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<p>How can Lean Six Sigma foster the creation of heterotopias? This article will examine the use of Lean Six Sigma principles to magnify cracks within a traditional bureaucracy in order to create heterotopias that dramatically alter organizational practices. The empirical setting of this paper is a classic bureaucracy — the United States Army — but with an interesting twist, due to an overtness in implementing Lean Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma protocols may be used to foster long-term change through alternative narratives akin to organizational entrepreneurship. Therefore, this paper sees Lean Six Sigma as a storytelling methodology, in lieu of a directive set of tools and techniques. In this autoethnography, I tell my story of how I tried to execute a human resources logistics process, a Relief-in-Place, but failed on the first attempt. While facing difficult bureaucratic obstacles, I relied upon my training as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt to use stories as a way to circumvent these obstacles, create a heterotopia, and ultimately achieve mission success.</p>
</abstract>

How can Lean Six Sigma foster the creation of heterotopias? This article will examine the use of Lean Six Sigma principles to magnify cracks within a traditional bureaucracy in order to create heterotopias that dramatically alter organizational practices. The empirical setting of this paper is a classic bureaucracy — the United States Army — but with an interesting twist, due to an overtness in implementing Lean Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma protocols may be used to foster long-term change through alternative narratives akin to organizational entrepreneurship. Therefore, this paper sees Lean Six Sigma as a storytelling methodology, in lieu of a directive set of tools and techniques. In this autoethnography, I tell my story of how I tried to execute a human resources logistics process, a Relief-in-Place, but failed on the first attempt. While facing difficult bureaucratic obstacles, I relied upon my training as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt to use stories as a way to circumvent these obstacles, create a heterotopia, and ultimately achieve mission success.

How Can Lean Six Sigma Foster Organizational Entrepreneurship in a Military Bureaucracy?

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How can Lean Six Sigma foster the creation of heterotopias? This article will examine the use of Lean Six Sigma principles to magnify cracks within a...

How Can Lean Six Sigma Foster Organizational Entrepreneurship in a Military Bureaucracy?

Published Online: Nov 20, 2022

Page range: 55 - 80

Received: Oct 15, 2021

Accepted: Feb 09, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36145/DoC2021.09

Keywords
narrative, Lean Six Sigma, autoethnography, entrepreneurship

© 2022 R. Duncan M. Pelly, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How Can Lean Six Sigma Foster Organizational Entrepreneurship in a Military Bureaucracy?

Published Online: Nov 20, 2022

Page range: 55 - 80

Received: Oct 15, 2021

Accepted: Feb 09, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36145/DoC2021.09

Keywordsnarrative, Lean Six Sigma, autoethnography, entrepreneurship

© 2022 R. Duncan M. Pelly, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keywords
narrative, Lean Six Sigma, autoethnography, entrepreneurship