Rapid Mass Engagement: Driving Continuous Improvement through Employee Culture Creation

CHAPTER9

Rapid Yes—but Sustainable?

The engagement and enablement are deep and change attitudes rapidly, but to sustain this powerful initial momentum requires systematic leadership.

John Keogh

Quality director, Seagate Technology

In the quote above, John Keogh was discussing the role of leadership in sustaining the initial improvements made in the early stages of RME. Many other leaders have discussed this point; they have wondered if RME is rapid but unsustainable—is it like a rocket that flies to the sky but then falls to earth quickly also? Even if we sustain in the initial years, as the culture’s creators become a smaller and smaller percentage of the workforce, how do we sustain longer term?

RME’s vision argues for creating a high-performance ...