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Not all improvement projects are created equal. In this article, I share the lessons I’ve learned from working with hundreds of Lean Six Sigma projects across manufacturing, services, financial services, utilities and the public sector. You’ll learn how to identify projects that are worth pursuing, why over-scoping is the most common reason projects stall, how to secure the support needed for success, and why selecting the right project is often more important than the tools you use to solve it. These are the same principles we use when helping Black Belt candidates scope and lead high-impact improvement projects.
By John Ryan
Over the years, I’ve worked with hundreds of improvement projects across manufacturing, services, healthcare, financial services and the public sector. Some have delivered transformational results, generating hundreds of thousands of euros in savings, reducing risk, improving customer experience, or fundamentally changing the way an organisation operates. Others never get off the ground.
What I’ve learned is that the difference rarely comes down to the tools being used.
It isn’t usually about whether the project leader understands Lean Six Sigma, process mapping, root cause analysis or statistical methods. More often than not, the success or failure of a project can be traced back to a decision that was made before the project ever officially began.
That decision is project selection.
One thing I’ve rarely encountered is an organisation that’s short of improvement ideas.
Talk to almost any manager, engineer, team leader, quality professional or operations leader and they can quickly point to processes that need attention. There are always delays, bottlenecks, waste, quality concerns, customer complaints, compliance challenges or opportunities to improve efficiency.
When we start working with Black Belt candidates, one of the first conversations we have is about project selection. In fact, we often start discussing projects weeks or even months before training begins because we know that the right project dramatically increases the likelihood of success.
Selecting the right project doesn’t just improve your chances of delivering results. It increases stakeholder engagement, improves organisational support and creates a stronger learning experience for the individual leading the project.
In many cases, project selection is the most important decision you’ll make.
The first question I always ask is: “How does this project align with the strategic priorities of the organisation?” A project may be interesting. It may solve a genuine problem. But if it isn’t relevant to the organisation’s priorities, it can struggle to gain traction.
The strongest projects are urgent, valuable and connected to business objectives. They address problems that leadership already recognises as important and where there is a genuine appetite for change.
When a project is strategically aligned, support comes more easily. Stakeholders understand why it matters. Resources are easier to secure. Sponsors are more likely to remain engaged.
Start by asking yourself this question “Why, this project, now?” and put yourself in the shoes of the key project stakeholders. If the answer is obvious, you’re on the right track!
Try to avoid pet projects that suit just one stakeholder. Just because we can do something doesn’t always mean we should. Improvement for the sake of improvement rarely creates lasting impact. Strategic improvement does.
One of the biggest misconceptions I encounter is the belief that bigger projects automatically deliver bigger results.
Organisations often identify a strategic challenge and immediately try to tackle the entire problem at once. The project becomes so broad that it touches multiple departments, systems, processes and stakeholders. Complexity increases. Dependencies increase. Progress slows.
At that point, even good ideas can begin to stall. When we’re helping Black Belt learners scope projects, we typically step back and ask a simple question: Can we reduce the scope and still capture most of the benefit? Very often the answer is yes.
Data frequently shows that a relatively small part of the process is responsible for the majority of the problem. By focusing on that area first, organisations can deliver meaningful results much faster while building momentum for future phases of improvement.
Business impact is important.
For a Black Belt project, I would expect to see a significant opportunity for improvement, often with substantial financial benefit or a meaningful reduction in organisational risk. We generally look for projects that are large enough to justify the investment and challenge the learner to develop new capabilities
However, business impact alone isn’t enough.
A successful project also needs:
I’ve seen projects with enormous potential struggle simply because one of these foundations wasn’t firmly in place. Before any improvement work begins, these risks need to be identified and managed.
Many people view Lean Six Sigma as a technical discipline built around data and statistical analysis.
While those skills are absolutely important, some of the most difficult challenges I’ve encountered have had very little to do with statistics.
They’ve involved people.
I’ve worked with Black Belts who were trying to implement changes that made perfect sense from a data perspective but faced resistance from stakeholders who didn’t believe in the approach, weren’t comfortable with the change, or simply preferred the way things had always been done.
That’s why successful Black Belts need more than problem-solving tools.
They need the ability to influence, communicate, negotiate and build trust.
They need to understand when a data-driven argument will work, when stakeholders need to see an example, and when organisational leaders may need to become more involved to remove barriers.
In my experience, technical problems are often easier to solve than people problems.
One project that has always stayed with me involved a multinational manufacturer looking at its supplier relationships.
The original objective was straightforward. The organisation wanted to improve supply chain performance. Traditionally, much of the focus had been on pushing suppliers to reduce costs and eliminate waste. The Black Belt involved took a different approach. Instead of treating suppliers as external parties, they invited them into the project team and worked to understand the challenges they were facing.
The result was a genuine partnership.
The project was designed so that both the organisation and the suppliers benefited. Small changes created wins on both sides. Relationships improved. Performance improved. The approach was so successful that it was eventually adopted more broadly across the organisation’s European operations.
What started as a local project became a catalyst for much wider change.
That’s the power of selecting the right project and approaching it in the right way.
One of the reasons organisations value experienced Black Belts is that they become the people who help assess where effort should be focused.
They become the people others turn to when asking:
Those aren’t technical questions.
They’re leadership questions.
And they’re often the difference between projects that generate lasting business impact and projects that struggle to gain momentum.
One of the areas we focus on heavily within the SQT Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Programme is helping learners evaluate, scope and lead significant improvement projects.
The tools matter. The analytics matter. The methodology matters.
But in my experience, the most successful improvement professionals understand something even more important:
The quality of the project you choose often determines the quality of the result you achieve.
Get the project selection right and many of the other pieces begin to fall into place.
Get it wrong, and even the best tools in the world may struggle to deliver the outcome you’re looking for.
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2026