Do you really know what's going on in your function? In any organization or function, when you don't know what you don't know, it's going to cost you. For too many organizations, the cost (often hidden) of defects and waste in the way they operate are huge.

When you consider how many errors may be lurking in company-wide processes, the financial impact on overall productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability multiplies dramatically.

The Six Sigma approach is all about identifying what you don't know, emphasizing what you should know, and taking action to reduce errors and rework that cost you time, money, opportunities and customers.

Six Sigma is a statistical concept that measures a process in terms of defects. Achieving Six Sigma means that your processes are delivering only 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO) — in other words, almost perfect. Sigma is a Greek letter that measures standard deviation. In business terms, it indicates how far the process deviates from perfection.

Six Sigma was first developed and proven by Motorola in the 1980s. Companies such as TI, IBM, Allied Signal, and GE have successfully implemented Six Sigma and reduced costs literally by millions of dollars.

The Six Sigma methodology uses statistics solely as tools for data. What's more critical are changes in the organization culture and a constant commitment from top management that permeates through the entire organization.

Key to this cultural change are players known as champions, black belts and green belts — agents to facilitate this change.

Six Sigma is exciting. But it requires discipline, tenacity, and an unwavering dedication to the pursuit of perfection. Once you embrace that, the opportunities for improvement are almost endless.