Thinking about getting Six Sigma certified? It's a solid career move, and personally, I've found it to be quite impactful. Having that certification is like telling employers, "I've got the know-how to make things run smoother." It goes beyond just looking good on your resume – it signals that you can enhance processes, meet targets, and amp up efficiency and profits.
To make the journey smoother, I'd recommend checking out some top Six Sigma certification books. These aren't just for studying; they're like your companions in understanding Six Sigma inside out. I dived into them, and they not only got me ready for the certification but also armed me with practical knowledge for real-world situations.
Ready to level up? Scroll down, take a peek at these books, and gear up for success in the realm of making things work better. My Six Sigma journey started with these books, and they might just be the boost you need too.
Top 17 Six Sigma Books
Gaining the LSSGB certification will help you to develop a significant level of experience and proficiency, enabling them to merge as a specialty in process improvement. Here we have compiled the 17 best sigma books that you have to put on your reading list to boost your preparation.
1. Lean Six Sigma Service Excellence – Gerald Taylor
This book provides an overview of the Lean Six Sigma concepts and step-by-step examples of how to apply each of the relevant tools in practical situations. Next, readers will work through several problems to exercise their new found understanding. Dedicated to executives and managers of service and transactional organizations, Lean Six Sigma Service Excellence emphasizes how productivity can be used as a distinctive competence for achieving and maintaining competitive advantage in non-manufacturing environments.
- Year of release and version: 2008 (1)
- Good Reads Rating: 3.7
- Publisher Info: Gerald Taylor was a French writer, artist, and anthropologist.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
2. The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook – T.M. Kubiak and Donald W. Benbow
The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook is the complete resource currently offered for all Six Sigma Black Belts (or anyone aspiring to become a Black Belt). All facets of Six Sigma are covered in this book, including its importance and background, as well as the voice of the customer, project management, all necessary methodologies and tools, testing and analysis, lean enterprise, design for Six Sigma (DFSS), failure mode and effects analysis, and much more. It was written by two highly qualified experts. To correspond with the body of knowledge required for the ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt examination, the authors numbered the chapters.
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- Year of release and version: 2016 (3)
- Good Reads Rating: 3.9
- Publisher Info: T. M. Kubiak has over 23 years of experience working at various managerial levels with Honeywell International. He has also served as a director for Sears, Roebuck, and Co.'s Six Sigma program.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Beginners
3. The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook – Micheal L Jones, John Maxey, et al.
The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbox is currently the most comprehensive and results-based reference to the tools and concepts required to understand, implement, and leverage Lean Six Sigma. It explains these tools, how they operate, and when to use them. The structure of this six sigma book is well-organized with all topics and headings and is widely popular for its comprehensive and results-oriented approach.
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- Year of release and version: 2004 (6)
- Goodreads Rating: 4.2
- Publisher Info: Michael L. George is the President and founder of The George Group, the largest consulting practice in the USA.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
4. Lean Six Sigma for Dummies – John Morgan, Martin Brenig – Jones
Greater speed and quality are in high demand for projects of all kinds in small and large businesses due to the expanding business sector. Lean Six Sigma is the result of combining the two most well-known methods for improving processes: Six Sigma (making work better and of higher quality) (making work faster and more efficient). As one of the best six sigma books for beginners, the concepts are written in layman's terms and are explained with helpful examples. Moreover, this lean six sigma book also has easy-to-follow techniques and tools to implement in the business.
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- Year of release and version: 2010 (20)
- Goodreads Rating: 3.6
- Publisher Info: For ten years, John Morgan has served as a Director at Catalyst Consulting, the top supplier of lean Six Sigma solutions in Europe.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Beginners
5. Statistics for Six Sigma Black Belts – Matthew A. Barsalou
This book is intended for Six Sigma Black Belts who need to understand a variety of statistical techniques but do not use all of them regularly. It offers fundamental information, detailed instructions, and Minitab statistical software instructions and is meant to be a quick reference. Six Sigma Black Belts frequently use statistical software like Minitab to perform calculations, but it is still necessary to comprehend the underlying statistics.
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- Year of release and version: 2015 (1)
- Goodreads Rating: 5
- Publisher Info: Matthew A. Barsalou is a famous writer known for his strategic planning abilities.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
6. The Six Sigma Way: How to Maximize the Impact of Your Change and Improvement Efforts – Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman, and Roland Cavanagh
The Six Sigma Way was one of the first books to clearly explain to business leaders and managers the impressive advantages of Six Sigma's improvement-driven and customer-centric approach when it was published in 2000. It demonstrated how GE, Motorola, and other businesses used Six Sigma to improve performance, lower costs, foster customer loyalty, and boost profits. Global corporate leaders responded to the call and started putting these game-changing performance improvement tools into practice.
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- Year of release and version: 2014 (2)
- Goodreads Rating: 4
- Publisher info: Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman, and Roland Cavanagh are the writers known for co-authoring the book the Six Sigma Way: How to Maximize the Impact of Your Change and Improvement Efforts.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
7. The Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Handbook – Daniel J. Zrymiak, Govindarajan Ramu, Roderick A. Munro
This reference guide is intended to assist those who want a handy reference to the right materials needed to carry out successful Green Belt projects, as well as those who are interested in passing the ASQ certification exam for Six Sigma Green Belts. For those who are already knowledgeable about process improvement and variation reduction, it serves as a reference manual for managing projects.
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- Year of release and version: 2010 (2)
- Goodreads Rating: 4.3
- Publisher info: Daniel J. Zrymiak holds a Ph.D. in literature.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
8. What is Lean Six Sigma? Michael L. George and David Rowlands
This best lean six sigma book in the market will give you a broad overview of how to lead six Sigma to aid in improving the workplace organization, meet business goals, and enhance customer service.
Overall, one of the popular lean six sigma books helps you understand the concept's four key aspects – Speed and Quality, Process Improvement, Working together for maximum gain, and Data-based decision making.
Lean Six Sigma combines the two key improvement trends of our time: improving work through using Six Sigma and accelerating work (using Lean principles). You'll learn how to identify and resolve waste and quality issues in your workplace in this straightforward guide to a remarkable quality improvement technique.
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- Year of release and version: 2003 (5)
- Goodreads Rating: 3.5
- Publisher info: The George Group, the leading Lean Six Sigma consulting firm in the US, was founded and is led by Michael L. George. He was the author of the popular and significant Lean Six Sigma, which McGraw-Hill also published. For the North American Solutions Group, the division of Xerox responsible for sales, service, and marketing, David Rowlands serves as vice president of Lean Six Sigma.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
9. Six Sigma: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide – Craig Joseph Setter and the Council for Six Sigma Certification
This handbook provides the highest value available, whether you want to learn about the strategies and tools required to support quality improvement initiatives or simply want to learn how to become Six Sigma Certified to significantly increase your income. It has everything from basic concepts of white and yellow belts to the advanced level of knowledge needed for Black belt certification.
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- Year of release and version: 2018 (2)
- Goodreads Rating: 4.2
- Publisher info: For Six Sigma training providers globally, the Council for Six Sigma Certification serves as the Official Industry Standard of Six Sigma Accreditation.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Beginners
10. The Six Sigma Handbook – Thomas Pyzdek and Paul A. Keller
This six sigma book is a complete guide for green belts, black belts, and managers at all levels. It features the details on Minitab software and opportunities to maximize the resources to create six active sigma businesses.
Like Six Sigma itself evolved from earlier best practices in quality improvement, Six Sigma's best practices are constantly changing. Expanded materials on innovation, strategic development, Lean, and constraint management are included in this fourth edition. There are a lot of references in the text to free online resources, like Excel file templates for project analysis or videos with in-depth narratives on particular subjects.
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- Year of release and version: 2000 (4)
- Goodreads Rating: 3.9
- Publisher info: Paul Keller was a primary school teacher who also wrote extremely famous books, some of which were turned into movies.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
11. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement – Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Eliyahu M. Goldratt was a pioneer in the creation of novel business management ideas and procedures and was hailed by Fortune as a "guru to industry" and by Businessweek as a "genius." In this 20th anniversary edition, David Whitford, Editor at Large for Fortune Small Business, conducts a number of thorough case study interviews to examine how Eli Goldratt's ideas have impacted businesses all over the world.
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- Year of release and version: 1984 (40)
- Goodreads Rating: 4.1
- Publisher info: Eliyahu M. Goldratt was a business leader, educator, author, physicist, and philosopher, but above all, he was a thinker who challenged others to think.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
12. Juran’s Quality Essentials: For Leaders – Joseph A. Defeo, Joseph M. Juran
Joe DeFeo has applied these principles in hundreds of organizations, bringing the modern quality principles that Dr Juran developed in the latter half of the 20th century up to date. Every leader who aspires to world-class performance and wants to comprehend the ideas, methods, and resources that will do so should have a copy of this book in their library.
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- Year of release and version: 2014 (2)
- Goodreads Rating: 3.9
- Publisher Info: Dr. Joseph Juran was the preeminent expert on "quality management," which improves an organization's financial success. Joseph A. DeFeo, Dr. Juran's successor as CEO of the Juran Institute, combines some of today's most cutting-edge practices with his life's work to create a practical action plan for building a strong, successful, and globally competitive organization in this book.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
13. Six Sigma for Everyone – George Eckes
Six Sigma for Everyone, written by renowned Six Sigma consultant and author George Eckes explains the foundations of the ground-breaking quality assurance methodology, provides in-depth examples, and outlines the impact and intended outcome of the implementation. This book is written specifically for employees of organizations considering or currently attempting implementation, in contrast to most Six Sigma books, which are written for executives and practitioners of Six Sigma and tend to be overly technical or strategically focused.
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- Year of release and version:2003 (4)
- Goodreads Rating:3.6
- Publisher Info: Eckes & Associates, Inc., a Colorado-based consulting firm that specializes in results driven by continuous improvement, Six Sigma training and implementation, organizational development, and change management, was founded by George Eckes (Superior, CO), who also serves as its president and chief executive officer.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Beginners
14. Lean Six SigmaThe StatStuff Way – Matt Hansen
This is one of the best lean six sigma books, a practical reference to the concepts of business operations. It comes with free videos on the website, explaining every extensive concept simply, and is an absolute pick if you want to clear any six sigma certification.
By providing concrete examples of how to use Lean Six Sigma's intricate tools and concepts in any type of business setting, StatStuff assists in demystifying these concepts (manufacturing, healthcare, call centers, retail, etc.). This softbound book gathers all of the written and illustrated material from the StatStuff training videos and serves as a useful reference manual. It is the ideal resource to supplement what you're learning from the videos because it has 370 pages and uses the same full-color illustrations.
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- Year of release and version: 2013 (2)
- Goodreads Rating: 4
- Publisher Info: Matt Hansen is an experienced Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
15. Lean Six Sigma for Engineers and Managers – Matthew John Franchetti
Lean Six Sigma for Engineers and Managers: With Applied Case Studies provides an extensive introduction and industry examples to assist you in comprehending and implementing the LSS system. The LSS process is covered, along with how to measure current business performance and use statistical tools to analyze performance results.
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- Year of release and version: 2015 (2)
- Goodreads Rating: 4.2
- Publisher Info: The University of Toledo's Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Programs' director of undergraduate studies and assistant professor of mechanical, industrial, and manufacturing engineering is Dr. Matthew Franchetti. He has worked as an industrial engineer and technical manager for the U.S. Postal Service, earned his Ph.D. from The University of Toledo in 2003, and an MBA from the same institution in 2000. He also has a wealth of consulting expertise in the automotive sector.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
16. Unlocking Lean Six Sigma – Dr. Wesley E. Donahue
Lean Six Sigma is a methodology and approach that helps people and project management teams identify issues and put better work process changes into place. These useful principles and tools can be used in any organization and industry, and you don't need to be an engineer to use them. Using Lean Six Sigma is indeed simpler than you might imagine, and this guide will show you how.
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- Year of release and version: 2021 (2)
- Goodreads Rating: 4.1
- Publisher Info: Wesley E. Donahue, Ph.D., a writer from Pennsylvania, is a professor of Management Development and Education at Penn State University and the president of Centrestar, a business that helps people test their leadership abilities and develop them. His most recent works are Unlocking Lean Six Sigma and Building Leadership Competence.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Beginners
17. The Quality Toolbox: Nancy R. Tague
Provides guidance to all TQM team members on how to use assessment tools like matrices and flowcharts, data collection and analysis methods, and other tools for examining processes, identifying causes, and coming up with ideas. The book includes a tool matrix chart to help users find the right, as well as numerous diagrams, charts, and checklist examples.
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- Year of release and version: 2004 (7)
- Goodreads Rating: 4.4
- Publisher info: Nancy R. Tague was a famous literature writer.
- This book is for Beginners/Advanced: Advanced
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Preparation Tips for Six Sigma
To assist you in preparing for the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt exam, we've put up a list of study ideas. You can use these five pieces of advice to ace the Six Sigma Green Belt exam:
- Take a quiz with practice questions.
- Take advantage of the Lean Six Sigma study guide.
- Learn how to become a certified Green Belt.
- Become fully committed to the methodology.
- Be a part of the Six Sigma Green Belt Forum.
More Ways to Learn Six Sigma
Every Six Sigma technique produces different results. Each session encourages students to develop their personalities and talents in a particular area. With abilities like problem-solving and root cause analysis, analytical abilities soar. They always place you in an environment where the flow of new ideas never ends. In the case of Six Sigma projects, it is absolutely true that with leadership comes responsibility. A well-balanced staff with various skill sets and appropriate quality management training enables businesses to grow enormously.
Six Sigma offers endless opportunities for personal growth and is frequently underestimated in many businesses. Legitimate certifications from various organizations are a great way to learn Six Sigma from the comfort of your home. Moreover, online training tutorials, which are available for free or at economical rates, can also help achieve the goal.
Closing Thoughts
Starting the journey towards Six Sigma certification and moving up the levels may have its challenges, but trust me, the benefits for your future are well worth it. Whether you choose the green, black, or another belt, being Six Sigma professional opens doors to various opportunities, taking your career to new heights. From my experience, investing time in the best Six Sigma certification books has been essential in establishing myself as a seasoned professional.
Consider joining the KnowledgeHut Six Sigma Certification program for a comprehensive preparation experience. This course provides deep insights using the Lean Six Sigma Book of Knowledge and the guidance of experienced educators. Through practical training sessions, I found it not only brought out my best but also sharpened my skills in identifying and effectively eliminating risks or errors in business processes. It's not just about certification; it's a journey that enhances your professional status and equips you with the tools to excel in the dynamic field of process improvement.
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