Operational Excellence: Journey to Creating Sustainable Value

CHAPTER 10OPTIMIZE THE ORGANIZATION

At some point, early in the implementation of an Operational Excellence program, there must be a high level commitment to revise and optimize the organization as necessary. Reorganization to improve effectiveness, encourage ownership and responsibility, facilitate the formation, function, and success of multidiscipline improvement action teams, emphasize integrity, honesty, and trust, maximize human performance, and move business value-oriented decision making lower in the organization. Changes to an established structure are not easy and must be made with extreme care and sensitivity to assure that focus is on effectiveness within the principles and values of Operational Excellence, organizational improvement, and success, rather than change for change's sake.

All must recognize that most change, even when promoted as improvement, is unsettling. Change can disturb relationships, may infringe on what people think of as “mine” and what provides job satisfaction. Even worse, change may degrade conditions when change is based on assumptions rather than reality.

Operational Excellence represents a major change. Change in relationships and the way people are asked to think and perform, combined with greater demands placed on individuals. This type of change may be especially difficult within a highly structured, function-based organization. That's why strong, involved, engaged, honest and fair leadership, communications, listening, and follow-up ...