Aaron U. Bolin, Ph.D.

Because our deployment strategy has focused on developing bottom-up support for Continuous Process Improvement, we have been very deliberate about making gradual training investments. Initially, we focused on yellow belt and champion training with the role of "belt" for improvement projects supported from CPI program resources. As our trained population of yellow belts and champions grew, we began training green belts and broadening the base of belt leadership for projects. After three years of building, we felt it was finally time to invest in black belt training to expand the leadership team for the CPI program. This photo represents the first group to complete the 160 hour black belt training curriculum using our own instructors.

During Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt training, we introduce the concept of "process entitlement" as a way to drive record performance. Using a simple process simulation with building blocks to make pyramids, we lead a class discussion on what level of performance would be possible if the process was perfect. Perfect is defined as no waste, no variation, no constraints, etc. Collectively, we arrive at a general consensus of the natural physical limits of the process -- the maximum number of pyramids that could be constructed in a 5 minute production period. Then we steer the discussion toward the topic of, "What would have to be different to produce at a rate equivalent to the natural physical limit?" At some point during this discussion, we challenge the students with concepts such as Takt time and process metrics. Then, we reveal the current world record and set production goals somewhere above the current record and below the maximum number possible. The record see