, I Think She'll Know · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's be honest- this only works in theory not in practice.

Lean Six Sigma is getting outdated. The theory is based almost solely on planning ahead without being active. Not to say that some of these principles aren't worthwhile, they are, but the mindset behind them is quickly becoming irrelevant in the business world. I prefer more of the Agile/SCRUM software development mindset- or when I managed my team a combination of LSS and the aforementioned.

LSS is rigid.

Let your boss breathe down your neck on a Sunday lunch meeting because your company's software isn't properly developed for your fortune 500 client on Monday and the poor developers you outsource to can't get it done on time. That's when you have to be reactive and that's where this theory fails epically. You can use all the Japanese words in the world, but if you can't find the phrase that says "we're screwed and we need to react quickly" then you begin to realize that lean is a failing theory.

This book is also very dry. There are many interpretations of LSS and this just really presents one person's viewpoint. I'm aware that Michael George is an important figure in LSS, but still he's not the only mind out there. I was trained by fairly esteemed folks with "master black belts" or whatever they call it, and yeah they recommended this book, but their ideas were simply different interpretations (and frankly better ones). This was both during my education and during my working life.

I have carried this book with me to out of town interviews and it has never been helpful. The concepts are so simple that a five year old could understand them, however this book is written in such a convoluted way that you'll find yourself struggling to understand something you've studied for 3+ years and have a certification in.

Remember, the whole world of business is not an assembly line- even if you are the leading operations figure on your team.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick reference book on techniques for improving "speed, quality, and cost." The book focuses on DMAIC--(Page 1): "Define- Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control." As a toolbook, the volume focuses on "how to do it." In the end, this is a useful introduction to the subject, although discussion does not go into great detail on various techniques.

[Bob Wallner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for anyone trying to implement LSS. I keep this in my Kaizen Toolbox and reference it frequently.

Besides being a good reference it is an idea generator.

[Niche · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's more of a memory jogger than a how-to or reference. It may give you a jumping off point if a particular tool/process isn't a great fit for your company culture, i.e. some different brainstorming techniques or process steps. Granted, in some ways the process does boil down to "are you doing meetings or math atm?"

In that regard, I guess it's good for what it is? I've only glanced through a few of these toolbook references because Lean/Six Sigma has a number of different styles/flavors even if the core methodology is mostly the same. Six Sigma was always very statistics and data analysis heavy, this can help reference some terminology definitions or quick formulas like control charts/limits. This one does go into Central Limit Theorem which is useful in business analytics and operations since it lets you turn non-normal distributions into normal via a sample-mean distribution, which has some practical applications and isn't always discussed for quick probability checks.

This also primarily uses the Student's/t-test/distribution and doesn't really go into Z/Fischer/Standard Normal or F/Snedecor distributions. Though, the statistics side of things really vary in depth depending on school and some are just "use this formula/program" vs a more manual application of theory.

[Julio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Good (for certain audiences)

No question this book was made by very knowledgeable authors since it has very helpful tools and explanations. The only two considerations I have are:

This book will be most useful for people who are already acquainted with Lean Six Sigma, for the rest, it will give you an idea but the impact will not be the same.

Finally, to me, it would have been more helpful if the author had included business cases explaining a problem and how a tool was used to resolve it.

The book itself is good, no doubt about it, it is just that not all audiences will relate to the information.

[Santhosh Kumar CT · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short book to explain comprehensive concepts . It was worth 60 hours of reading and quick practise . It will be good if they also share a repository of excel files for practise along with the book for each concept.

[Bob Rivell · Rating 4 out of 5]

You need to know how to use these tools to be able to take full advantage of the book. It's a great book, just not for beginners.

[Nate Blackstun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Reference Book

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect reference when working on a project. Won’t go into the statistical details but can help provide some guidance for issues.

[Major Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good toolkit! Broke down math-stuff into actionable items. Would luv to implement in my Govt. office; alas, I fear for not...

[Aric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference. Very easy simple explanation of tools to supplement a training program.

[Tony Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it's not pocket-sized, but it is a good reference.

[Oscar Velde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference toolbook that includes the most commonly used tools and some more in any Lean Six Sigma project, initiative.

[Steve P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty comprehensive quick lookup guide for Six Sigma.

[Yari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book to be used as an additional reference but offers very little in explanation. This was required reading for a case analysis course at Liberty University.

[Steve Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Lean Six SIGMA Pocket Toolbook" offers essential tools and tips for mastering Lean Six Sigma methodologies, making it a must-have resource for process improvement enthusiasts.

[Cassandra Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource for improvement activities.

[Allan Harle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a very useful reference tool that I used to help me gain my 'Green belt'.

[Synthia Salomon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned

[Mario Andaru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually good, it's just that this book is too complicated to claim "pocket book".

[Steve Whiting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty much does what it says on the cover. It won't teach you LSS (though it's sensibly organised and does lead you through the techniques in a logical order), but is a really good little reference book.

[Wendy]

Great tools, good explanation!

[Dr. Satnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tools

[Amit Kumar]

good

[Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful. Rather succinct.

[Sahil Bakshi]

good

[Mirge N · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gutes Nachschlagewerk in dem alle wichtigen Tools kurz und klar erklärt werden

[Karin Hennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reference/refresher once you've learned through other examples.

[kk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and quick guide book.