I'm amazed at the universal appeal of the concepts of Six Sigma, when I see posts like this one from Brian Miller. I'm not sure if his friend is in the same line of work Brian does, but I'm intrigued...
"(John) has talked about his Six Sigma training, which interest me because my friend Jim Eastin is taking Six Sigma training. It is "drinking from a firehose" according to John. Helps me understand what Jim is going through."
Reading Brian's blog, I realize how powerful the concept of "community" is in almost any context (family, work, friendships, neighborhoods, even churches). That's what makes some of the marketing and knowledge management concepts I'm studying so intriguing. They are resonating so soundly because they meet human needs in real ways.
I maintain that true marketing finds its core in understanding those needs, and meeting them in a way that provides value to both parties. And it doesn't take a lot of advanced education to really get that concept. (Until lawyers, governments, competitors, accountants, HR, and management gets involved...)
I am a pastor and Jim is one of my friends and a member of our congregation. Jim is a vendor rep for Mars Corporation. Mars (or Masterfoods USA) has a big push to get as many Six Sigma's trained as possible. So Six Sigma is for manufacturing for now, but I'm always interested in leadership concepts, and in the back of my mind was wondering if they would be any value to Six Sigma to church.
Obviously church is not business. But the job of the church is to help lost people connect with a God who misses them. That entails marketing at some level. Would Six Sigma be of any use there?
Posted by: Brian Miller | Thursday, August 21, 2003 at 04:03 PM