SV: Seddon on six sigma

[Øgland - Petter <petter.ogland@skatteetaten.no>]

John Seddon:

>People tell me Petter wrote on the DEN: "I wonder why John Seddon hasn't
>written a book about Six Sigma yet...".
>
>I included a short criticism of six sigma in my latest book. Aside from the
>statistical problems, any analysis that starts with 'define' will, almost
>inevitably, send people off to solve problems that managers 'see' with
their
>current 'eyes'. So 'command and control' managers inspire six sigma
>'projects' on things that currently matter to them. And these are mostly
the
>wrong things.

I haven't read the "command and control" book, but enjoyed the 1997 version
of "The case against ISO 9000" very much.  On the back of the cover, Henry
Neave says:

When Dr. Deming first heard of ISO 9000, he said, "It sounds to me as if it
could be quite a useful start".  But, as he saw and learned more of ISO
9000, particulary as it spread into America, he became increasingly negative
and dismissive toward it.

My understanding of the book "In pursuit of quality - the case against iso
9000", is that it has more to do with how ISO 9000 could be a dangerous
tool, when put in the hands of incompetent people (non-demingites), rather
than just an attack of the standard itself.

My general feeling was that such a book could be written about almost any
quality management framework, like BPR, EFQM, CMM, or Six Sigma.  

>The heavy use of reporting ensures 'results' get passed up the hierarchy
>whether or not anything got better.
>
>But the most important thing is there is no requirement in six sigma for
>managers to change their thinking.
>
>Six sigma is, to an interventionist, TQM on steroids, and it will go the
>same way.

Are you in any chance in contact with Flood and Jackson, using their type
systems thinking for quality improvement?  I thought Flood's "Beyond TQM"
(1993) was interesting, but felt it was too shallow.  The idea of
interpreting SoPK through Stafford Beer's ideas of using cybernetics for
understanding organisations was good, I felt, but the book itself seemed to
have been written in a hurry.


Petter Ogland