Entrepreneurial Application of Lean Six Sigma Tools: A Reflection

This reflective essay delves into the application of Lean and Six Sigma tools for problem-solving within an entrepreneurial context. The essay begins with the author's motivation to explore tools for identifying and solving business issues, referencing a book that offers various techniques for quality improvement, cost reduction, and process enhancement. The author, an entrepreneur, discusses the DMAIC methodology (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and other tools such as brainstorming, affinity diagrams, process flow mapping, and the 'voice of the customer' to address customer needs and improve services. The essay also covers data collection, variation analysis, and lead time reduction, concluding with a commitment to apply the learned tools to make informed decisions and improve customer satisfaction within the author's business. The essay highlights the practical benefits of these tools in real-world business scenarios.

REFLECTIVE ESSAY 1
Reflective Essay
Student’s Name
Institution
Course
Date

Reflective essay 2
This essay is about the lean and six sigma tool that are used to find out issues with
products or services. It is a referencing book with tools that help in identifying, analyzing,
improving and implementing solutions that increase the quality, cuts the costs and improve the
problem solving process. Going through the book provides an understanding of a better flow of
problem solving process and the factors that influence this process (Anne, 2010).
The inspiration behind reading and analyzing this book, was the desire to analyze tools
that identify problems, selects them and test them using possible solutions. It provides a number
of this tools and briefly explains on how each of them is effective. Being an entrepreneur I
considered this analysis after trying out several problem solving tools that occurred to be
complex. This rose the interest of consultation of other tools that are easy to adopt and fast to
apply. It was then that few fellow entrepreneurs referred me to the book. As I read through the
first chapter, I developed the urge to read the rest of the book.
Digging deep into the chapters of the lean six sigma pocket tool book, I discovered the
volume and quality of the content present. I had the expectation of finding new and adoptable
tools for easier and faster problem solving, thus using this book I gained more skills. In
entrepreneurship this develops, creates and motivates creative thinking and a good working
environment. Best approaches and strategies in problem solving sector are installed
strengthening the problem solving process. It changed my misconception of the complexity that
comes with problem solving. With better and effective tools, generation of ideas, satisfaction of
customers, good working relations, profit making strategies, problem identification and problem
elimination are achieved. I agree with the strategies in the book as it guarantees the certainty of a
problem. For example, using the voice of the customer tool will create a coordinate contact with
the customers thus I am able to figure out what the customer needs and set goals and priorities
that collaborate to meet the customer needs. This appeared to be of interest because, after
conducting a feedback survey, few of my customers were raising concerns regarding the quality
of my services.
To elaborate on the issues discussed in this book. I will briefly explain them one by one.
The first thing I learned is the use of DMAIC. The name DMAIC is an acronym made from the
first letter of each word in the five phases of six sigma improvement i.e., define, measure,
analyze, improve, and control. These phases are used to guide entrepreneurs from identifying the

Reflective essay 3
problem to implementing a remedy for that issue. And then further guides on how to define best
practices that will ensure the solution deployed is effective. Another essential technique
identified in this book is how to work with ideas. It gives a guideline on how to generate,
organize, and process team ideas (Quinlan, Babin, Carr & Griffin, 2019). The book goes ahead
to list three crucial tools that can be used to create ideas. They include brainstorming, using
affinity diagrams, and finally multi voting. Brainstorming is generally having a random idea
generation session.
On the other hand, affinity diagrams are used to organize a massive number of ideas. The
last tool is multi voting and is a method that I used to identify priorities and narrow down
alternatives. I also learned from the book the value of stream mapping and process flow tools.
These tools are used to document a process, to enable a team to realize improvement
opportunities and also define the underlying causes, help a team determine how a process would
work, and help in communication within and outside the organization. The voice of the customer
is among the tools discussed. It is crucial when it comes to figuring out what a customer wants,
setting objectives and priorities based on customer needs and to determine what customer needs
can be profitably met. As I continued reading that book, I came across data collection, which is a
process used to identify relevant information that can help you in projects. There is also a tool
that involves descriptive statistics and data displays. The primary purpose of this tool is to
provide necessary information about the distribution of a set of data. Variation analysis is also
discussed in this book. This tool is designed to distinguish particular cause from the common
cause as well as to detect trends and patterns that give an idea about the source of variations to
help eliminate those sources (Ichii, Ono &Ebenhaezer, 2019). According to the book, it is vital to
identify and verify causes to determine the exact root cause of a problem, which can be later
improved. The book also analyzes an essential tool that deals with lead time reduction and non-
add cost. According to my understanding, this tool is used to eliminate constraints by ensuring
the process can meet the requirements of a customer. It also helps reduce the lead time and cost
of the whole process by removing non-value add cost.
Last but not least, the book discussed in detail about complexity value stream mapping
and complexity analysis. This is a tool that is used to analyze problems that concern one product
or service .The final tool discussed in this book is how to select and test solutions. The tool

Reflective essay 4
mentioned above is used to generate ideas that are used to solve problems, choose the best idea
in a pool of ideas, and how to implement the solutions successfully (Dziwornu, 2017.).
Based on the knowledge gained, these tools help us meet our goals, improve the work
place and services. This is by making work better and faster. Adopting these new tools, improves
the effectiveness of the previous tools that I used. I can firmly agree that the tools discussed in
this book are very effective in problem solving.
To conclude this essay, I can apply the knowledge I have gained to make more informed
entrepreneurial decisions. In the event where specific customers have raised complains about my
service or product, I know that I need to listen to the customer to identify the exact cause of the
problem. From this, I can be able to understand the areas I need to improve to enhance the
experience of my customers. I intend to refer to the learnings from this book and adopt these
tools to better my business in the future.

Reflective essay 5
Reference
Anne Sen, B., 2010. Reflective writing: a management skill. Library management, 31(1/2),
pp.79-93.
Dziwornu, R.K., 2017. Does Managerial Ability Really Drive Cost Efficiency? Evidence from
Broiler Businesses. Managerial and Decision Economics, 38(6), pp.731-741.
Ichii, R., Ono, A. and Ebenhaezer, J., 2019. Reflective Writing as a Learning Tool: Assisting
Undergraduate Business. Transformations in Tertiary Education: The Scholarship of
Engagement at RMIT University, p.101.
Quinlan, C., Babin, B., Carr, J. and Griffin, M., 2019. Business research methods. South Western
Cengage.