24 ◾ Dutch Holland
◾ IEs know the work processes of the business of their organization like the backs of their
hands.
12. Change Management Is a Formula Made Up of the
Required Elements of an Organization as a System
Industrial engineers use change management to ensure that their technical solutions are fully
implemented for business value. But what is change management? Change management is more
like baking an elegant cake than about concocting a delicious spaghetti sauce. Trained chefs know
how to do both, but they also know that the cooking processes for the two dishes are very dier-
ent. Chefs know that spaghetti sauce is a mixture of ingredients. ey know that you can add (or
subtract) dierent kinds of ingredients and still have a tasty spaghetti sauce. ey also know that
a cake is a formula that requires a complete set of needed ingredients. ey know that if you fail to
add eggs, you cannot make up for the omission by adding extra our.
Change management is a formula made up of communicating vision, altering processes and
tools, and altering performance systems (i.e., roles, goals, training, and rewards). For example,
failure to alter work processes cannot be overcome with snazzy multimedia messages. Failure to
alter roles and provide training cannot be overcome with more modications to tools or software.
◾ IEs use the change management formula to ensure that their technical solutions are fully
implemented.
13. Introduction of “New” Always Has Two Parts
e two parts are (1) preparing the “new” for the organization and (2) preparing the organization
for the “new.” When an IE solves a technical problem, the solution is likely to be seen as new (or as
an innovation) to the organization (even though it may not be new to the whole planet).
For example, solving a technical problem with methods that remove waste from a production
operation should be translated as altering the work processes in a production system. In other
words, the IE may have worked long and hard to identify and remove the waste, but he is only
half done with his assignment. He may have readied his technical waste-removal solution for his
organization, but he has not as yet prepared his organization to use the solution.
◾ IEs know that all problems come in even numbers: getting solutions ready for an organiza-
tion and getting the organizations ready to use the solutions.
14. Industrial Engineering Will Always Have a Teamwork
Dimension as a Critical Factor of Success
Imagine two situations: (1) three IEs have been assigned to resolve a technical problem in a seg-
ment of workow, and (2) a single IE has been assigned to resolve a technical problem in a dier-
ent segment of the same workow. In which situation is there an important team dimension that
must be taken into account?
at’s right—both situations have a critical team dimension. Obviously, the three engineers
could use teamwork, but that teamwork pales in comparison to the IE and stakeholder teamwork
that will always be required for a successful project. e IE must aggressively work to facilitate a
What IEs Need to Know about Change Management ◾ 25
stakeholder team solution. When completed, the IE solution will not be delivered into a vacuum,
but into an organization that is working “all out” to produce today’s products and services. If the
IE has not actively worked the stakeholders’ needs and requirements into her solution, the deliv-
ered solution is likely to become dead weight on a dusty shelf.
◾ Every IE problem or assignment always has an important team dimension that absolutely
must be considered and worked.
15. Industrial Engineers Must Speak the Language of
Operations, not the Other Way Around
Many an IE career has lost traction (or been terminated) because of the IE’s use of technical IE
language rather than the language of her organizational customer. Translating an IE solution into
the customer’s language is a vital step in completing any deliverable. Technical razzle-dazzle and
the latest buzz words do not increase credibility; they reduce it, frequently to a point that will
disqualify an IE for any presentations to management. If the customer’s language is not used, the
likely assumption is that the IE does not know enough about the business to be taken seriously.
◾ IEs speak the language of their customers.
16. No Way of Doing Business Lasts Forever
IEs live and work where change is the rule. For today’s organizations, change is no longer the
exception but the rule. Change is here to stay, and organizations (and technical professionals)
had better become very good at it. Today’s statistics say that 70% of organizational changes fail
to meet management’s intentions and expectations. IEs work to ensure their organizations are in
the 30% of the companies that succeed in making organizational changes; on target, on time, and
on budget.
◾ IEs lead and support organizational change, not undermine it.
17. Competent Organizational Decision Makers Should Always Process
Input from the Bottom up and Then Lead from the Top Down
What we know about leadership and management today is that the best decisions for organiza-
tions are based on top management’s consideration of input from the bottom of the organization up
and implementation of the decision from the top down. Following that contemporary best practice
requires the eective IE to perform well on two important organizational responsibilities.
e rst responsibility is to provide thoughtful, competent input up the organization through
his boss, by volunteering to be on a task team, by speaking up at employee meetings, or by post-
ing to the company’s intranet or bulletin board. Competent input should be tailored to t the IE’s
business competence (i.e., providing input about how the organization could implement a strategic
option, not about what that strategic option should be).
e second responsibility is to go “all in” to support the management decision that comes from
the top down. No regrets, no Monday morning quarterbacking, no whining or grumbling; just a
full-faith eort to support that decision.
26 ◾ Dutch Holland
◾ IEs volunteer competent how input from the bottom up, and then focus their eorts on sup-
porting and enabling a top-down management decision.
18. Industrial Engineers Are Not in the Industrial Engineering Business
Borrowing from a past experience, consider this. While speaking to an audience of some 200
CIOs, I posed the following question: “How many of you are in the information technology (IT)
business?” Almost all of the audience raised their hands.
I called attention to one CIO sitting in the front row and said, “Sir, I noticed that you did
not raise your hand. Would you kindly stand up and introduce yourself.” He stood and faced the
audience, “Hello, my name is Antonio Costa, and I am the CIO of Pirelli Tires. I am in the tire
business.” As the audience began to stir in their seats, I once again asked the question. is time
only a few IT vendors raised their hands.
◾ An industrial engineer who works in the healthcare business is in the healthcare business,
not the industrial engineering business. What business are you in?
Such is the input from a nonengineer who has fought in the organizational trenches for a few
decades. I sincerely hope that my views have value to you in your journey to pursue and master
your profession. It is an honor as a nonengineer to be asked to write a chapter in an engineering
book. Will wonders never cease?
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