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The pathway is designed for working professionals and employer partners seeking practical, structured development with measurable workplace application.
Date: 10/9/26-11/13/26 | Wednesdays and Fridays, 12PM-1:30PMPurposeBuild structured process improvement capability at the frontline level using Lean Six Sigma fundamentals.
OverviewOrganizations often struggle with inefficiencies, rework, and inconsistent results within everyday processes. While effort remains high, variation and waste reduce performance.
This certificate introduces participants to Lean Six Sigma principles and the DMAIC improvement framework. Participants learn to identify waste, analyze root causes, and recommend measurable process improvements using practical tools. The emphasis is disciplined problem solving through structured process analysis.
What Participants Gain
Week by Week FocusWeek 1: Introduction to Lean Principles and Process ThinkingWeek 2: Defining Problems and Mapping ProcessesWeek 3: Identifying Waste and Root CausesWeek 4: Introduction to Basic Data ConceptsWeek 5: Designing Practical Improvement SolutionsWeek 6: Applied Improvement Simulation
AudienceIndividual Contributors and Early Career ProfessionalsInstructor: Dr. Darron LockettLocation: Teams and OnlineTime: 12PM-1PMCost: $795 (18 CE credits)
Each certificate serves a distinct leadership level, from individual contributors to senior leaders, creating a coordinated progression that strengthens execution capability across an organization. Certificates may be taken individually or as a structured pathway. Employers can build capability in stages while professionals advance their credentials over time. Together, the programs strengthen:
Purpose Strengthen personal execution discipline and workplace reliability in fast moving, complex environments.
Overview Many workplace challenges stem from unclear expectations, competing priorities, and inconsistent communication rather than lack of effort. When assignments are ambiguous and roles are not clearly defined, rework increases and credibility suffers.
This certificate equips professionals with structured thinking habits that improve clarity, reliability, and follow through. Participants learn practical methods for defining outcomes, breaking down work, managing priorities, and communicating risks before issues escalate.
The focus is disciplined execution at the individual level.
Week by Week Focus Week l: Clarifying Expectations and Defining Outcomes Week 2: Breaking Down Ambiguous Work Into Actionable Steps Week 3: Managing Competing Priorities and Accountability Week 4: Communicating Progress and Escalating Risks Effectively
Audience Individual Contributors, Early Career Professionals,Administrative Staff, and Emerging Leaders
Purpose Strengthen team level stability, accountability clarity, and workflow reliability.
Overview Frontline leaders often spend significant time responding to recurring issues, last minute escalations, and workflow instability. These patterns are typically caused by unclear ownership, inconsistent operating routines, and weak early warning signals.
This certificate equips supervisors to stabilize workflows, define clear accountability boundaries, and create practical indicators that reduce reactive management. The focus is operational discipline at the team level.
Week by Week Focus Week 1: Diagnosing Execution Instability Week 2: Clarifying Ownership and Accountability Week 3: Stabilizing Critical Workflows Week 4: Leading Performance Corrections Week 5: Creating Practical Early Warning Indicators Week 6: Delivering a Stability Action Plan
Audience Supervisors, Team Leads, and Frontline Managers
Purpose Prepare leaders to evaluate, govern, and implement AI enabled capabilities responsibly within operational environments.
Overview Al enabled tools are increasingly influencing operational workflows across industries. Many organizations adopt technology without fully considering governance, risk exposure, or long term accountability implications. This certificate equips leaders to approach Al adoption deliberately by evaluating use cases carefully, designing appropriate guardrails, and implementing structured pilot initiatives before scaling adoption. The focus is disciplined decision-making and responsible use of technology, not technical coding.
Week by Week Focus Week 1: Identifying Responsible Use Cases Week 2: Assessing Governance and Risk Week 3: Designing Guardrails Week 4: Structuring a Pilot Initiative
Audience Managers and Cross Functional Leaders
Purpose Strengthen enterprise level decision clarity, structural alignment, and performance discipline so strategy translates into consistent results across departments.
Overview Senior leaders often face persistent execution challenges that cannot be solved through individual effort or isolated process improvement. Decisions stall, cross functional coordination breaks down, accountability blurs, and leaders spend significant time resolving escalations.
This certificate focuses on strengthening the organizational design elements that influence enterprise performance. Participants examine decision flow, authority boundaries, escalation patterns, and performance indicators to identify practical adjustments that improve clarity and stability across the organization.
The emphasis is disciplined enterprise leadership design.
Week by Week Focus Week 1: Diagnosing Enterprise Decision Bottlenecks Week 2: Aligning Structure With Strategic Priorities Week 3: Reducing Recurring Firefighting Patterns Week 4: Clarifying Decision Rights and Accountability Boundaries Week 5: Strengthening Enterprise Perfonnance Indicators Week 6: Conducting an Enterprise Performance Review
Audience Directors and Senior Leaders
Dr. Darron Lockett is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Creative Excellence Group (CEG), an advisory and organizational capability development firm that helps organizations strengthen performance by developing leaders and teams, improving how work is designed and executed, and applying artificial intelligence where it can deliver measurable results. CEG’s work spans leadership and workforce development, operational and process improvement, and practical AI-enabled solution design.
Dr. Lockett brings decades of leadership and transformation experience spanning manufacturing, supply chain and distribution, financial services, enterprise risk management, process improvement, and business and technology transformation. His experience includes serving as Head of Process Excellence and Transformation for Wells Fargo Human Resources, where he led large-scale process improvement and enterprise transformation efforts that contributed to measurable performance improvements and multi-million-dollar organizational benefits.
Dr. Lockett is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and has trained, coached, and mentored professionals in leadership, problem solving, operational effectiveness, and process improvement.
He holds a Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where his research focused on applying fairness, transparency, and explainability in AI-enabled decision systems. His instructional approach emphasizes learning by doing, practical application, and real-world relevance, helping participants apply concepts and tools to business and operational challenges in their own organizations.
