A Black Belt student of mine made an interesting observation after we had some team competition doing the helicopter DOE exercise last week. The class is made up of different administrative functions from IT, Purchasing, HR, and Finance. He stated that it was remarkable that we had 13 people from these four different groups all on the same page, talking the same language, i.e., factors, levels, responses, replicates, etc. and all working to achieve the same goal of maximizing the hang time of the helicopter.
This is the real power in giving an organization a common problem solving process: a common language, a common set of tools and techniques, and a step by step approach to making improvements. Give them these things, then get out of their way and just watch what they can accomplish! It never ceases to amaze me!