A Six Sigma Belt Road Map

Do you remember Choose Your Own Adventure books? They are a cornerstone of my childhood reading memories. Today I’m going to give you a Six Sigma Belt Road Map in a Choose Your Own Adventure style.

Choose Your Own Adventure: What Six Sigma Belt is Best for You?

If you don’t remember, or never were exposed to this kind of book, Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children’s game books where you are basically the main actor in the plot. And that was the draw. YOU got to make the choices for what the character did  in the book!

The author accomplished this by laying out a few choices for you to pick from and then telling you to go to that page.

It worked kind of like this:

To open the red door, go to page 68.

To open the blue door, go to page 45.

Note: I would totally cheat by book marking and dog-earring every page, read ahead to determine what was the best outcome, then go down that path. Now that I think of it, I would always go back and read every eventuality anyway. I’m pretty sure every kid did that.

Before you start: Reading this on a website is fun and all, but if you’d rather have something a bit more tangible and visual , I’ll have a Downloadable PDF of this Road Map as a free ebook including a simple User Flow Diagram available shortly.

A Six Sigma Belt Road Map: Choose Your Own Adventure-style!

Option 1: Need a Six Sigma Foundation

Do you need to develop foundational knowledge of Six Sigma, whether as an entry level employee or an executive champion?

If so, proceed to the Six Sigma Yellow Belt Road Map.

If not, check out the next Six Sigma Belt Road Map option below.

Option 2: Help Out on Lean Six Sigma / Quality Improvement Projects

Would you like to learn fundamental process improvements and lean tools and techniques and be able to help out on Six Sigma projects?

If so, proceed to the Six Sigma Green Belt Road Map.

If not, check out the next Six Sigma Belt Road Map option below.

Option 3: Be a Change Agent & Run Lean Six Sigma Projects Delivering Massive Value

Does being a change agent for your company, leading Six sigma projects & making measureable, lasting improvements sound like fun?

If so, proceed to the Six Sigma Black Belt Road Map.

If not, check out the next Six Sigma Belt Road Map option below.

Option 4: Learn Actionable Tools, Tactics, & Techniques for Awesome Results?

Forget all of this certification & belt nonsense, I just want to learn to deliver out-sized results in my profession.

If so, proceed to the Six Sigma General Knowledge Road Map.

If not, check out the next Six Sigma Belt Road Map option below.

Option 5: I really want nothing to do with Six Sigma; I just need it for a promotion, resume, corporate politics reasons, etc.

Interesting response. Are you sure you’re pursuing the right career?

If Yes, then go to the Researching Which Six Sigma Belt Road Map.

If No, then go to the Six Sigma Career Choice Road Map.

Six Sigma Yellow Belt Road Map

Looking to get a general overview to be conversant in Six Sigma terms? The Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification is aimed at those new to the world of Six Sigma who have a small role, interest, or need to develop foundational knowledge.

Six Sigma Yellow Belts also participate as a project team members, champions, or even sponsors. Whatever their role or interest, Six Sigma Yellow belts need to develop foundational knowledge of Six Sigma, whether as an entry level employee or an executive champion.

If this is NOT what you had in mind, return to A Six Sigma Belt Road Map.

Otherwise, proceed!

Have Enough Time for a Six Sigma Yellow Belt?

Do you have ~20 hours to devote to training, as many hours as necessary to study, and 1 hour for a certification exam?

If yes, congratulations! You should pursue a Six Sigma Yellow Belt!

If not, consider why you don’t have enough time to make this small investment in your skill sets. Why not either return to A Six Sigma Belt Road Map and choose again.

OR

Start here with my New to Six Sigma articles and adventure around the site learning as you go. Just leave questions on any topics that are less than clear in the article comments sections. I’m happy to help.

Six Sigma Green Belt Road Map

Six Sigma green belts can have a variety of roles depending on their assignment. Some assist with data collection and analysis for Black Belt projects. Others lead Green Belt projects or teams.

If this is NOT what you had in mind, return to A Six Sigma Belt Road Map.

Otherwise, proceed!

Have Enough Time for a Six Sigma Green Belt?

Do you have ~60 hours to devote to training, 4-8 weeks to study, and 3 hours for a certification exam?

If yes, congratulations! You should pursue a Six Sigma Green Belt! Continue to the Next Step Road Map for your next steps.

If not, consider why you don’t have enough time to make this modest investment in your skill sets. Why not either return to A Six Sigma Belt Road Map and choose again.

OR

Start here with my New to Six Sigma articles and adventure around the site learning as you go. Just leave questions on any topics that are less than clear in the article comments sections. I’m happy to help.

Six Sigma Black Belt Road Map

A Six Sigma Black Belt leads problem-solving projects, trains and coaches project teams. They’ve worked hard to develop a deep understanding of Six Sigma philosophies and principles, including the supporting systems and tools. A Six Sigma Black Belt has demonstrated team leadership and understanding all aspects of the Lean & DMAIC models in accordance with Six Sigma principles.

If this is NOT what you had in mind, return to A Six Sigma Belt Road Map.

Otherwise, proceed!

Have Enough Time for a Six Sigma Black Belt?

Do you have ~140 hours to devote to training, 8-16 weeks to study, and 4 hours for a certification exam? (plus additional years of experience and documented projects if needed?)

If yes, congratulations! You should pursue a Six Sigma Black Belt! Continue to the Next Step Road Map for your next steps.

If not, either return to A Six Sigma Belt Road Map and choose again. Maybe a Green Belt is right for you?

OR

Start here with my New to Six Sigma articles and adventure around the site learning as you go. Just leave questions on any topics that are less than clear in the article comments sections. I’m happy to help.

Six Sigma General Knowledge Road Map

Looks like you’re just stating to sort things out.

No worries!

Applying Six Sigma tools and techniques in your current role is a great way to make an out-sized impact in your profession.

If you want to learn more generally about Six Sigma, try my Start Here page, use the search function on the website, or leave a comment on any of my articles.

Researching Which Six Sigma Belt Road Map

Are you willing to do a bit of research that will inform you on one of the most important decisions of your life?

Are you willing to do a bit of research that will inform you on one of the most important decisions of your life?

If Yes, Do the following:

• Interview 10 people who hire people in roles that you want to be in and ask what belt (if any) they prefer.
  • Don’t know any? Connect with me on LinkedIn and search through my network for people that hire for  positions you want to be in. I’ll connect you.
• Ask10 people who have the position you want and see what they did to get there.
  • Don’t know any? Connect with me on LinkedIn and search through my network for people that are already in positions you want to be in. I’ll connect you.
• What did they say?
  • Whatever it is, start there. Do that.
  • They said nothing. I didn’t follow through.
    • You are in the wrong place and you are wasting your time and mine.

If Not, you are in the wrong place. I don’t think I can help you.

Six Sigma Career Choice Road Map

It’s time to determine if Six Sigma is the right career choice for you. Go read that article (really, the comments are where the gold is).

What do you think? Undecided? Then try out Simon Sinek’s Practical Guide to Starting with the Why, and Cal Newport’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You, and get back to me.

What do you think? Go do that.

Or, if you decided that you don’t have time to follow the advice of a seasoned professional who has mentored thousands of Six Sigma practitioners OR that you don’t have the patience to read books and draw critical conclusions for myself I hate to tell you but you’re really in the wrong place. I don’t think I can help you.

Next Steps

If you found this guide fun or helpful, I’d appreciate you passing it on to a friend or colleague who could benefit from it. Think of it! If someone’s struggling with deciding what to do, this road map could really help them. You’d be a hero in real life just like you are in the choose your own adventure book. (Plus, you’d be my hero!)

Don’t forget, especially if you are more of a visual person, I’ll have a Downloadable PDF of this Road Map as a free ebook including a simple User Flow Diagram available shortly. Really easy visual you can print out of the entire journey this page walks you through.

Now that you’ve come up with which belt (if any) you should pursue, there are a few other decisions to be made:

• Which organization should you get certified with?
• How should you go about learning Six Sigma?
• How do you study for a Six Sigma certification?
• Are you ready to take a Six Sigma certification?

For now, these topics are out of the scope of this article. But don’t worry! More road maps and checklists and helpful downloads are on their way!

If you’re interested in more of these guides, let me know what kind of a Road map you would like. Make sure you’re on my email list and receive the new ones free when they come out.