Bob Nardelli is Chrysler’s new CEO. He was ousted from the top seat at Home Depot, it seems, because of his relationships, or lack thereof, with shareholders. Actually, as the story goes, Nardelli was abrupt and harsh with shareholders at a meeting where he did not answer their questions. And soon after, he was gone. One bad meeting and your ousted..um…OK. Maybe there was more?  You can read about it here.

Now, after receiving $210 million dollars on his way out of Home Depot (all negotiated in his contract), he’s now the top dog at Chrysler. One journalist at the Wall Street Journal suggested Chrysler might have wanted him because of his work at GE and his understanding of Six Sigma. Wow. Those would be good reasons to hire someone who got fired from his last job.

I don’t know Nardelli, obviously. I don’t know all of the in’s and out’s of his last gig, obviously. But, if you just stop to think about the progression–1) Nardelli loses his job at Home Depot, 2) Nardelli gets $210 million for losing his job, 3) Nardelli gets a new job in an industry he knows nothing about–but he’s really good at Six Sigma, but not so good with making nice with the shareholders, and 4) Chrysler isn’t doing so well if you haven’t noticed…

It makes me say, "What the heck?"

To be fair, Nardelli has produced results in his other jobs and he knows how to play in the CEO waters. It’s not that I’m against Nardelli, at all. I hope he does well. It’s all just intriguing to me.

Oh by the way, I watched part of the press conference where Nardelli was announced as the new CEO/Chariman. Guess what he did? He answered questions. Karma can be such a pain.