Six Sigma and Software Development

6/3/2015

Two days ago, a Hiring Manager asked me what in this world can have in common a Six Sigma Certification with Software Development. Even more, he argued to me that Six Sigma is an operations matter, it follows the defects on a production line in a factory, which seems to be a totally different activity than the Software Development.

I asked him: Ok, but what about having a Kanban board in Agile? Kanban was first applied in a car factory, about 60 years ago. What is the explanation in this case?

Well, actually, both of them help Agile Methodologies to be even better. For detailed explanations of this Six Sigma and Software Development topics, please read this short article.

You can also leave any comments and suggestions on this topic.

2 Comments

Tom

9/14/2016 02:33:02 pm

Hi Cristian,

I totally agree that Lean and Six Sigma process improvement can be really powerful when applied in software development. Also I see how for some, perhaps with only high level understanding, it is hard to see how the principles, with a root in manufacturing, can be translated.

I have been applying the ideas for some years now. Often I find it is easier just to do it rather than try to explain why.

These are some areas I have seen benefits:
- Using data driven analysis to identify the root cause of defects / performance issues;
- Guiding design for user interaction away from bare minimum of user can achieve a result to how to minimise opportunity for errors
- Thinking of end to end process flow across multiple systems, rather than narrow functional areas.
- Monitoring for improvement process fix

I would say what better place to apply data driven process improvement methods than in software. We have the data and we are trying to automate processes.

Good luck
Tom

Cristian-Stefan Turcu link

9/15/2016 01:44:14 am

Hi Tom,

Thank you very much for sharing your valuable thoughts with us.
Personal, I do agree with everything you wrote.

PS: I noticed that somebody, including me, when "just do it rather than explain it", is actually on his way. It is a native skill.

Cris

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