Telling someone they are wrong does not inspire them to do right. Instead, it usually creates an atmosphere of conflict. The problem has two faces. First, conflict tends to entrench people into their positions, even if they realize that they are probably wrong. Nothing constructive can come from a conflictive environment because people quit trying to find solutions and start trying to save face. Second, it is quit possible, and maybe even probable, that the person accused of being wrong may actually be right.

The point is that making a point is not the same as making a difference. If the truth be told, most of us would rather win the argument than make a difference. This is the sad truth within our culture. We vote and behave as if the processes of our lives were a game where the point was to score points and win, even if no progress is being made.

You might ask how this applies to Lean Six Sigma process improvement teams. Let me explain. When working in a team environment, the team leader must always be focused on keeping a constructive dialog that is not based upon scoring points. The hardest part of process improvement is to “lead” change. To make a difference. When team members are committed to making a difference, they are not keeping score. When they are keeping score they are not making a difference.

I have had to remove individuals from process improvement teams because their “point making” attitude was distractive to the team’s mission to make a difference. This will obviously not make everyone happy, but that is OK. Being a change agent is not easy, nor is it for the faint of heart. When teaching Six Sigma Black Belts, I always instruct them to ” Leave them mad or leave them glad, but never leave them indifferent.”