The Voices We Hear

Like most of you, I sit amazed at the downfall of South Carolina's governor, Mark Sanford. I have mixed emotions. Sure, he committed a sin. But this is between him and God to sort out. Not me and you to judge him.

A part of me feels bad for him. Since the revelation, I have spoken several prayers for him and his family. It is sad in so many ways. But life moves on hopefully in a good way for him and his family.

Governor Sanford heard a voice. We all hear the voice. The words entice us to do something we know is wrong. At times, the voice comes at us in an incessant whisper. Often, it screams at us and seems to push and pull in an effort to get us to listen.

The essence of life is how we respond to this voice. In short, without a solid relationship with God, we will never be able to ignore the voice. Even with God, the voice will nip at us. It will never quit. Jesus himself was often tempted by the voice but he never gave in to the voice.

There are two concepts in process improvement that come to my mind as I collect my thoughts on this issue. Both involve the management of variation.

First, there is a statistical control chart. Control charts are great tools for controlling a process and are often implemented in the control phase of a six sigma project. From a control chart, we see multiple sources of variation. We see the variation WITHIN a subgroup and the variation BETWEEN a subgroup. For the chart to be effective, the variation WITHIN must be minimal in order to detect variation BETWEEN groups of collected data.

Second, analysis of variance (ANOVA)is a tool often used in the analyze phase of a six sigma project. ANOVA compares the means of two or more populations. It does this by comparing the variation WITHIN each population to the variation BETWEEN the populations. One of the assumptions in ANOVA is the variation WITHIN is the same for each population. For example, say we have five machines in our department and each machine produces the same part. It would be good to know if the machines produce similar output. ANOVA will compare the output WITHIN each machine to the output BETWEEN machines. If the variation WITHIN is larger that the variation BETWEEN machines, the machines may be seen as the same even if there are noticeable differences between the machines.

So by now, hopefully you have picked on the concept of variation WITHIN something and the variation BETWEEN somethings. Let's make it personal. We all have variation within ourselves. Part of this variation is the voice that I mention above. To be good professionals, parents, and spouses, we must work to minimize this variation. If you drink too much, stop! If you never exercise, start!

One of God's commandments is that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Well, we can't love others (analogous to variation between) if we don't love ourselves. (analogous to the variation within). This is why I am so passionate about personal and professional development. If we don't reduce the variation within our lives, it is silly to think we can positively influence the lives of others.