Commenting on HBR Blog: Dismantle Trust between IT and the Business

Just read the HBR blog that Evan sent my way.
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/hbr/cramm/2009/07/dismantling-mistrust-between-i.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-TOPICEMAIL-_-JUL_2009-_-TECHNOLOGY2

To summarize, it advocates empowering business users by delegating the more routine IT tasks to them (such as reporting).

I agree! However, the problem it raises about IT fears about the business customer 'messing things up' and the business feeling snobbed by IT folks is really more about the training component more than anything else.

How can we use Six Sigma in this scenario?

If we, IT folks, believe that Six Sigma is about the customer, and that we are committed to the strategy described by the HBR blogger, then, a prerequisite should be making sure enough time and attention is devoted to training. One cannot expect the customer to get up to speed with the process by themselves. After all, even IT had to learn it.

The fear of the customer 'messing up' is probably valid (without the training). Also, IT is truly behaving like a snob by not acknowledging the fact that training is an absolute necessity (as if they learned intuitively).

Acknowledge training as an essential part of the adoption process. Plan it accordingly. Devote resources to its completion. Then, the article's premise holds!