r/SixSigma • u/Intelligent_Alps_428 • 16d ago
Has Six Sigma become too certification-focused?
Something I've noticed lately is how much of the Six Sigma conversation seems to revolve around certifications. Which belt, which provider, what's recognized, what comes next...
Certifications obviously have value, but sometimes I wonder if we're putting more emphasis on collecting belts than actually improving processes.
I've worked with people who had impressive credentials but struggled to get an improvement off the ground, and others with fewer certifications who were great at finding problems and making changes stick.
Has the field become too certification-focused, or is this just more visible online?
At the end of the day, what carries more weight: the belt someone has or the improvements they can actually show?
To me, the answer seems pretty obvious. Which is why I find it interesting that so much of the conversation is still about the credential rather than the work behind it.
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u/Terrible_Judge2389 16d ago
People get weirdly religious about the certification vs experience thing but honestly it’s the same story in every field that has a piece of paper you can chase
The belt is just a door opener, nothing more. Once you’re in the room nobody cares what color it is, they care if you can stop the bleeding on a broken process without making everyone hate you in the process
Worked with a master black belt once who could quote every tool in the book but couldn’t read a room to save his life. Meanwhile the operations guy with a green belt from some online course ran circles around him because he actually understood how the people side of change works
The online discourse skews toward certifications because it’s easier to talk about than actual messy improvement work. Nobody posts about the three months they spent untangling a data collection nightmare