Since creating this website, I’ve expanded my knowledge of Six Sigma practices and techniques far beyond my preparations to pass the Villanova Six Sigma Black Belt exam. One of the most frequent questions I get is centered on How I Passed the Villanova Six Sigma Black Belt Exam on the first try.
How I Passed the Villanova Six Sigma Black Belt Exam on the First Try
It’s an important question. Candidates usually take the exam after months of preparation and sometimes after thousands of dollars spent – either by their company or on their own. Sometimes, passing the exam is a job requirement; if you fail, you lose your job.
Before we dive in, I’ll summarize what I did. I took all of the questions that I could find and made sure I understood all of them. If you’re getting ready, please check out my guides here. Exam candidates report a 100% success rate on passing their exams (ASQ, IASSC, and Villanova) by using my study guide and mock exams. That includes black belts looking for a refresher. If you want to pass your exam, consider signing up here.
Personally, passing the exam was a job requirement as part of a new prestigious – and challenging – position I was offered in my company. I needed to pass the test as quickly as possible. Of course, I had to fit that into a demanding career requiring travel and long hours. My wife and I also welcomed our first daughter during this time. Since we both work, that meant long days and nights for both of us. Time was at a premium; the stakes were high, so I knew I had to optimize my time. If you’re interested in hearing about how I felt about all of that, check out this article What I was Worried About Before My Exam.
How I Passed the Villanova Six Sigma Black Belt Exam: My Process
My plan of attack was as follows:
- Talk to people who had passed and failed the exam
- Affinitize the best practices of the people who passed the exam.
- Find out what the people who failed did wrong.
- Find people who passed the exam on the second try and do whatever they said made the difference.
Also, since my company provided it, I took the Villanova Six Sigma Black Belt course.
My Findings
When I talked to people who passed it, they said, ‘Just study and you’ll be fine.’
That wasn’t good enough for me. What if they were smarter, had better memories, or had an easier test than the one I would sit for? Also – study what? There had to be an optimized way of performing.
The Breakthrough
Then, I talked to people who failed the first time. I asked what they would do differently. I made sure I did all of that. It was overkill, but I was prepared!!! Here are the best suggestions that I found:
Take a Course and Master it.
Check. As I said before, I was taking the Villanova course as my company was paying for it. I resolved to do the following:
- Complete all of the readings
- Including those not only required to pass it but the suggested ones as well.
- Watch all of the videos
- Participate in all of the instructor-led lessons.
- I could never make the time to attend live, but I watched all of the sessions during my off hours.
- Completed all problem sets for every topic, not just the ones assigned.
- Do every portion of the graded case study.
- Retake every quiz involved with the course.
- You needed a 70% grade on each quiz to pass the course. I received a passing grade on each quiz on the first try, but since they give you three chances to take the quiz, I re-took each quiz until I ran out of chances.
- I studied any question I got wrong.
- Knowing the correct answer and why the other questions were incorrect was essential.
Study the Published Body of Knowledge (BOK)
Each certification organization states the topics they will be covering in the certification. This is referred to as the Body of Knowledge or BOK. An important note to remember is that an organization may offer a training course, but that course will NOT teach you everything you need to know for the exam. That means that simply studying provided training materials IS NOT ENOUGH!
You must be fluent in all materials in the Villanova Six Sigma BOK.
To prepare for the BOK, I ensured I understood each area they asked me. To help you study, I’ve listed each BOK subject for three major certifying organizations. I’ve linked my study notes on each topic.
- Villanova Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge
- ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge
- IASSC Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge
I also studied all the questions I could find on those topics. To achieve mastery, you must be able to answer questions using any vocabulary set people use. Fortunately, plenty of free University resources exist on many of these topics – especially probability and statistics.
Synthesized the BOK
The BOKs for each certification are excellent. But I found them to be very disjointed. In my mind, it makes little sense to organize the demands of the certification that way. After all, that’s not how you would apply the knowledge. Also, there is little context. It’s difficult to see how one concept complements another.
That cognitive dissonance made it very difficult for me to remember all of the material, so I chopped it into sections on how you would apply it. You can see how I did so here under Six Sigma Tools Walk Through.
Along the way, I made this website by transcribing all of my hand-written notes to pages! This practice helped me gather multiple viewpoints in one area. I wrote comprehensive articles on the concepts for many topics to help me learn them better. I also searched for YouTube videos to get different perspectives.
Supplemental Reading
Since the certification test is comprehensive and not merely a final exam, it covers more than what is in the course. Whenever an outside reference was mentioned, I made sure to read it. Also, I asked others about how else I could deepen my knowledge.
Check here to see the list of supplemental reading materials I covered in preparation for the Six Sigma black belt exam.
Real-Life Application
Whenever I read something in the Wall Street Journal or anywhere else that applied to Six Sigma principles, I would share it on LinkedIn or email it to colleagues and try to converse with other members. The goal here was to try to see the applicability of it in what I was learning in the real world. For example, articles on new product development = Design for Six Sigma or TRIZ. New Processes or process changes that led to businesses losing out to competitors usually boiled down to a root cause of the company not mapping CTCs to CTQs.
Also, I again used visualization techniques to help out. I did this by imagining myself talking to my company’s leaders about opportunities in their divisions regarding the techniques I was learning. Alternately, I’d imagine an articulated elevator speech relating to an issue I saw in the world or a concept I learned from the top 100 CEOs.
Explaining Six Sigma and how it could help others is a great way to apply this material to real life. Friends and family in various positions and disciplines are certainly sick of hearing me talk about these materials by now!
I’ve recently started publishing articles on these real or imagined conversations and other factual examples under the category heading Six Sigma in Real Life.
Make Study Notes for the Exam.
Each Six Sigma Black Belt exam gives you certain kinds of notes. I made lots of decision sheets for myself. For example, use these hypothesis tests when this, not that.
It was helpful to have my notes in a format that I understood rather than looking up formulas in textbooks.
Also, I built Excel macros to help me error-check my calculations.
Practice Exams
Retaking all of the quizzes was helpful. I highlighted the items I got wrong and worked on those. Focusing on taking my lowest-scoring areas and then getting those individual areas 100% complete let me turn a weakness into a strength. Repeating that process ensured that I would be strong enough to pass regardless of how any section was weighted in the test.
Even though I was taking the Villanova Black Belt exam, I used example questions from any kind of format. This is helping me immensely as I prepare for the ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt exam.
Visualization & Reward
Envisioning yourself succeeding is a powerful psychological technique advocated in multiple disciplines. When I was in school and playing sports, I would envision the game beforehand. In soccer, I would imagine where I would line up and how I would play the opposition’s defense, pass, and execute the fundamentals of the game.
I’m unsure if this ever helped me play better, but it did drown out the voices of doubt that come into every competitor’s mind. I continue this practice to this day before adventure races, triathlons, or other events.
I avoided ever verbalizing, not passing, or making self-deprecating jokes. Several colleagues would make jokes about having to take the test twice. While that can help calm some people’s nerves, you must be certain not to make those statements a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I also believe that positive reinforcement is more effective than negative. The threat of losing one’s job if you don’t pass an exam is an excellent motivator, but having a positive goal to shoot for is more fulfilling. Instead of worrying about what I would do if I didn’t pass the exam, I focused on what the rewards would be once I did pass. I imagined receiving the Six Sigma Black Belt certificate. Closing my eyes, I imagined how good it would feel with my mentors and colleagues congratulating me. I imagined updating my LinkedIn resume with the new accomplishment!
Finally, I wanted to reward myself for the effort, whether I passed or failed. There was a 3-day weekend coming up right after my test, so my wife and I took a day of vacation to extend it to 4 days. We rented a beach house with several of our other friends and their families. All of the guys made plans to do a deep-sea fishing trip.
Whether I passed or failed, I would enjoy a great vacation with my family and be surrounded by good friends. I’ll admit that I combined the techniques, and whenever the preparation for the exam got tough, I visualized playing on the beach with my family, catching fish with my friends, and telling them repeatedly how I passed the exam.
Where to Take the Exam
The ASQ is a proctored exam, so you have to take that at the appropriate center. The Villanova is entirely online. As we know, ‘Variation is the enemy!’ So, I focused on choosing an area where I had the best chance of performing well.
Even though my internet connection at home was not the best, I knew I could focus there. Several colleagues would take the exam at work after hours, but this would not be a great strategy for me.
As I took the exam at home, I focused on making one room quiet, clean, and calm.
I organized all of my notes. Then, I eliminated distractions by cleaning out everything from the room. I even installed Sun blocking drapes so there would not be a glare on my monitor.
The Day Before the Exam
I had to work. Being busy there was a blessing. Diving deep into work is a great distraction! Leading up to the exam, I made time for exercise -even if it were only 30 minutes a day, I would be sure to have a great workout and follow a clean diet, avoiding sugar and caffeine while having as many vegetables and fruits as possible.
After work, I avoided television, internet, and anything else. To clear my mind, I played with my daughter. After she went to bed, I read fiction in a bid to avoid anxiety. Cramming the night before is counterproductive. If you have prepared, you will succeed. If not, maybe you will get lucky. Twenty-four hours out, the die is already cast.
The best thing you can do is to have a restful night’s sleep, so I focused there. Sleeping aids make me drowsy, but Melatonin Tablets are a good natural alternative. I honestly don’t know if there is any science to melatonin. To me, it’s irrelevant. Even if the benefits I get from it are the same as a sugar pill, I still get a great night’s sleep.
The Day of the Exam
Per my plan, I worked from home. Made sure no one was around the house. I blocked out 4 hours. I dropped my daughter off at daycare, got my coffee, and put up dark sun-blocking drapes. Organized my materials in my home office/guest room. Things were on the bed behind me and all over! The excels that I made were up. I had my calculator set.
It took 4 hours, and I went through answering all the ones I was sure of and ‘starring’ anything I did not. I made a list of the questions I was close to but not certain. Then, I made a 2nd list of the ones I had no idea.
I went through working the ones I had narrowed it down and re-read. I’m hoping my subconscious had a chance to digest it. Also made sure that I read the questions correctly.
Many people warned me about how awkwardly worded the questions were and that they might make no sense with the use of double and triple negatives! I noted any questions with awkward writing and made certain to revisit them and read them carefully.
Results
A day or two later, the results came in. I passed with a great grade. Even better, I dramatically improved my understanding of Six Sigma tools and techniques, gaining skills that have helped me create great value for my clients and my company.
I followed through with my plans and had a great weekend with my family and friends. We even caught a bunch of tasty fish!
