Unplanned events are bad business. They pose safety hazards to employees and the environment and can waste upwards of 10% of company revenues and 45 work days per year. It's time to take the leadership position back from unplanned events. Dow Chemical has the formula for doing precisely that. Jeff Dudley, Dow's Director of Maintenance and Reliability, has spent over 12 years studying leadership, and in particular the leadership characteristics of high reliability organizations (HROs). While most companies are taking steps to minimize unplanned events, they often confuse management with leadership, says Jeff. Management is transactional, leadership is transformational. While both are important, the HRO focuses not only on successfully directing reliability initiatives (transactional, with short term goals), but at the same time actively forges a reliability culture (transformational, with long term goals) where unplanned events are not acceptable.
Introducing cultural change
Cultural change is an ongoing process, and everyone has a hand in creating it through choices made collectively and individually. According to Jeff, the pivotal moment in cultural transformation comes after the individual has alignment with, and an understanding of, the goal.
"Once the appropriate level of awareness of the goal is created, the individual owns the goal and must make a decision," says Jeff. "At this point, the successful transformation boils down to personal leadership. The individual will either say, 'Yup, someone needs to do something' or 'I need to do something.' Once individuals embrace personal responsibility for minimizing unplanned events, cultural change is put into motion."
Maximizing efficiency isn't enough in today's economic environment. Companies like Dow have recognized the emergence of the knowledge worker and the importance of making more productive the specific strengths and knowledge of every individual. The knowledge worker wants to be challenged to lead, not only serve. But knowledge is just one side of the leadership equation. Unless you understand, you cannot lead, and understanding requires a combination of knowledge and experience. This is a key differentiator in HROs.
Once individuals have embraced the idea of "I need to do something" and begin applying what they know, they must have the ability to learn from their applications. Learning is a key factor in successfully accomplishing cultural change. Without the use of an asset performance management system like Meridium, capable of capturing and analyzing applied equipment strategies (experience) on a continuous basis, reaching the level of understanding necessary for personal leadership is limited and cultural change jeopardized. Meridium is helping Dow minimize unplanned events by creating an army of leaders embracing the HRO behaviors of:
- Sensitivity to operations
- Defer to experts
- Plan on failure
- Do not over simplify
- Remain resilient
So what is Dow doing with that extra 45 days a year? Thinking strategically, rather than letting unplanned events take the leadership position.
Click here to view the video presentation, Your Leadership Will Lead to Operational Excellence, by Jeff Dudley, Director of Maintenance and Reliability, Dow Chemical.
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