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Commitment is magic in magic-bullet management schemes - Dave Murphy

The next time your company brings in a consultant to teach you anything, think about Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz." When she wanted to fulfill her dream of getting back home, all she had to do was click her heels together and say, "There's no place like home." Right?

That's what companies like to believe when they bring in consultants. A little magic, a little mantra and -- voila! -- the world is a better place.

But Dorothy wouldn't have learned much if things were really that simple. For the lesson to mean anything, she had to enlist three friends, take a long journey and overcome her demons: the Wicked Witch and her cohorts.

And she had to believe, deep down, that clicking her heels together would actually do some good. Then, finally, she was ready to wake up.

A good book called "The Power of Six Sigma" made me think of Dorothy's adventures.

Author Subir Chowdhury uses a fable to explain how the management strategy called Six Sigma works. His two main characters frequently talk about their cynicism toward all the other management initiatives they have seen -- programs that provided hot air and not-so-hot results.

In his preface, Chowdhury explains how many Fortune 500 companies signed up for Six Sigma once General Electric's acclaimed leader, Jack Welch, strongly praised the program. But a lot of those companies haven't gotten the same sorts of results that GE did.

"The program is supposed to drive out fear," Chowdhury writes, "but I saw fear alive and well and in everyone's blood."

He wrote the book to help people understand Six Sigma, and he does a good job of that.

But the cynic in me keeps going back to this: For Six Sigma or any other fresh management strategy to work, your company's managers have to have at least as much insight as a prepubescent girl from Kansas.

How many companies can say that?

Because of her journey, Dorothy sincerely believed that clicking her heels together would work. But too many top managers bring in consultants and programs because their boards of directors recommend them or Welch swears by them or they promise great results, not because the managers sincerely believe the programs will do any good. Often they don't understand the programs well enough to know whether they will help.

When things get tough, human nature steers people away from change. If a new program runs into difficulty and the top people don't sincerely believe in it, they'll run back to the safety of the status quo. The latest management fad will die faster than you can say XFL.

As Chowdhury explains it, Six Sigma's main goal is to reduce errors and waste in systematic ways that will lead to greater client satisfaction and higher profits. Among the main steps in the process are:

-- Assign a middle manager to be in charge and work full time on the project. The manager, referred to as a Black Belt, would be supervised by an executive responsible for overseeing, funding and supporting the projects, but it would be up to the Black Belt to identify which problems are the most significant and how they can best be solved.

-- Give all Black Belts four weeks of training, but in one-week increments, so they have a chance to go back to work and apply what they've learned.

-- Make the Black Belts and their teams responsible for defining where the underlying problems are and eliminating them.

They need to measure the company's current status and where they want to be -- using numerical goals, not subjective measures -- then analyze the data, decide how to improve the situation and put in a control system to make sure that the improvements stick.

-- Give specific duties and financial rewards to the Black Belts and their teams, assuming they accomplish their goals and save the company money.

Obviously, this is tremendously simplified, but Six Sigma has some strong benefits. Having talented middle managers in charge is smart for several reasons: They have enough technical expertise to brainstorm with the rank-and filers on their team; they can be reassigned to the project full time in ways that top managers probably could not be, and it gives companies a chance to challenge and reward their best middle managers.

Having the training in increments also makes sense. As Chowdhury points out, too many consultants engage in "data dumps," simply pouring a bunch of ideas into your head without ever spending the time to determine how much of it has sunk in -- and without the company ever applying it to your day-to-day job.

Again, though, it all eventually comes down to the company's top management.

At GE, Welch said people who wanted to be promoted had better become Black Belts. He made it very clear that management supported the program and that doing a Six Sigma assignment wasn't an exercise in futility.

Whether it's Six Sigma or any other management strategy, top managers need to follow a simple rule: If you don't honestly believe in the strategy, don't waste everyone's time by trying to adopt it.

You need a brain, a heart and courage to get you to Oz. Otherwise, you're not clicking your heels -- you're just dragging your feet.

The Power of Six Sigma
Subir Chowdhury. Dearborn, $17.95 (128p) ISBN 0-7931-4434-5

Using a format similar to that in Spenser Johnson's Who Moved My Cheese?, Chowdhury (Management 21C) has created a fictional story that exemplifies the benefits of the business philosophy called Six Sigma. In Chowdhury's rendering, Joe, a middle-aged manager unexpectedly laid off from his position at a fast-food franchise company, is depressed and uncertain about his next move. He calls Larry, an old friend and former co-worker whose career is thriving. Over lunch, Larry explains how he has practiced Six Sigma, both to advance his career and to increase profits for his employer, and he teaches the program's basics to an initially skeptical, then wildly enthusiastic Joe. At the crux of this strategic program, advanced by GE's Jack Welch and instituted at many other major corporations, is a renewed focus on eliminating mistakes, waste and rework. Six Sigma is based on designated teams ("people power") that focus solely on solving a specific problem ("process power"), which may lead to efficiencies that please consumers and, by saving the company money, enhance the bottom line. What distinguishes Six Sigma from other popular quality management techniques, such as Total Quality Management and ISO9000, is that each team has a clear goal; moreover, employees benefit because companies usually tie a financial incentive to a team's goal. While Chowdhury's is not the first book about Six Sigma, what makes his stand out is its engaging and simple approach intended for a broad audience, from the assembly line worker to middle managers and CEOs of smaller companies. (Apr.)

Forecast: Given the attention paid to Six Sigma, and Dearborn's ambitious first printing, this book has a reasonable chance of hitting business bestseller lists if Dearborn can jump-start word-of-mouth and find ways to encourage managers to make the book required reading for employees.

REVIEW BY SHARON H. SECOR

Speaking of travel-friendly business reading, The Power of Six Sigma: An Inspiring Tale of How Six Sigma Is Transforming the Way We Work by Subir Chowdhury is a quick book, easily finished on one airplane flight, that explains in a fictional format the principles behind the business initiative, Six Sigma.

For the uninitiated, Six Sigma is the latest fad in management strategy. Embraced by Allied Signal, GE and other major corporations, Six Sigma is a top-down approach used to develop quality in products, empower employees and fatten the corporate bottom line. The focus, experts say, is to eliminate waste, mistakes and inevitable rework by following a scientific structure to achieve results. Following on the heels of ISO 9000 initiatives and Total Quality Management, many are skeptical of Six Sigma's charms.

The Power of Six Sigma is an antidote to the skepticism. Chowdhury explains in simple, interesting fashion the basic principles behind the initiative. Anyone who wonders why businesses don't seem to respond to what clients want should read this intriguing little book, and as always, anyone in business should understand the latest management initiatives. Improvement is the name of the game in any business, and Six Sigma is another way to approach the game of business and win at it.

The Power of Six Sigma:
An Inspiring Tale of How Six Sigma Is Transforming the Way We Work
By Subir Chowdhury
Dearborn, $17.95
ISBN 0793144345

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GE's Jack Welch, by the books
By Jacqueline Blais

With a first print run of 2 million, Jack Welch's memoir, Jack: Straight From the Gut (Warner Business Books, $29.95), goes on sale Tuesday.

The book has stirred interest in other books about General Electric's just-retired CEO. At Barnes & Noble's 569 bookstores, there are special displays for all the Welch books. A short list:

* Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership by Jeffrey A. Krames (McGraw Hill, $19.95). A sample from this alphabetically sorted book defining his management tactics: ''Boss Element: What Welch wanted to take out of GE.''

* Welch: An American Icon by Janet Lowe (Wiley, $24.94). If Jack Welch isn't a household name, he should be, Lowe says. ''Welch is a guy who makes a lot of things happen, all kinds of things that affect the lives of all of us, even when we're not aware of it.''

* Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will by Noel Tichy, Stratford Sherman (HarperBusiness, $19.95). The revised paperback includes an interview with Welch and his annual report letters. This is billed as the unofficial GE leadership handbook.

* At Any Cost: Jack Welch, General Electric, and the Pursuit of Profit by Thomas F. O'Boyle (Vintage, $16). This paperback tells the other side of Welch's reign: '' His way of doing business carries with it a heavy penalty, not necessarily for him or stockholders, but for the people who do his bidding and for government and society, which must often clean up his mess.''

The Power of Six Sigma by Subir Chowdhury (Dearborn, $17.95) explains the management process that Welch embraced.

* Jack Welch by Robert Heller (Dorling Kindersley, $12.95). Subtitle: The Giant of Corporate Management Who Created Billions for Investors.

* The GE Way Fieldbook by Robert Slater (McGraw-Hill, $24.95). Subtitle: Jack Welch's Battle Plan for Corporate Revolution.

* Jack Welch and the GE Way by Robert Slater (McGraw-Hill, $24.95) explains management and leadership secrets of what he calls the ''legendary CEO.''