delta 5: an example of a diagnosis and change program

Concrete examples are useful. We describe here an example of an operational environment. A more detailed description you can find in the book delta 5 written by the former plantmanager. 

A dairy factory in Europe:

START SITUATION

  • Frequently disappointing audit results
  • Customers quitting contracts
  • Disapproved product totals 20 km row of lorries
  • First time right maximum 83%
  • Safety not under control
  • Loss of market share

DIAGNOSIS SHOWED EXPLAINING UNWRITTEN RULES

  • 'Focus on producing quantity'
  • 'QA/QC is responsible for quality'
  • 'Do things your own way'
  • 'The situation is very complex here'
  • 'You will not be sent away'

STEPS TAKEN IN BENDING THE UNWRITTEN RULES 

(for a more elaborate explanation, see the delta 5 book)

  1. Creating awareness of the impact and the ownership of the behavioral rules
  2. Composing and introducing a new set of unwritten rules based on the organizational values, and learning a broader behavioral repertoire
  3. Behavioral adjustment and embedding the new behavior using the 5 perspectives

RESULTS 1 YEAR LATER

  • Excellent audit results
  • Higher demand than the factory can produce
  • Disapproved product decreased with 75%
  • First time right varies between 98 and 100%
  • Number of safety incidents significantly decreased

These results turned out to be sustainable: after 2,5 jaar again a research on the unwritten rules was conducted and they described and explained the (even to date) high performance levels. Continious improvement has settled in the genes of the organization which makes the organization able to improve by itself.

Unwritten rules 2007                                   Unwriten rules 2010

'Focus on producing quantity'                    'Then stop it!'
'QA/QC is responsible for quality'              'Quality is number 1 for all'
'Do things your own way'                            'Talk to each other'
'The situation is very comples here'          'Find out the causes'
'You will not be sent away'                          'You are called to account'

 'This is the best factory I have visited in years', extern auditor Danone 

 

 
delta 5 is applicable for all sectors ranging from industry, service providers and government institutions.
A learning organization is a group of people with a shared goal and which is getting better and better at realizing its goals.
Process optimization of the ability secures the future.
What have you learned today? And your organization?
delta 5 translates organizational goals into the organization’s ability to actually realize these goals while making the process more effective, more cost efficient, more intelligent, more innovative and more sustainable.
The obvious learning processes are also known by competitors.
A culture which allows employees to make mistakes is not the only requirement for learning. When a mistake cannot be traced back to its causes, learning is not possible in such an environment.
delta 5 provides control over learning processes.
In a learning organization, learning is embedded both in the organization’s culture and structure.
delta 5 strengthens earlier professionalization attempts and improvement efforts using TQM, Kaizen, 6Sigma and Lean thinking.
Learning processes which focus on production to generate money should exist alongside learning processes which concern the organization itself.
delta 5 strengthens your ambition with regard to social innovation, smarter working, innovation and knowledge management.
Organizations create their own future. Organizations with a high learning and development capacity achieve the future they aim for.
delta 5 makes learning, developing and innovation an intrinsic element of the organizational culture.
To embed organizational learning in an organization, a balance must be found between short-term and long-term success, between action and reflection, between talking and listening, between inside and outside, between theory and practice.
If a mistake may not be traced back to a person, no one is learning.
Helping people strengthen their problem-solving capacity.