Case study · Electrical engineering · Production plant in China
Leadership development is the cultural change
How a profound cultural change took place at a production plant in China – because the managers were not trained alongside the project, but developed themselves within the project.
Double-digit productivity increase after 1.5 years
At a glance
Project profile
- Client: International manufacturer of generators and electrical machines
- Location: Production plant in China
- Industry: Power generation, electrical engineering
- Topic: Cultural change with project-integrated leadership development, Lean
- Duration: 18 months
Starting point
A plant with high standards
The customer supplies generators for a wide range of industrial applications. The plant is an important production base for the Asia-Pacific region.
Large customers continuously measure their suppliers on quality and delivery performance. Lean methods alone are not enough for this. It takes managers and teams who take responsibility, address problems openly and keep developing themselves.
The core of the approach
Leadership development does not run alongside the cultural change. It is the cultural change.
The usual way
Managers attend a training course, come back enthusiastic and introduce a new tool. Part of the team joins in, part stays silent, part resists. After a few months, nobody talks about it any more. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Our approach in the plant
The managers developed themselves within the project – on their real tasks, with their real team. Every improvement step in the plant was also a learning step for the leadership. This changes not only the tool, but the mindset behind it.
The model behind it
Culture changes through mindset and basic assumptions
According to Edgar Schein, corporate culture manifests itself on several levels. Our cultural change model starts where change really happens – with purpose and basic assumptions.
Away from
Status Quo
Traditional organisation
Worldview
Command & Control
Mindset
Dominant mindset
Tools
Planning & goals, delegation & reporting
Social system
Hierarchy / matrix organisation
Change / Transformation
© Weert Jacobsen-Kramer · The TEAMTHINK cultural change model
Towards
Best in Class
Agile organisation
Worldview
Self-organisation & autonomy
Mindset
Agile mindset
Tools
Self-set goals, Scrum, OKRs & shop floor management
Social system
Network organisation
- Behaviour and tools – the visible: boards, meetings, methods
- Values and mindset – decides whether a tool is accepted
- Basic assumptions and worldview – this is where real learning happens
People cannot be changed – they change themselves when it makes sense to them. That is why we offer learning opportunities at the level of basic assumptions. “Teaching assignments” are the most effective: managers work out a topic and teach it to their team.
Monozukuri – Hitozukuri – Kotozukuri
“Making things starts with making people.”
This guiding idea from the Toyota Production System combines three things that had to work together in the plant:
Monozukuri · making things
Lean in production
Pride in good products and the pursuit of better quality and lower costs through continuous improvement.
Hitozukuri · developing people
Developing leaders and teams
Learning from problems rather than in seminars: every improvement is a learning opportunity for managers and employees – across departmental boundaries too.
Kotozukuri · making things happen together
Energy for implementation
A shared story that moves everyone in the same direction – and leadership that makes it come true every day where the work happens.
Key concept
The key to success: project-integrated leadership development
1
The management team as a learning team
Team coaching for the management team on the way to becoming a learning organisation – together rather than individually.
2
Learning on real tasks
The Lean improvements in the plant are the learning field. Managers learn by leading change themselves.
3
Mindset before tools
Before a new tool arrives, understanding of the “why” is built – through learning opportunities at the level of basic assumptions.
4
Lean thinking across the whole plant
Theoretical Lean methods become a lean way of thinking that managers carry into the whole organisation.
Result
The plant has been delivering outstanding results for years
Since the transformation, the plant has been one of the company’s most productive sites and is best in class in lead time, delivery reliability, quality and cost efficiency. It has continued to grow strongly since.
“Looking back on our experience with TeamThink, I can say that the investment in TEAMTHINK’s consulting has paid off many times over and that hiring TeamThink was a very good business decision.”
General Manager of the plant
“TeamThink used an advanced team coaching approach and management mindset to support our management team in transforming into a learning organisation. In addition, with its experience in lean production, TeamThink also brought a lean way of thinking into the organisation. After 1.5 years of cultural change development, the team embraces challenges and productivity has improved by double digits!”
HR Director of the plant
Do you want your cultural change to really take hold?
In a free strategy call, we will clarify where you stand and which next step makes sense.
More on the blog (in German): The cultural change model · Monozukuri – Hitozukuri – Kotozukuri