[jwatte]

I believe the NPS mechanism of "6 is bad" intends to capture more psychology than the statistical analysis on the article gives it credit for.

That being said, I agree that a three point scale would be better in most cases.

The focus on the number proves the saying: when a metric turns into a goal, it ceases to be useful. The goal should be "dollars earned." All the metrics should just assist in improving this metric. Else you'll get the bad statistical hacking described. Those hacks are not just for NPS; I think we've all seen them from various companies.

Of course, dollars earned also ends up being gamed (see also: Enron) but at least there are usually better safeguards against this in most organizations. And increasing dollars earned are usually a good end state.