Unleashing Potential
Some claim manufacturing is dead in America—costs are too high, capabilities too few. But this claim is far off the mark. Company after company is discovering that enormous potential exists and can be unleashed to create sustainable competitive performance. Rather than giving in, they are achieving long term success.
It’s not easy of course. Without an effective process the attempted improvement will fall short of targets. To be successful, three key principles must be followed by leaders and their teams:
- Leadership—There can be no substitute for strong, committed leaders who are willing to stake their careers on ratcheting up performance. That includes the executive champions and project team leaders.
- Abandoning Assumptions—Too often the search for improvement is constrained by “well-accepted” assumptions of how fast a machine can turn out its product or the level of output a plant can produce in a day. The leader must move the team beyond such assumptions and instead start with considering the high bar of theoretical performance targets–that is, targets set from a “Zero Based” concept. By starting here radical, yet achievable, enhancement opportunities will be found. Once the scope of inquiry is widened possibilities abound.
- Lead with Results—Building from this theoretical basis the team takes actions to generate results early, to demonstrate progress and to build commitment and confidence. Most studies estimate programs designed to change behavior yield a paltry 20% success rate. Why? Largely because the focus in on the change process itself rather than on results. The successful teams concentrate on delivering results early and often.
Unleashing potential is possible and necessary for success. To learn more visit Stroud Consulting at www.stroudconsulting.com.