Large transformation and cost optimization thru change
projects cannot be accomplished only with incremental efforts although they are
very important to build the organization DNA, breakthrough improvement should
be the focus and grab all opportunities with both hands wide open…
My objective was to go beyond the orthodox methods and focus
on experiments, unless one experiments with various models it’s very difficult
to get the breakthrough. Conceptually I found everyone in agreement with my
proposal to experiment and hardly anyone agreeing to budget and fund it … alas
… have I wished I was elsewhere … nonetheless I did not lose heart and
continued to play more of a sales man role instead with a focus to get the
budget for experimenting.
With a lot of travels and a series of meetings I found a
cloud with a silver lining and the hope grew positive as I finally found one
person to invest in my pilot.
Excited with the initial investment and support I set forth
with the plans in place just to meet the end very soon and saw the initiative
reaching its unexpected failure…, things did not go as planned and money
wasted… I almost lost faith and my face value only to find the sponsor is interested
in the idea and wanted to fund more … Surprise Surprise … ! … Thank god… my
days look bright…
I did find an interesting and matured leader who joined
hands to champion the efforts as a co-owned project execution being a strong promoter…
we started it all over again and this time all the knots tied with roles and
responsibilities not only aligned but tracked … the team members were from
lower bands much hands on SMEs unlike the leadership bands who we had on our
team previously, we had a very different strategy and focus was on straight
forward execution instead of a traditional approach of gathering buy in and
selling the idea … engagement etc… it was very clear… either do what is told or
look at different opportunities for yourself.., a lot of strong decisions were
taken and of course there were people who got irked and watched us with
eyebrows raised… three months of the pilot and from the fourth month we started
to see the results … overwhelmed we started to dream if this can be extrapolated
across the organization we will easily make a savings of $ 23 Million YOY … multiplication is a very good mathematical application and in all practical
purposes should not be used loosely… our experiences held us back and reminded
it’s only the pilot which is successful … now with this success we should go to
the world out there to build momentum
and gather buy in…
Unlike me there are lot of people bubbling with energy, top
leaders with more experience than me and not to be surprised while I find my
creativity God’s Gift there are few leaders who consider themselves as God.
Manoeuvring thru the egos and ethos proving people with a lot of case studies,
Industry best practices and expert transcripts helped me propose a structure to
be put in place and projects be picked up which will help accomplish the goal…
while traditional Lean and Six Sigma team will continue to focus on incremental
improvements and cycle time improvement where the gains are intangible and
notional we will need another team focusing on accelerating the Change … the
real multi dollar gains will come from large transformational projects using
the principles of TRIZ coupled with tools of Lean Six Sigma and change
acceleration. The thought process was very simple … address the wants instead
of the need…!
With the key pillars and approaches identified, I moved on
proposing the team structure. This is the most important part of the proposal;
while I was clear that each of the pillars be run by a separate leader and roll
up to the program there were few suggestions which were of an all-rounder
approach… every one doing everything. I don’t deny this approach, but at least
in the initial stages it is important to establish clarity and set the right
direction and I chose the following team structure.
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