7 Real-World Business Transformation Leaders – What They Do and Why!

7 Real-World Business Transformation Leaders – What They Do and Why!

How many out there have encountered huge, seemingly insurmountable issues at the office or plant? Have you thought or ever been told that a business transformation was in order to overcome these pains? Ok, then what in the heck is a business transformation? What does it look like? How does it feel? What does it cost, and how much of a commitment is required?  Seems a little ambiguous at best, doesn’t it?

We have been fortunate enough to hear from several out there who have either personally been through business transformations or who have helped others to navigate through the process.  These transformations have addressed issues such as process control and improvement, managerial modifications, market innovations, and others. The thing that we learned is that “transformations” can be set into action to address any number of business problems.  They can also be incredibly effective and, quite frankly, fun and fulfilling! Don’t be afraid to tread into the water!

With no further adieu, here are a few case studies.  The hope is that it will help you to see new ways to resolve some of your own business problems.  In some cases, names and contact info is provided so that you can reach out to the expert who has been there/done that, and pursue deeper tracks down that road.

1) Attaining Team-Driven Goals Across Departmental Boundaries - Artie Lynnworth (http://artie.lynnworth.com/)

Artie is a former VP of a plastics manufacturing division. He is now also an author whose latest book, Slice the Salami, Tips for Life and Leadership, One Slice at a Time, draws upon his years of management and leadership to convey his true passion of teaching others the tools and habits needed to succeed in life and work.

Artie Shares:

“Customer satisfaction can be turned around when there is a dedicated team effort to understand the problems and then rapidly institute sincere improvements.”

“Remarkable achievement is possible when each team member is motivated, understands the importance of his or her individual contribution, and harmonizes with peers to meet the challenge.”

According to Artie, the plastics business unit had lost money for years; customers lacked confidence in his company’s capability to produce quality products at competitive costs. Key leaders met with one another and they, in turn, met with top clients.  No holds were barred as straight shots were delivered concerning their lackluster company performance.

§  The manufacturing team zeroed-in on safety, quality and cost.  §  The R&D group identified facility upgrades required so that they could more effectively develop new products. §  Marketing fine-tuned strategies for a competitive edge. §  Sales addressed short and long-term objectives for the most promising markets. §  Finance focused on understanding key drivers and controlling them.

Marketing and R&D efforts generated over three dozen new product offerings, combined with an aggressive sales effort which gained 14 million pounds of new molding compound business in a declining market and 12 million pounds of new resin business.  The manufacturing plants had a tenfold reduction in injuries, sharpening attention to detail and discipline, all helping to reduce costs and improve product quality. The next year we made a profit and the following year increased profits another 40%. A new green-field plant was constructed and market penetration further increased. Teamwork worked!

PA Comment: This is what we might call a holistic homerun!  Any time you can get every department to put in their best efforts and work together to achieve a goal, there’s something special going on!

2) Cultural Conditioning- Libby Wagner (www.libbywagner.com), c/o Tara Goodwin Frier

Libby Wagner, author of the new business book, The Influencing Option – the Art of Building a Profit Culture in Business, helps companies transform their businesses into profit cultures. She has worked with many large and small companies; and recently helped a Seattle office furniture design company (Apex Facility Resources) increase its revenues by 90% and profit margin by 60% in a year where the industry was down more than 40%.

Here are some thoughts by Libby that really convey the critical role that cultural considerations can play in the change process:

“Often, when companies need to make changes in process improvement, product development, or expand their markets, they need the culture to support the change. This is why many great ideas often never get implemented in the ordinary company: we think of great things, great goals, and we may even change our processes, but we often don’t think about the cultural change that might occur to sabotage the efforts…

For example, when a large health care organization changed locations to upgrade their technology so they could better serve their customers and push them out in front of the competition, they decided to implement a pod-type of office space where not many had a “Home” desk, and they moved small filing cabinets up to separate work areas. Employees are not allowed to have personal photos or eat at their desks. They spent SIX MONTHS arguing and trying to differentiate between “meals” and “snacks” since the former was not allowed at a desk, but the latter was. That policy was a cultural change the company did not anticipate, and time loss and customer service quality may have negatively impacted the overall positives that resulted from the move to the higher-tech call center”.

PA Comment: Great points here. All the process improvement in the world can be undermined by some seemingly minor cultural value that was never addressed at the onset.

3) Amending the Business Process - Guidon Performance Solutions (http://www.guidonps.com), c/o Lora Johnson

Guidon Performance Solutions is a consulting organization that leads the charge to use Lean Six Sigma in service organizations. Ron Wince, CEO and President, works with organizations across the country to help improve efficiency, productivity and overall customer satisfaction. Take a look here for some great case studies: http://www.guidonps.com/ideas-and-resources/case-studies/

Here is an outline of a Guidon Case Study focusing on Process Analysis and Restructuring in a Healthcare Organization: 

Client: A prominent not-for-profit healthcare insurance organization Industry: Insurance, Healthcare Service: Lean Training, Process Mapping, Lean rapid process improvement (Kaizen)

Challenge:

• Reduce process complexity and shorten the lead time for three of five billing service lines
• Formalize large, complex, informal processes

Solutions:

• Organize the department around the flow of work rather than function
• Identify optimum process flow

Results:

• Process steps in each service line were cut by at least 30% and some as much as 60%
• Overall lead times dropped in each service line by 1/3 to 1/2 or more
• Targeted captured payments goal for year-end was exceeded by 40%

PA Comment: Lean is an unbelievably powerful, yet intuitive tool that will work wonders in just about any field.  No one can argue with the impressive results of this project.  We appreciate seeing and hearing about Lean successes in sectors outside of its traditional manufacturing niche.

4) Unleashing People Potential - Hire Authority (www.hireauthority.com), Carol Quinn

Carol Quinn founded Hire Authority, an educational services organization dedicated to providing training products that maximize corporate and personal success.  Also the author of the book, Outrageous Potential Unleashed – Leadership Edition, Carol has a passion for raising the bar in the potential of the people involved in each business.

An excerpt here from her book illustrates the importance of people in the transformation process or anywhere in business operations:

“[It] will help you maximize the performance of your company’s most crucial asset — people. This solution-oriented approach to corporate leadership cultivates a philosophy that achievement is always within reach. This book works hand-in-hand with the book Awakening Outrageous Potential“

PA Comment: The potential hidden in people are rich treasures to be nurtured and harvested.  Bringing out the passions and abilities of all employees and providing a sincere sense of importance will do more than just about anything to garner business success.

5) Managing to Modify the Behavior of Management – Content Crooner (www.contentcrooner.com), Taylor Vogt

Taylor writes:

“Our biggest transformation is something that just happened earlier this week. I manage a small group of employees. We were having issues with taking the initiative. I came to find out that was because of my managing style.

After reading a blog post from our CEO, I realized how I was hampering the productivity of my team. I needed to get out of their way and let them do their jobs. They weren’t sure they had the authority and the freedom to do what they needed to do.

So I gave it to them.

I wrote a message to everyone inside our company about how I was no longer a manager, but a director. Each person now manages themselves. They have both the freedom and the authority to do whatever they need to do to get their jobs done. And assuming their normal duties are all handled, they can spend their work time doing whatever they want to do as long as it’s benefiting the company. I gave them a list of examples of things they can choose to do on company time:

§  getting involved in forums like Warrior Forum and Stack Exchange §  being talkative on our social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube §  being active in Quora §  commenting on all our blogs (crooner lounge, getting paid, watch us rework) §  write articles and blog posts §  sign up for Help A Reporter Out and look for all opportunities

They also have the option of thinking of their own things to do. As long as they’re doing something that helps the company and have proof of productivity, they can do it on company time. Since posting that message and letting everyone truly make their jobs their own, we’ve seen productivity and satisfaction sky-rocket. It’s the best thing that’s happened to our company.”

PA Comment: The epitome of an awesome manager here!  No selfishness or arrogance.  Just plain, pure admission of a shortcoming that has now been turned around to quite possibly create a working environment that most will only dream of.

6) Social Performance Software that empowers managers and employees to work better, together  - Rypple (www.rypple.com), c/o co-CEO Daniel Debow Daniel writes: Rypple is social software that helps teams perform better and accelerate their goals. Managers can ensure their teams get the continuous feedback and coaching they need to learn faster and develop their skills. That means employees no longer have to rely on painful performance reviews as the only means for feedback, goal setting, and recognition. Rypple has distilled 50 years of management expertise and behavioral science into a social, easy-to-use, and real-time platform that empowers every manager to to do what great managers have always done: provide continuous feedback, one-on-one coaching, and meaningful recognition to their teams.   

PA Comment: Rypple provides a software platform that encourages and facilitates performance feedback –  early and often. Just like driving a car, you can’t know whether to speed up or slow down with out the real-time feedback from the speedometer.  Awesome concept Rypple!

7) Sprinkling in some Business Market Innovation to Corner the Cupcakes!  - Dollhouse Bake Shoppe (http://www.dollhousebakeshoppe.com, http://twitter.com/DBS_LA , http://blog.dollhousebakeshoppe.com/ )

Dollhouse Bake Shoppe was founded in 2009 by owner Lindsay Morton, and has quickly become recognized as the new innovative leader in the baking industry with the introduction of their DIY Dessert Kits and creative baking blog.

“Lindsay’s vision to provide the opportunity for people across America to be able to prepare gourmet desserts and edible works of art, in a quick, simple, and affordable way, has become her signature approach in this vastly growing market.

By transforming her award winning recipes into “from scratch” all natural dessert mixes, Dollhouse Bake Shoppe introduced their original line of DIY Dessert Kits, providing you with everything you need to create professional artisan baked goods quickly, easily and affordably right in the comfort of your own home.

This business transition took the pressure off all of the local bakery competition in LA and offered the public something new, on a nationwide level, increasing sales, recognition for this truly unique product, setting Dollhouse Bake Shoppe apart from the rest in this industry. This business improvement and transition into a new market proved to have been a very successful decision.”

PA Comment: Business and Market Innovation will move mountains… Businesses in any industry can and should utilize creative, off-the-wall ideas to not only set them apart, but quite possibly even create a whole new market! Kudos for cupcakes!   

Thanks to all who have contributed to this article.  We couldn’t have done it without getting the unique perspectives of an assortment of business people from very different backgrounds. Teamwork worked!

 

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