Resources and Support for Leaders of Change

A J (Andy) Sheppard offers resources and support at the intersection of operations management and leading change. He helps people to lead healthy change, especially in industrial operations.

Anyway… however we decide to implement, do you think you could deliver twenty percent?”

“No – not however we decide to implement.”

Chapter 9, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

Putting a new idea into practice can seem like an anti-climax after the stimulation of discovering and examining it, but doing so is equally challenging.”

Implementation, from Reflections from the Incredible Transformation

If the team’s initial plan detailed how the performance gap could be closed, should Gregory expect that the gap would be closed?”

Question 1.5, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd: With Case Study Questions

Knowledge of world-class principles is not enough: expert capability is required to apply these principles to paint a picture of what excellent would look like for each organisation’s specific processes and constraints.”

From the Foreword to The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

How would you know for sure that your targets aren’t encouraging hidden, adverse behaviour within your organisation?”

Question 5.7, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd: With Case Study Questions

He could see the factory coming to life and how to get there… if only he could open their eyes to see it too.”

Chapter 12, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

Some of those who are resisting change most strongly are only doing so because they care. They’re the ones you need to be listening to.”

Chapter 13, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

If your business still needs to change, isn’t it likely that your thinking needs to change first?”

Chapter 13, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

You now know what it takes to lead a transformation, instead of trying to just support or initiate one.”

Chapter 27, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

His clearest instructions and full support had yet to kick some people into action.”

Chapter 21, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

Employees wandered in like zombies and added insult to injury by springing to life as they left. How could he unlock this internal energy?”

Chapter 6, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

To what extent does your operation influence each of the 5Cs (customer service, capacity, culture, capital, cost) in your organisation?”

Question 4.1, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd: With Case Study Questions

Life would be a lot simpler if people said what they thought and did what they said.”

Chapter 14, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

The company is infected with bad habits and afflicted with baggage.”

Chapter 25, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

That’s the reason for the diagnose and design phases – we need to work with process owners to develop and test solutions to have any hope of them being sustained.”

Chapter 9, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

Can you think of an example within the last month where one of your employees has changed your mind about something?”

Question 13.7 The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd: With Case Study Questions

The numbers don’t lie… I’m running a tighter ship now than ever.”

“Too tight a grip can suffocate.”

Chapter 13, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

Transformation rarely happens accidentally.”

Chapter 9, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

[Being hypothesis driven] initially seemed counter-intuitive and a little uncomfortable. As an engineer my preference was to work systematically towards a solution. I warmed to the idea when I saw the depth of transformation it helped us to achieve so quickly.”

Being Hypothesis Driven, from Reflections from the Incredible Transformation

Life would be a lot simpler if people said what they thought and did what they said.”

Chapter 14, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd

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The chapter I contributed to the charitable book Practicing Lean has recently been made available as a podcast. Following the book's central idea of how we learn lean from others, my chapter focuses on how my surprise discovery of Toyota's rapid method for lean implementation was fortuitously built on the learning of experts. It is available here: https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HPxK01Mv