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The Right Approach: Culture Change is Key to a QMS

Why is organizational change needed? Because in America, people tend to accept that a certain amount of error is normal. You expect the plane to be late. You expect the mail to be undelivered. You expect consumer electronics and products to break down. This translates to our manufacturing operations as well.

Culture Shock
We see this premise every day in our businesses. We expect a certain amount of our process output to be defective, and we plan for it. This mindset extends further into our quality systems, where often the focus is on detection and not prevention. Quantum operational improvement requires a cultural shift that not just expects but demands exceptional quality to be the norm and perfection the goal. As the great Vince Lombardi once said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

I was enjoying a fine cigar with an old friend several years ago when the discussion turned to organizational change. I greatly respected his opinion, so I asked, “How do I begin to steer a company in a new direction that’s so transformational it’s sure to meet a heavy dose of resistance, skepticism, and attitude?” He said, “You have to change the culture, and that is no small task. Steve, did I ever tell you my definition of insanity? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” As he has a particular talent for doing so, my good friend had distilled a very complex issue down to a single, critical point. As the evening wound down and we began to go our separate ways, I said, “Good talk Bert. By the way, how’s that relativity thing you’ve been working on?”

Current Culture
Changing an organization’s culture is a tough, challenging task. In most cases, the current culture has formed over many years of interaction between employees at all organizational levels. Organizational cultures form for a reason and changing the accepted norm can sometimes feel like swimming upstream. In small, privately owned businesses, the current culture often matches the style and values of the company founder. Organizational culture grows over time and frequently mirrors the prevailing management style. Since managers tend to hire people “just like me,” the established culture is carried on through new employees for generations. People are creatures of habit, and basic human nature dictates that they will typically be uncomfortable with change. A key to overcoming this is to acknowledge this human nature predisposition and actively manage the change process through the tools and techniques discussed here.

Sense of Urgency
For real change to happen, leadership must demonstrate the importance of the effort; in other words, they must “walk the walk.” Dr. Joseph M. Juran recognized this truth over 40 years ago when he said, “Every successful quality revolution has included the participation of upper management. We know of no exceptions.” This means creating a sense of urgency around the need for change that goes far beyond lip service. You must establish an open and honest dialog about the importance of the change and how it will benefit all by improving organizational performance. Urgency is contagious; getting people to start talking about the proposed change will spread like wildfire and feed on itself.

Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze
There are many models for change management, but I prefer the three-stage model developed by physicist and social scientist Kurt Lewin in the 1940s known as Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze. This model explains organizational change by using the analogy of changing the shape of a block of ice. Visualizing change as a process with distinct stages will allow organizational leaders to prepare for what is coming and develop a plan to manage the transition. One of the major reasons change fails is that organizations rush into change blindly and without a plan to manage change effectively.

Stage 1: Unfreeze

The critical task during the first stage is to establish an environment that challenges the current norms and sets the stage for change to occur. The goal is to move people from the current frozen state to a change-ready or unfrozen state. The unfreezing stage is important to break down barriers to change and move away from the “we have always done it this way” mentality.

Stage 2: Change

During this transitional stage, people are aware that the old ways are being challenged, but at this point, there may be no clear understanding of the new ways that will replace them. Care must be taken to keep fear of the unknown from paralyzing the effort, and strong leadership during this phase will be the difference between success and failure. The goal of this stage is to get and keep people in an unfrozen state while establishing new ways and norms. Convincing people that it is okay to break away from traditional norms and adopt new ways of doing things is crucial before moving into the refreezing stage.

Stage 3: Refreeze

The goal of this stage is all about reconnecting people to their new comfort zones and establishing this state as a safe, familiar environment. Refreezing seeks to reinforce the new behaviors and enable permanent change through rewards, celebrating each success, and continuous communication.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
When it comes to changing the culture of a company, there is no such thing as over-communication. Involving the entire workforce from day one will be a key to successfully changing the current culture. Secrecy is the enemy of success. This process calls for full disclosure, employee participation, and individual empowerment. Effective communication will allow the creation of a type of controlled mayhem; in other words, it’s an environment that can build a strong motivation to seek out a new equilibrium. Without this motivation, it will be difficult to get the employee buy-in that will be required to facilitate any meaningful and permanent change. This journey will be an emotional one that will challenge the status quo, often evoking strong reactions and resistance. Remember the human nature thing? Paradigm is overused, but I don’t have a better word for describing "the way things are done.” This will be a paradigm shift that can only be overcome with effective, thorough, and constant communication.

Create an Environment of Excitement

I firmly believe in making work as fun as possible, and this is the perfect situation for that approach. A quality management system is a topic not often associated with an interesting, much less fun transition. A cultural change as significant as this presents the opportunity to smooth the transition by creating an environment of excitement around the change through communication, publicization, and engaging the workforce in the implementation decision-making process.

Change is Constant
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus had it right 2,500 years ago: The only thing constant with change is change itself. As I mentioned earlier, people are creatures of habit and will be uncomfortable with moving out of their comfort zone. Change is difficult, and some people will not adapt; this is normal. As with any major cultural change (ownership, management, quality system), the only certain thing is that not everyone will drink the Kool-Aid. While this can be a trying experience, stay the course.

This column originally appeared in the January 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine.