15 Lean Six Sigma Learning Map
This appendix maps the capabilities promised by this curriculum across five belt levels and six knowledge domains. It is both a planning document and an audit standard. If the map claims that a learner should be able to perform a task by the end of a belt, the curriculum should teach that capability, provide an opportunity to practice it, and assess it at the stated level.
The map is intentionally coarse-grained. Its job is to show stable capability bands that matter for belt-level planning, sequencing, assessment, and role expectations, not to reproduce every chapter-level Learning Objective one for one. Additional detail should be added only when multiple chapters, an entire belt, or a recurring assessment decision depends upon it.
15.1 How to Read the Map
Each populated cell gives the highest level of cognitive performance expected by the end of that belt:
- Remember: recall relevant facts, terms, formulas, or procedures.
- Understand: explain a concept, recognize examples, or interpret a simple representation.
- Apply: use the capability in a concrete situation appropriate to the belt.
- Analyze: distinguish relevant features, investigate relationships, diagnose problems, or compare alternatives.
- Evaluate: judge the quality, suitability, consequences, or limitations of an approach and defend that judgment.
- Create: integrate capabilities to design a new analysis, model, intervention, or system.
Lower-level performances are normally implied by a higher-level expectation. For example, Analyze presumes that the learner can also remember, understand, and apply the relevant material. An em dash (—) means that the curriculum makes no assessed end-of-belt promise for that capability.
The cells describe performance within the scope and complexity appropriate to each belt. Apply at White Belt may mean constructing a simple process map or problem statement independently, while Apply at Black Belt may involve a substantially more technical method and an ambiguous organizational setting. The levels are a practical vocabulary, not a mechanical ladder; some capabilities emphasize evaluation while others culminate in creation.
The cognitive levels and the educational philosophy behind the map are explained in The Method and the Madness.
15.2 Belt Levels
- White Belt (WB): orientation plus limited independent use of foundational process-improvement concepts.
- Yellow Belt (YB): practical application of fundamental process, data, and computational tools.
- Green Belt (GB): independent project execution and intermediate analytical capability.
- Black Belt (BB): advanced analytical work, model and tool development, and coaching responsibility.
- Master Black Belt (MBB): evaluation of technical work, enterprise program design, and strategic governance.
At Master Black Belt, Evaluate in a technical row means that the practitioner can assess the appropriateness, quality, risks, and organizational implications of the work. It does not imply that every Master Black Belt must remain a cutting-edge specialist in every advanced method.
15.3 Knowledge Domains
- Lean Six Sigma Principles and Tools
- Leading and Managing Projects
- Data Understanding
- Computational and Data Systems
- Statistical Analysis
- Business Understanding
These are practical curriculum-design categories rather than rigid disciplinary boundaries. Many capabilities could reasonably appear in more than one domain; each is placed where it is most useful for sequencing and assessment.
15.4 Domain-by-Belt Crosswalk
15.4.1 Lean Six Sigma Principles and Tools
| Capability | WB | YB | GB | BB | MBB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Five Principles of Lean | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Respect for People and Kaizen Culture | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Eight Wastes | Analyze | Analyze | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| 5S | Apply | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| PDCA Framework | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Create | Evaluate |
| A3 Framework | — | Apply | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| DMAIC Framework | — | — | Apply | Create | Evaluate |
| Basic Process Mapping | Apply | Analyze | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| FLO Process Modeling | — | Apply | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| Rendered Process Representations (including SPPM and VSM) | Apply | Apply | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| Spaghetti Diagrams, SIPOC, and IPO Analysis | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Seven Basic Quality Tools | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Process Metrics (P/T, C/T, L/T, PCE, FPY, RTY, and Percentiles) | Apply | Analyze | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Control-Chart Interpretation | — | Understand | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Control-Chart Construction and Selection | — | — | Apply | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Critical-to-Quality Characteristics and Kano Analysis | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Customer Value and the Value of Lean Six Sigma | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
White Belt uses PDCA to organize its first complete improvement cycle. A3 begins at Yellow Belt, where the learner can apply the reporting and problem-solving structure to bounded work. DMAIC begins at Green Belt, alongside the stronger project, data, and statistical foundation needed to use it responsibly.
FLO is the declarative source language used to implement process descriptions in this curriculum. SPPM, value-stream maps, and other visual forms are treated as representations that can be generated from or aligned with the underlying process model. White Belts are not expected to write FLO, but they should be able to construct and interpret a basic process map. Yellow Belts begin implementing models in FLO; Green Belts analyze and elaborate them; Black Belts may extend the models, tooling, or language when the work requires it.
15.4.2 Leading and Managing Projects
| Capability | WB | YB | GB | BB | MBB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Problem Statements and SMART Goals | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Create | Evaluate |
| Project Selection and Strategic Alignment | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Project Scope and Level of Effort | — | Understand | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Business-Case Construction | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Meeting Agendas, Decisions, and Notes | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Project Charters | — | — | Apply | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Project-Planning and Management Tools | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Team Selection and Role Definition | — | Understand | Apply | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Running Effective Meetings | — | Understand | Apply | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Facilitation | — | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Stakeholder Engagement and Communication | Apply | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Responsible Improvement and Ethical Judgment | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Evaluating Unintended Consequences and Stakeholder Impacts | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Reflective Practice and Learning from Failure | Apply | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Coaching and Developing Practitioners | — | — | Understand | Apply | Evaluate |
| Project-Portfolio Governance | — | — | Understand | Analyze | Evaluate |
Responsible improvement is treated as a professional capability rather than a separate code of conduct. Learners are expected to examine assumptions and incentives, consider who bears the risks and receives the benefits of a change, seek the knowledge of people closest to the work, and exercise judgment proportionate to the stakes.
15.4.3 Data Understanding
| Capability | WB | YB | GB | BB | MBB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structured Process Observation and Data Capture | Apply | Analyze | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Baseline Construction from Process Data | Apply | Analyze | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Obtaining and Importing Datasets | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Basic Data Cleaning and Validation | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Missing-Data and Data-Quality Strategies | — | Understand | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Levels of Measurement and Data Types | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Summarizing and Grouping Data | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Reshaping Data (Pivots, Melts, and Group Operations) | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Identifying and Handling Outliers | — | Understand | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Data Visualization | — | Apply | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| Exploratory Data Analysis | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Time-Series Display and Graphical Interpretation | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Formal Time-Series Analysis | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis | — | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Geographical Data | — | — | — | Apply | Evaluate |
| Machine Learning | — | — | — | Apply | Evaluate |
| Dimensionality Reduction (PCA, Factor Analysis, t-SNE, and UMAP) | — | — | — | Apply | Evaluate |
| Feature Selection and Feature Extraction | — | — | — | Apply | Evaluate |
By the end of Yellow Belt, learners should be able to obtain a prepared dataset and do something meaningful with it in Python: import it, inspect it, perform basic cleaning and reshaping, summarize it, visualize it, and interpret the result. Green Belt develops the capability to work more independently with messy organizational data and make defensible handling decisions.
15.4.4 Computational and Data Systems
| Capability | WB | YB | GB | BB | MBB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer and File-System Fundamentals | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Basic Terminal Navigation and Commands | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Shell Workflows and Command-Line Tooling | — | Understand | Apply | Create | Evaluate |
| Jupyter Notebook Workflows | — | Apply | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| Python Programming for Process Analysis | — | Apply | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| Importing and Using Python Packages | — | Apply | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| Reproducible Notebook and Script Workflows | — | Apply | Analyze | Create | Evaluate |
| Dependency and Environment Management | — | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Data Pipelines and Workflow Composition | — | — | Apply | Create | Evaluate |
| Workflow Automation | — | — | Apply | Create | Evaluate |
| SQL Querying and Relational Data Modeling | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Version Control and Collaborative Development | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Testing and Validation of Analysis Code | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Reusable Packages and Internal Tooling | — | — | Apply | Create | Evaluate |
| Discrete-Event Simulation with SimPy | — | — | — | Create | Evaluate |
| Optimization and Operations-Research Workflows | — | — | — | Apply | Evaluate |
| Process Mining and Event-Log Workflows | — | — | — | Apply | Evaluate |
Yellow Belt computing is deliberately modest but real: Jupyter notebooks, basic terminal commands, introductory Python, package use, and reproducible handling of prepared datasets. Green Belt adds substantial command-line work, scripts, environments, data pipelines, SQL, version control, testing, and automation. Black Belt uses that foundation to construct simulations, advanced workflows, reusable tools, and extensions when an existing tool is inadequate.
15.4.5 Statistical Analysis
| Capability | WB | YB | GB | BB | MBB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descriptive Statistics | Apply | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Distribution Concepts, the Standard Normal Distribution, and Percentiles | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Scientific and Experimental Reasoning | Analyze | Analyze | Evaluate | Create | Evaluate |
| Hypothesis-Testing Foundations (including the Lady Tasting Tea) | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Student’s t-Tests | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Confidence Intervals and Sample-Size Concepts | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Type I and Type II Errors | — | Understand | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Scatterplots and Linear Association | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Common Probability Distributions | — | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Distribution Assessment and Assumption Checking | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Linear Regression | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) | — | — | — | Apply | Evaluate |
| Measurement-System Analysis | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Design of Experiments | — | — | Apply | Create | Evaluate |
| Survey Design and Analysis | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
Yellow Belt introduces formal statistical reasoning through descriptive statistics, the concept of a distribution, confidence intervals, the Lady Tasting Tea, and Student’s t-test. The emphasis is on interpreting evidence and understanding what the methods establish, not accumulating a large catalog of tests. Green Belt broadens inferential capability and adds independent assumption checking, regression, ANOVA, measurement-system analysis, and experimental design.
15.4.6 Business Understanding
| Capability | WB | YB | GB | BB | MBB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer and Stakeholder Value | Apply | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Financial Statements from a Process-Improvement Perspective | — | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Fundamentals of Accounting | — | Understand | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Time Value of Money | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Return on Investment | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Cost of Quality and Cost of Poor Quality | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Strategic Alignment and Mission Fit | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Benefits Realization and Sustainment | Apply | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Competitive Advantage and Strategic Planning | — | Understand | Analyze | Evaluate | Evaluate |
| Balanced Scorecard | — | — | Apply | Analyze | Evaluate |
| ISO 9001:2015 Quality-Management Principles | — | — | Understand | Apply | Evaluate |
| Enterprise Improvement Governance | — | — | Understand | Analyze | Evaluate |
| Organizational Capability and Curriculum Design | — | — | Understand | Analyze | Create |
The business domain keeps improvement work tied to customer value, organizational purpose, financial reality, and the capacity to sustain gains. Yellow Belts learn enough financial and strategic framing to support small improvement efforts. Green and Black Belts perform increasingly consequential analysis, while Master Black Belts evaluate enterprise decisions and create systems for organizational capability development.
15.5 Auditing the Curriculum Against the Map
Because the map is a curriculum promise, every populated cell should be traceable to evidence in the curriculum. For each capability and belt, an audit should be able to identify:
- One or more Learning Objectives stating the promised performance;
- Instruction and examples sufficient to support that performance;
- Practice at an appropriate level of complexity;
- Feedback or answer guidance that helps learners improve; and
- An assessment or project artifact that supplies evidence of the end-of-belt capability.
A missing link is information about the curriculum. If a capability is promised but not taught, practiced, or assessed, the curriculum should be revised or the promise should be removed. If learners repeatedly fail to demonstrate a mapped capability, that pattern should trigger investigation of the instruction, prerequisite sequence, exercises, assessment, and stated belt placement.
Use the map as a guide, not a rigid doctrine. Real projects often require moving backward to foundations or reaching forward for a more advanced tool. The map describes the capabilities the curriculum promises by each milestone; it does not prescribe the order in which every real problem must be solved.