Introduction
I have mixed feelings about writing this book. I have almost 20 years of Lean and Six Sigma experience, but only 2 years as a volunteer with nonprofits. Although there are more qualified people who could deliver this message, there is an urgent need to get this message out into the world. I would have preferred to wait until I have many more years of volunteer experience under my belt, but it seems irresponsible for me to stay quiet.
My goal for this book is to motivate existing Lean, Six Sigma and continuous improvement practitioners to use their skills to help the greater good.
There are two ways I’d like to motivate you:
1) Help your current company get more engaged in addressing community, global and environmental issues. Your company needs to get involved in order to tackle some of these major problems (which we will discuss in Chapter 4). It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s also good for their reputation, which is good for their bottom line!
2) Help you spend some of your free time (outside work) helping nonprofit organizations become more efficient, so they can have a bigger impact on their mission with their limited funds and resources.
The book is concise, and will not teach you anything technical about Lean or Six Sigma. There are numerous books and websites that do a good job of that (see Resources section at the back of the book).
If you don’t have a background in these skills, please continue to read. You have other skills and experience (project management, team building, facilitation, management, event planning, grant writing, teaching, etc.) that are useful in solving problems within your community. You might also become more interested in Lean or Six Sigma.
If you enjoy this book, please pass it along or share it with others!
I have setup a Facebook group to connect you with other readers, to learn how you can get inspired to get more involved in your community: https://www.facebook.com/LeanSixSigmaforGood/
Special thanks to friends and family who have given me feedback on this book: Diane Lahr, Kjell Van Zoen, Matt Horvat, Will Gray, Tate Hamann, Nick Novotny, Keun Lee, Rick Lahr, Rachael Woodley, Marcelo Pinto, Pat O’Connor, Tiff Cremer, Carl Zemanek, Andrea Hoffmeier, and Aaron Spearin.
