Essential Reading for Your Lean Six Sigma and Improvement Journey

Practical Tools and Techniques

These books provide practical guidance on how to apply specific Lean and Six Sigma tools. They are invaluable resources for hands-on improvement work.

Learning to See by Mike Rother and John Shook
This workbook is the definitive guide to value stream mapping, one of the most critical tools in the Lean toolkit. It provides a step-by-step methodology for creating current-state and future-state maps, helping you to visualise waste and design improved processes. The simple, clear illustrations and practical exercises make it an accessible and effective learning tool.

Why it’s essential for your journey: Value stream mapping is a fundamental skill for any improvement practitioner. Learning to See will not only teach you the mechanics of mapping but will also help you develop the ability to see the flow of value in your organisation.

Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos by Donald J. Wheeler
Dr. Wheeler’s book is a masterclass in understanding and managing variation, a core concept in Six Sigma and statistical process control (SPC). He explains in clear, accessible language the difference between common cause and special cause variation and how to use control charts to distinguish between them. The book is a powerful antidote to the common mistake of reacting to every up and down in the data.

Why it’s essential for your journey: This book will fundamentally change the way you look at data. It will give you the confidence to make better decisions and to take more effective action to improve your processes.

Understanding Statistical Process Control, 2nd Ed. by Donald J. Wheeler and David S. Chambers
This book is a more technical companion to Understanding Variation. It provides a comprehensive overview of statistical process control techniques and their application. It is an excellent resource for those who want to deepen their understanding of the statistical underpinnings of Six Sigma.

Why it’s essential for your journey: As you progress in your career, you will encounter more complex problems that require a deeper understanding of statistical methods. This book will be an invaluable reference guide.

Leadership and Change Management

Improvement is not just about tools and techniques; it’s about people. These books provide insights into the leadership and change management skills you will need to be successful.

The Leader’s Handbook by Peter Scholtes
Scholtes’ book is a powerful critique of traditional management practices and a guide to a new way of leading. He argues that most problems are caused by the system, not the people, and that the role of a leader is to work on the system. The book is filled with practical advice and exercises to help you become a more effective leader of improvement.

Why it’s essential for your journey: This book will challenge your assumptions about management and leadership. It will give you a new perspective on your role as an improvement practitioner and help you to be a more effective agent of change.

Freedom from Command and Control by John Seddon
Seddon’s book is a passionate argument for a systems thinking approach to management. He shows how traditional command-and-control management creates waste and demotivates people. He offers a powerful alternative, the Vanguard Method, which is based on understanding customer demand and designing services to meet that demand.

Why it’s essential for your journey: This book will help you to see the bigger picture and to understand how the different parts of an organisation are interconnected. It will give you a powerful framework for designing and managing services that truly meet customer needs.

The New Leaders by Daniel Goleman
In this book, the author of the bestseller Emotional Intelligence argues that the most effective leaders are those who have high levels of emotional intelligence. He describes the six leadership styles and shows how the best leaders are able to switch between them depending on the situation. The book is a powerful reminder that leadership is a relationship, not a position.

Why it’s essential for your journey: As an improvement practitioner, you will need to be able to influence and persuade people at all levels of the organisation. This book will give you a deeper understanding of the human side of change and help you to be a more effective leader.

Dance of Change by Peter Senge
This book is a practical guide to the challenges of sustaining change in an organisation. Senge and his co-authors identify the common challenges that organisations face when trying to implement change and offer practical advice on how to overcome them. The book is filled with stories, exercises, and tools to help you navigate the complexities of organisational change.

Why it’s essential for your journey: This book will prepare you for the realities of leading change in a complex organisation. It will give you the tools and the confidence to sustain momentum and to overcome the inevitable challenges you will face.

Broader Perspectives on Improvement

These final books offer broader perspectives on improvement, from the theory of constraints to the psychology of decision-making. They will challenge you to think more deeply about the nature of improvement and to see new possibilities for creating value.

The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
This business novel is a classic for a reason. It tells the story of a plant manager who has to save his factory from closure. In the process, he learns about the Theory of Constraints and how to identify and manage bottlenecks. The book is a gripping read and a powerful introduction to one of the most important concepts in operations management.

Why it’s essential for your journey: The Goal will teach you to see your organisation as a system and to focus your improvement efforts on the things that are truly holding you back. It’s a fun and engaging way to learn a powerful new way of thinking.

The New Economics by W. Edwards Deming
This book is a summary of Deming’s management philosophy, including his famous 14 Points for Management and his System of Profound Knowledge. It is a challenging but rewarding read that will give you a deep appreciation for the thinking of one of the giants of the quality movement.

Why it’s essential for your journey: Deming’s work is the foundation of modern quality management. This book will give you a solid grounding in his philosophy and help you to see the connections between the different tools and techniques you will learn in your apprenticeship.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
This book, by a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist, is a fascinating exploration of the two systems of thinking that drive our judgments and decisions. Kahneman shows how our fast, intuitive thinking can lead us astray and how our slow, deliberate thinking can help us to make better choices. The book is filled with fascinating insights into the workings of the human mind.

Why it’s essential for your journey: As an improvement practitioner, you will be constantly making decisions and judgments. This book will help you to be more aware of your own biases and to make more rational and effective choices.

How to Have Power and Confidence in Dealing with People by Les Giblin
This classic book on human relations offers practical advice on how to build rapport, influence people, and handle difficult situations. It’s a simple, powerful guide to improving your people skills.

Why it’s essential for your journey: Your success as an improvement practitioner will depend as much on your people skills as your technical skills. This book will give you the confidence and the tools to build strong relationships and to get things done with and through others.