Even the WSJ Doesn't Understand Six Sigma
Most astute business people know better than to fall into the same trap as neophytes: Just because you can show correlation between two variables, you have not proved causation.
An article published by the Wall Street Journal, “The Six Sigma Factor for Home Depot” on January 4th, 2007, following the departure of Bob Nardelli is erroneous and misleading to the public. Karen Richardson’s assertion that “The departure of Robert Nardelli…..is another example of Six Sigma…not panning out as promised”, is fundamentally incorrect. Since when does the departure of a CEO evidence the failure of a methodology? Are we to assume that Six Sigma is the single point of failure in Bob Nardelli’s tenure at Home Depot, are we to dismiss all his management experience and talented lieutenants out of hand??? Are we to assume that Six Sigma is the elixir to all corporate ailments and it can correct years of poor strategy?
Furthermore, how can one claim that Six Sigma is the single cause for Home Depot’s weak stock price? This is a laughable assertion. Ostensibly, Bob Nardelli was brought to Home Depot to help in many areas. As Six Sigma practitioners we do not engage in this type of data poor nay saying. If Ms. Richardson wants to (credibly) claim that Six Sigma is THE failure point, then she MUST perform 2 tasks:
- Identify all the variables that contribute to a flagging stock price (it should be easy just ask the opinion of QualPro’s CEO), and
- Statistically prove that these variables did NOT contribute to a weak stock price (only Six Sigma contributed)
The failure to accomplish these two steps renders Ms. Richardson’s conclusion null and void, as it is based purely on hearsay and gut feel.
The Journal should understand the implication of such articles before it rushes to sing the swan song of yet another departed CEO. Six Sigma was never the panacea that Ms. Richardson so gently presents. Rather, it is a methodology, a way of thinking, a culture change mechanism. But it is not, nor should it be presented as the singular reason for the underperformance of companies. That is infantile at best and unscrupulous at worst.
Shahbaz Shahbazi - ProcessArc, Inc.
