Ten commandments of Lean Six Sigma: a practitioners’ perspective

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide lean and six sigma professionals and researchers of tomorrow with Ten Commandments of Lean Six Sigma (LSS). Design/methodology/approach - The Ten Commandments of LSS are based on several years’ experience of four authors who act as researchers, LSS Master Black Belts, consultants, practitioners and trainers on various topics of Lean, Six Sigma and general quality management and continuous improvement. Findings - The Ten Commandments in our opinion include: alignment of LSS initiative with organisational strategy, LSS project selection and prioritisation, selection of top talent for the project execution, leadership for LSS, effective training and design of appropriate curriculum for different LSS roles, development of reward and recognition system, LSS sustainability, Linking LSS with Organisational Learning and Innovation, Linking LSS with Environmental Management System Standards and finally LSS and Big Data. Research limitations/implications - The key features outlined in this paper are based on the practitioners of LSS. The authors of this article are planning to pursue a global study to critically evaluate these commandments by various practitioners of LSS. Originality/value - The senior managers and executives of various businesses can use these commandments of LSS as a guide to achieve and sustain competitive advantage.