SwitchPoints E-Book

Judy Johnson

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 350

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2008

Beschreibung

SwitchPoints is the inspiring story of how Canadian National Railway (CN) advanced from good to great in a few short years–becoming North America's top-performing railroad and a favorite with of corporate customers and investors. In it, the authors reveal how company-wide culture change propelled this aging transportation giant to become the profitable powerhouse it is today. Rich with insights and anecdotes, SwitchPoints offers lessons that can be applied to any organization seeking to improve the bottom line by improving their culture.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Getting the Most from This Book

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Culture of Early Quits

A New Trip Plan

Switchpoints

Spiking the Switch

PART I - BUILDING ONE OF NORTH AMERICA’S TOP RAILROADS

CHAPTER 1 - The Road to Best-in-Class

1830: Pioneering Days

1919: Nationalization

The 1980s: Deregulation

1992: Organizational Redesign

A Quick Change

1995: Privatization

The Right Leaders for the Job

1998: Precision Railroading

2003: Passing the Reins

CHAPTER 2 - Culture Change on the Fast Track

Acquisitions

Buying Other Cultures

The Challenge

The Results

The Trip Plan for Culture Change on the Fast Track

PART II - CLARIFYING THE VISION

CHAPTER 3 - CN’s Five Guiding Principles

CHAPTER 4 - The Culture of Precision Railroading

The Organizational Culture Continuum

The Spectrum of Employee Engagement

The Role of Organizational Leaders

Washing Out the Mud in the Middle

PART III - CHOOSING THE RIGHT SWITCHPOINTS

CHAPTER 5 - How to Change CN’s Culture?

Culture Equals Behavior

CHAPTER 6 - Creating a Culture of Discretionary Performance

What’s in It for the Employee?

CHAPTER 7 - Creating Q4 Leaders to Drive Change

Culture Change Begins with Leadership

The Q4 Leadership Model

How Did CN Create Q4 Leaders?

Changing Your Style Isn’t Easy

Building Leadership Fluency

PART IV - SELECTING THE TOOLS FOR CHANGE

CHAPTER 8 - The Science of the ABCs

It’s All about Behavior

The ABCs of Behavior

The ABCs Make Fundamental Sense

CHAPTER 9 - The Commanding Power of Consequences

Timing

Importance to Recipient

Probability of Recurring

Where Does the Consequence Come From?

Which Consequences Should I Use?

Consequences and Culture Change

Authors’ Note: Doing the Right Thing with the ABCs

CHAPTER 10 - The ABC Toolkit

The Five-Step Model

PART V - ALIGNING THE SWITCHES

CHAPTER 11 - Finding a Champion

A Quiet Tryout in Capreol

“I Hate Consultants!”

CHAPTER 12 - Testing the Business Case

Pilot 1: Partnering in Memphis

Pilot 2: Partnering in Capreol (Northern Ontario)

Pilot 3: Partnering in Transcona (Winnipeg)

Learnings from the Pilots

We Did What We Said We Would Do

A Skeptical Hunter Gives the Nod

CHAPTER 13 - Gaining Visible Sponsorship: The CEO’s Essential Role

“How We Work and Why”

Addressing the Naysayers

CHAPTER 14 - Learning from a Strike

Spiking the Switch

Start with the Supervisors

CHAPTER 15 - Planning the Trip

Going to Rome (and Paying for It)

Implementing the ABCs CN-Wide

Selling the ABCs to the Operating Regions

I Love Your Passion, But . . .

Managing the Pull

Deployment Wasn’t All Rosy

CHAPTER 16 - Making the Case for Change

The Case for the ABCs

Spreading the Word

Answering Four Basic Questions

CHAPTER 17 - Expanding Sponsorship

Example 1: Visiting Sites to Set the Stage

Example 2: Sponsoring a Safety-First Culture

Example 3: Personally Walking the Talk

PART VI - ASSESSING SWITCHPOINTS’ IMPACT

CHAPTER 18 - Applying the ABCs: Dressed & Ready

Guess I’ll Have Another Coffee . . .

Another Switchpoint

The Science behind the Change

Of Course There Was Resistance!

“I Can’t Ask My Friends to Do That!”

The Rewards of “Dressed & Ready”

CHAPTER 19 - Early Wins with the ABCs

CHAPTER 20 - Demonstrating Q4 Leadership Through the ABCs

“More Work? Are You Nuts?!”

Improving Reliability: Getting KIST

Understanding Q4 Leadership—by Knowing What It Is Not

CHAPTER 21 - Life or Death Leadership

A Grim Tale

Safety and Culture Change

Developing Safety Programs

Zero Tolerance and Why

CHAPTER 22 - Sawing Our Way to Improvement

Tackling Old Problems in New Ways

Reducing Overtime

“Improve” Can Even Mean Tossing Old Paper Files

Formalizing the Opportunity

PART VII - SPIKING THE SWITCHES

CHAPTER 23 - Leadership Competencies to Support the Change

Accountability and Importance

The New Competency Framework

Leadership Equals Bonus

The New Power of Performance Reviews

CHAPTER 24 - Performance Scorecards for Unionized Employees

Doing the Unthinkable

Executing EPS

Communicating EPS

Then Came the Problems

Rollout for Success

Supervisors: I Didn’t Know That!

EPS Was Another Switchpoint

CHAPTER 25 - Learning through the Railroad MBA

The Railroad MBA

Railroader Undergraduate Programs

CN Is a Destination, Not a Job

Today North America, Tomorrow the World

CHAPTER 26 - Hunter Camps Develop Leaders

Expanding the Impact

Learning from the Master

Twelve Characteristics of Leadership

Leadership Is about People

Some Campers’ Views

CHAPTER 27 - The Power of Consistency (17 out of 17)

Inconsistency in the Rules

Inconsistency in Applying Rules

Inconsistency Breeds Opportunity

Be Consistently Flexible

CHAPTER 28 - Developing Internal Consultants

Why Internal Consultants?

Transitioning from CLG to Internal CN Consultants

Selecting the Right People

Developing Internal Consultants

Reality Hits

The Value of Internal Consultants

CHAPTER 29 - Sustaining Culture Change

Preventing Backsliding

Techniques for Sustaining Change

Examples of Sustainability

CHAPTER 30 - Sharing Our Story

Sharing with Our Customers

Sharing with Our Suppliers

Sharing with Our Competitors

Sharing with Our Communities

CHAPTER 31 - Improving Relations with Our Unions

The 2007 UTU Strike

When to Say Yes, When to Say No

Confronting a Long Legacy

The United Steelworkers

Improving Labor Relations

What CN Brings to the Bargaining Table

The Future

PART VIII - LEARNING FROM OUR JOURNEY

CHAPTER 32 - Top 10 Tips for Leaders Using the ABC Methodology

Tip 1: Manage Your Culture

Tip 2: Measure What You Value

Tip 3: Challenge, Disagree, and Then Make the Decision

Tip 4: Focus on Behavior You See or Hear at Work

Tip 5: Ask “Would You, If Your Life Depended on It?”

Tip 6: Transition from Good to Great Performers

Tip 7: Deal Quickly with Poor Performers

Tip 8: Get Face-to-Face

Tip 9: Balance Your Use of Consequences

Tip 10: Manage the Learning Curve

CHAPTER 33 - The Culture Change We Achieved

Ten Lessons Learned from Our Switchpoints

CHAPTER 34 - The Final Word

The Transformation

What Lies Ahead

Where We Are Now

The Trip Is Not Over

Notes

About the Authors

About the Companies

Index

Praise forSwitchPoints

No other serious book on leadership and change management has been able to so successfully combine organizational science, business, and good storytelling. The authors’ use of data-driven science and real-life storytelling draws the reader into the fascinating world of railroads and the men and women who have such an impact on our lives. Down-to-earth examples compellingly highlight their fundamental ideas and principles.

SwitchPoints illustrates how to transform the culture of an organization and gain the much-needed organizational and people alignment essential to transforming a struggling or average company into a truly great and consistent performer.

Here are the tools, both credible and practical, that can focus a company’s collective efforts by streamlining what is important: how to align people, priorities, and capital—an easy-to-understand common-sense approach to getting people to align actions and activities with a common set of goals.

—John W. Coyle, COO (retired), Trigon Healthcare Inc. and Aetna U.S. Healthcare

Brilliant and thought-provoking. Best book I have read on how to change a company’s culture and start tapping the talents of all your people. An organized and readable how-to manual with a practical approach. Filled with clarity and powerful insight.

—Jim Grossett, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Agrium Inc.

SwitchPoints requires little translation from railway stories to a large corporate arena. With different process challenges and similar people issues, effecting and sustaining behavior change is the most difficult thing we face as leaders. CN and CLG share the nuts-and-bolts tools used to turn a struggling enterprise into an industry leader. Be prepared to update your current business plan with ideas, tools, and methodologies proven in SwitchPoints.

—Capabilities Director, Fortune 100 Financial Services Company

SwitchPoints delivers a compelling story of the value of doing all the basics really well, and by doing so, achieving extraordinary success—for shareholders, customers, and employees.

The book delivers excellent lessons on how to engage employees in total alignment with a company’s mission, how to train them, stay the course—and in doing all of these things, achieve noteworthy success in distancing CN from its competitors. It’s an easy read, blending personal anecdotes with good academic theory, and grounded in commercial reality.

Well done—congratulations to CN, to Hunter Harrison, its steadfast CEO leader, and to the authors. There is something in SwitchPoints for everyone—from people starting careers all the way to veteran executives. A great story!

—Doug Tough, CEO, Ansell Healthcare LTD

A road map to achieving enhanced results for shareholders—and employees. The power of the ABCs [behavioral science] is made clear through specific examples. This book will help you analyze your situation by closely examining the secrets of a tremendous success story. It’s a must-read for leaders who desire a high-performing team like no other!

—Michael D’Ambrose, Senior Vice President, HR, Archer Daniels Midland Company

Through the powerful story of CN, SwitchPoints offers a valuable point of reference for all leaders who are working in an environment that is experiencing or is in need of change. I have found myself revisiting the various models outlined and applying them to current issues I was dealing with in my organization—a clear sign to me that this book makes an impact. Regardless of the industry you work in, I highly recommend it.

—John Silverthorn, Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Any leader who longs to transform the organization from a low-performance culture to a high-performance culture should pay close attention to the lessons of CN’s transformation, as told in this book. CN achieved spectacular results from its frontline workforce, not by inventing new ideas, but by brilliantly executing the fundamentals we are all familiar with. It focused the behavioral change directly on measurable business results. It invested thousands of hours of hands-on coaching to help frontline supervisors become better performance managers. And it harnessed the sustained commitment from the CEO and other senior leaders. SwitchPoints tells a rare and compelling story of a company that really did it.

—Helen Handfield-Jones, President, Handfield Jones Inc.

SwitchPoints captures the leadership philosophy of CN’s dynamic CEO, Hunter Harrison, and the approach his team employed to engineer one of the most successful corporate turnarounds in recent history. Few believed CN could survive, much less become a thriving, world-class example of best-in-class practices across business disciplines. Hunter quarterbacked the team, which built and sustains a successful business enterprise, practices corporate responsibility with diligence, and respects employees and partners while never losing sight of customers.

Every organization and corporate executive can benefit from the principles, practices, and lessons contained in SwitchPoints. The LPGA’s course, which includes substantial business model and organizational change, is clearly benefiting from the CN journey and the example it teaches.

—Carolyn F. Bivens, Commissioner, Ladies Professional Golf Association

This is a book about a great railroader, Hunter Harrison, and the incredible results he and his team have achieved at CN. It is about a largely self-educated man who has been a continuous learner all his life. Hunter thinks outside the box and has a charismatic personality and good judgment. Most business leaders talk about the importance of people, but as this book illustrates, Hunter lives and breathes it, and the rewards from such a commitment to people are obvious at CN.

Hunter developed Five Guiding Principles which became the major component of CN’s strategy. The fifth Guiding Principle is people, and Hunter is of the view that if you get the people thing right, the first four Guiding Principles look after themselves. If you want to see the importance of having easily understood strategies and an incredible ability to execute, read this book.

—Purdy Crawford, C.C., Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt

This eye-opening book puts you into the vision and work being done at CN. I could relate to their vision, issues, and concerns while applying their techniques to my own environment and culture.

You can feel the engagement of the people and understand how the foundation was being built. It shows the real-life experiences, risk-taking, leadership, and vision being pulled together to satisfy the customer and grow the business. Most books tell what was done and recommend what you need to do, then leave you hanging. This book does not do that. It offers the tools used to achieve success. This book can be understood by and be helpful at every level in an organization.

—Gary Cook, Facility Leader, Owens Corning Glass Metal Services

I found this book refreshing and thought-provoking. SwitchPoints will help me become a better leader.

—Dean Moll, Vice President, Continuous Improvement, Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated

We have all admired the revolutionary speed with which CN has become a legend in the industry, and wondered just how this achievement was realized. SwitchPoints provides the answer. It also provides a blueprint for other organizations to follow. In true Hunter Harrison fashion, SwitchPoints describes the arcane use of behavioral science tools with fascinating and inspirational stories. Anyone who reads SwitchPoints and is not motivated to apply the same principles to their own organization has jumped the switch.

—Don Krusel, President & CEO, Prince Rupert Port Authority

In addition to tracing the near-term evolution of what arguably is the best-run railroad in North America, SwitchPoints serves as a primer for propagating culture change in the far-flung, steeped-in-history environment that is this thing called railroading. But you don’t have to be a railroader to reap what this book sows. The story is supported by data and case study-like anecdotes detailing the enlightened journeys that various CN managers and employees have taken during the past few years. And it is sprinkled with drop-dead candor from CEO Hunter Harrison. SwitchPoints is a blueprint for would-be change agents at organizations of any size or ilk. It’s a living, breathing benchmarking tool that strategic thinkers can use as they attempt to chart their own continuous improvement courses.

—Pat Foran, Editor in Chief,Progressive RailroadingMagazine

So many important themes and ideas in one small package! It is not easy to change the direction of an enterprise, especially one where the existing ways of operating are so deeply engrained. CN has succeeded in an arena where most fail. “If you accept what you believe to be your limitations, you’ll never become better.” If you want to improve, and succeed with dramatic change, read this book!

—Paul Juniper, Director, Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University

Change is the only constant in today’s business environment. This fact, while readily accepted by leaders, often results in poorly conceived and executed change initiatives—leading to a frenzy of debilitating organizational activities. SwitchPoints is a fascinating story of the opposite—an inspiring success story. It is a powerful documentation of successful culture change on the fast track as CN moves on a journey from a grand old railroad Crown Corporation, with all its entitlements to a publicly owned company requiring rigorous business acumen and laser-focused performance. This in-depth account of CN’s journey will be immensely valuable to corporate leaders facing the change challenge.

—Dr. Anne Golden, C.M., President and Chief Executive Officer, The Conference Board of Canada

Many talk about changing culture or transformation, but few actually do it. SwitchPoints is an outstanding chronology of how CN fundamentally transformed itself. More than a case study, it is based on pragmatic principles for sustained change. These ideas can be adapted to any executive wanting to shift employees from cynicism to commitment. It shifts culture change from academic ideas to concrete behaviors. It will return far more than the 2:1 results improvement it advocates.

—Dave Ulrich, Professor, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and Partner, The RBL Group

SwitchPoints details the transformation of a stodgy, government-owned railroad from a perennial poor performer nicknamed “The Pig” to one of North America’s most efficient, well-run businesses.

The book highlights the importance of having a leader who understands the contribution of operations to the success of any railroad. Hunter truly knows the railroad business, having begun his career in an entry-level position as a teenager and working his way through almost every position and level of management in the industry.

Hunter was aided by a human resources department and a consulting group that helped implement his vision across their system. His vision is that everyone in the company should understand the importance of operations. The company’s financial results reflect that vision.

SwitchPoints encapsulates one of the great turnaround stories, not only of the railroad business, but in all of North American business.

—Dick Davidson, Chairman (retired), Union Pacific Railroad Company

SwitchPoints stands as a testament to the commitment of Hunter Harrison to maintain CN as a premier transportation company.

The book provides insights into his straightforward approach to being an agent of change, adapting principles of behavioral science to real life inside the rail industry. Methods to drive change such as the “ABC” approach are well illustrated, and business leaders may be intrigued by the Consequence Pyramid.

The change of culture within CN—through leadership training, employee development at all levels, and measurement feedback—makes for a worthwhile read.

—Kelley Anderson, UPS Corporate Transportation

I enjoyed reading SwitchPoints. The book reminded me of my first meeting with Hunter, which almost turned into a fight. Hunter turned out to be a straight-talking, sincere man. We are both passionate about safety and training—he gave me his word to fix many of the issues we raised, and he delivered. Our respective teams have worked hard to do the right things for CN and our members, including resolving long-festering issues. When leaders decide to work together for a common good, it is a powerful combination. It starts with mutual respect and integrity. We took the first important steps at that first meeting.

—Leo Gerard, International President, United Steelworkers Union

The book is absolutely practical, full of examples. It is a testament to all the best practices from CLG. Its content applies to any business in any sector.

—Stéphane Boisvert, President, Enterprise Group, Bell Canada

Copyright © 2008 by Continuous Learning Group, Inc. (CLG). All rights reserved.

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• Consequence PyramidSM

• DCOM® Model

• E-TIP AnalysisSM

• Discretionary PerformanceSM

• Fluency ModelSM

• Q4 LeadershipSM Model

• SaFESM Curve

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:Switchpoints : culture change on the fast track for business success / Judy Johnson . . . [et al.]. p. cm. Includes index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-44943-1

1. Canadian National Railways—History. 2. Railroads—Canada—History. I. Johnson, Judy, 1971- HE2810.C14S95 2008 385.065’71—dc22 2008022841