A Nun and a Fighter

Back in the day there was a young nun in Calcutta, India. The situation in Calcutta was dire; poverty, starvation, crime, disease, government corruption on a scale most of us can’t fathom. Into this scene of horror walks a young nun who goes into the streets and begins helping homeless people one at a time. The nun’s name: Teresa…later known as Mother Teresa.

You might be thinking – is he really going to connect Mother Teresa to Lean Six Sigma…Yes he is.

Mother Teresa referred to helping one person at a time as “The little way”; meaning taking action on what is right in front of you. By taking this simple approach she is the most famous nun of all time and her name has become synonymous with kindness and generosity. Wow, not bad for someone who did so little.

Often we find ourselves looking outward to far away problems and process that are controlled by others, ignoring what is right in front of us. I stress to my Green Belts to think like Mother Teresa, find the problem that is right in front of you and solve it.

Make no mistake about it, she was a fighter. Fighting poverty and despair; she “got some”, in fact she got more than some.

Your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to find waste that is in your work center, select the weapon of choice and kill it! That’s what Mother Teresa would want you to do…just sayin.