Add to these environmental conditions all of the traditional implementation challenges of being on time, on budget and within expectations and you find IT leaders looking for solutions to help their organizations succeed. For example, one survey reports that 60-80% of IT-related interventions either fail or are not entirely successful in achieving their stated objectives. Another survey of 800 IT managers reports that:
- 62% Of IT projects fail to meet their schedules,
- 49% Suffered from budget overruns,
- 47% Had higher-than-expected maintenance costs, and
- 41% Failed to deliver the expected business value and ROI.
This may also explain why 25% of all IT projects are canceled before completion. IT leaders are looking to create a Culture of Accountability where people take accountability to achieve the result and effectively collaborate with others, both within and outside the organization, to overcome obstacles and deliver on expectations.
The Partners In Leadership training helps IT leadership teams create a workplace culture that reinforces the way people need to think and act, at every level, in order to achieve organizational results and have a profound impact on the bottom line. Here are some examples of how IT leaders have used the Accountability Training to deliver on objectives:
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The Story: Valassis, upon acquiring ADVO Inc., the nation's largest direct-mail marketing company, they went from $1.1 billion to $2.3 billion in total revenue, making them one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies. The operating approaches of the two companies differed greatly. Valassis practiced a quick get-it-done approach, while ADVO took a more deliberate approach, operating "by the book," thoroughly planning and seeking full consensus before taking action. ADVO had built a reputation as a first-class outfit and ranked number one in its industry. John Lieblang, Valassis's chief information officer (CIO), ended up wrestling with the challenge not only of combining two disparate IT departments, but of solving some serious cultural, organizational, and technological challenges facing his group. Every department in the company needed to collaborate with its sister department to form one smoothly functioning unit as quickly as possible. Since the success of the company depended on the combined IT departments running smoothly, Al Schultz, the CEO, insisted that the integration happen with speed. John understood the CEO's expectation.
As John contemplated the challenge, he took solace from the fact that he had assembled a highly motivated IT team that could solve exactly this sort of problem. They took getting results seriously and shouldered accountability for on-time, on-budget delivery, doing every job well and for pleasing their customers. Far from intimidating them, the merger had pumped new life into everyone and had ignited a sense of urgency and purpose for every project. John just had to figure out what he needed to do to cascade accountability to all IT associates throughout the organization and combine the two departments quickly and efficiently. We will never forget what John said to us as he reflected back on this whole experience. "I knew when I was hired that I had three options. Option one was to do nothing and eventually get fired. Option two was to do something bold and dramatic to change things, have that fail, and then get fired. Option three was to do something bold and dramatic to change things, have that succeed, and prove the IT group were leaders."
John preferred option three, but he recognized that to make that happen his team needed common skills and methods for quickly aligning and integrating these departments. That's when he brought us to Valassis to train the IT team in the use of the Self Track™ Training models and tools that would help the team take ownership for creating a newly integrated department in line with CEO Al Schultz's expectations. As the training commenced, John introduced the desired results, completely avoiding the subject of "merging the departments." Instead, he defined and communicated four key business results that the united IT department needed to achieve: (1) reduce IT spending (which would free up cash and improve profit); (2) improve investment return (by making sure that every investment had a clearly defined detailed financial return); (3) enhance associate careers (foster retention and advancement opportunities); and (4) reduce cycle time (implement solutions faster).
He then quantified the expected results for each of these four categories and insisted that every leader of each group attend the planned training. As the training progressed, John led the team through an alignment discussion that united the team around the key results. The training then focused on helping the team create ownership and accountability for each of the key results throughout the IT organization. Again, they did not focus on merging the organizations, but on what actions they could take to achieve the four business results.
The outcome: by the end of the fiscal year, IT was the first department to collaborate in the entire company that had successfully integrated two departments into one. While taking the best practices from the markedly different worlds of Valassis and ADVO, the associates in IT were able to combine their operations in a staggering short four months, improve service levels, and deliver high-quality new development projects on-time and on-budget. Most important, John had used the right training at the right time to energize his team and deliver the key results the CEO expected, making IT the top-performing group in the company.
Two-for-one: Combining Two IT departments to Become Top-Performing Group...
The Results: Combined their operations in a staggering short four months, improved service levels, and delivered high-quality new development projects on-time and on-budget.
The Story: Valassis, upon acquiring ADVO Inc., the nation's largest direct-mail marketing company, they went from $1.1 billion to $2.3 billion in total revenue, making them one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies. The operating approaches of the two companies differed greatly. Valassis practiced a quick get-it-done approach, while ADVO took a more deliberate approach, operating "by the book," thoroughly planning and seeking full consensus before taking action. ADVO had built a reputation as a first-class outfit and ranked number one in its industry. John Lieblang, Valassis's chief information officer (CIO), ended up wrestling with the challenge not only of combining two disparate IT departments, but of solving some serious cultural, organizational, and technological challenges facing his group. Every department in the company needed to collaborate with its sister department to form one smoothly functioning unit as quickly as possible. Since the success of the company depended on the combined IT departments running smoothly, Al Schultz, the CEO, insisted that the integration happen with speed. John understood the CEO's expectation.
As John contemplated the challenge, he took solace from the fact that he had assembled a highly motivated IT team that could solve exactly this sort of problem. They took getting results seriously and shouldered accountability for on-time, on-budget delivery, doing every job well and for pleasing their customers. Far from intimidating them, the merger had pumped new life into everyone and had ignited a sense of urgency and purpose for every project. John just had to figure out what he needed to do to cascade accountability to all IT associates throughout the organization and combine the two departments quickly and efficiently. We will never forget what John said to us as he reflected back on this whole experience. "I knew when I was hired that I had three options. Option one was to do nothing and eventually get fired. Option two was to do something bold and dramatic to change things, have that fail, and then get fired. Option three was to do something bold and dramatic to change things, have that succeed, and prove the IT group were leaders."
John preferred option three, but he recognized that to make that happen his team needed common skills and methods for quickly aligning and integrating these departments. That's when he brought us to Valassis to train the IT team in the use of the Self Track™ Training models and tools that would help the team take ownership for creating a newly integrated department in line with CEO Al Schultz's expectations. As the training commenced, John introduced the desired results, completely avoiding the subject of "merging the departments." Instead, he defined and communicated four key business results that the united IT department needed to achieve: (1) reduce IT spending (which would free up cash and improve profit); (2) improve investment return (by making sure that every investment had a clearly defined detailed financial return); (3) enhance associate careers (foster retention and advancement opportunities); and (4) reduce cycle time (implement solutions faster).
He then quantified the expected results for each of these four categories and insisted that every leader of each group attend the planned training. As the training progressed, John led the team through an alignment discussion that united the team around the key results. The training then focused on helping the team create ownership and accountability for each of the key results throughout the IT organization. Again, they did not focus on merging the organizations, but on what actions they could take to achieve the four business results.
The outcome: by the end of the fiscal year, IT was the first department to collaborate in the entire company that had successfully integrated two departments into one. While taking the best practices from the markedly different worlds of Valassis and ADVO, the associates in IT were able to combine their operations in a staggering short four months, improve service levels, and deliver high-quality new development projects on-time and on-budget. Most important, John had used the right training at the right time to energize his team and deliver the key results the CEO expected, making IT the top-performing group in the company.
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The Story: Amgen enlisted our help to implement the Self Track™ Training to launch a fully integrated solution in SAP architecture that would require a significant reengineering of business processes. Since the client's executives worried about making the implementation work, they drew upon specialists from all over the company, with every major organizational function represented on the team. Getting this varied group of people to work together, particularly when people would need to make trade-offs to meet the highest priority, seemed a foreboding task! The fact that they had never seen an IT implementation come in on budget and on time only intensified their concerns. In the past, they would end up changing the due date four or five times and then run over budget. During the September kickoff Amgen utilized Self Track Training to create an environment of positive accountability for all of the behaviors and mind-sets needed to accomplish the mission by September 5th, exactly one year later.
In effect, the executives created a collaborative Culture of Accountability,® emphasizing "What else can I do to achieve the result?" rather than the traditional, "I'll just do my job." Amazingly, the implementation team worked into the night on the Saturday before the due date to finish sixteen hours early and come in under budget! This was the first time in the company's history that IT achieved anything like this. The implementation now serves as the model for this client for all major IT implementations.
System-Wide Integration Programmed For Success with Accountability...
The Results: SAP delivered early and under budget.
The Story: Amgen enlisted our help to implement the Self Track™ Training to launch a fully integrated solution in SAP architecture that would require a significant reengineering of business processes. Since the client's executives worried about making the implementation work, they drew upon specialists from all over the company, with every major organizational function represented on the team. Getting this varied group of people to work together, particularly when people would need to make trade-offs to meet the highest priority, seemed a foreboding task! The fact that they had never seen an IT implementation come in on budget and on time only intensified their concerns. In the past, they would end up changing the due date four or five times and then run over budget. During the September kickoff Amgen utilized Self Track Training to create an environment of positive accountability for all of the behaviors and mind-sets needed to accomplish the mission by September 5th, exactly one year later.
In effect, the executives created a collaborative Culture of Accountability,® emphasizing "What else can I do to achieve the result?" rather than the traditional, "I'll just do my job." Amazingly, the implementation team worked into the night on the Saturday before the due date to finish sixteen hours early and come in under budget! This was the first time in the company's history that IT achieved anything like this. The implementation now serves as the model for this client for all major IT implementations.
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The Story: Allergan, leading maker of eye care, skin care, and aesthetic products, including best-selling pharmaceutical Botox ranks on the Fortune 500 List. The IT vice president of Allergan was tasked with the successful implementation of an inventory accounting system that would make changes to the company computer system throughout the world. The project was struggling and progress was coming slow. They engaged Partners In Leadership to help their leadership team lead their staff through both the Self Track™ Training to support the implementation effort and get everyone aligned around the key objectives: successful implementation on time and under budget.
The Accountability Training® principles and practices provided an effective framework for the working culture of this cross-functional team. The common language of Above The Line® accountability fostered effective communication and the focus on candid feedback gave everyone on the team the skills needed to speed up the process. The training helped them create a team culture that facilitated progress and movement across the board. The result: effective execution of this key enterprise wide systems integration- on time and under budget!
The Self Track Training has been implemented in other parts of the company as well. Vincente Trellis, Vice President, Surgical Operations, says: "...We have applied The Oz Principle concepts and empowered the people in our whole facility toward the objectives we need to accomplish. The concepts have really served as motivation tools and closed the gap between management and the line workers."
On Time and Under Budget!...
The Results: Successful implementation of inventory accounting system, completed on time and under budget.
The Story: Allergan, leading maker of eye care, skin care, and aesthetic products, including best-selling pharmaceutical Botox ranks on the Fortune 500 List. The IT vice president of Allergan was tasked with the successful implementation of an inventory accounting system that would make changes to the company computer system throughout the world. The project was struggling and progress was coming slow. They engaged Partners In Leadership to help their leadership team lead their staff through both the Self Track™ Training to support the implementation effort and get everyone aligned around the key objectives: successful implementation on time and under budget.
The Accountability Training® principles and practices provided an effective framework for the working culture of this cross-functional team. The common language of Above The Line® accountability fostered effective communication and the focus on candid feedback gave everyone on the team the skills needed to speed up the process. The training helped them create a team culture that facilitated progress and movement across the board. The result: effective execution of this key enterprise wide systems integration- on time and under budget!
The Self Track Training has been implemented in other parts of the company as well. Vincente Trellis, Vice President, Surgical Operations, says: "...We have applied The Oz Principle concepts and empowered the people in our whole facility toward the objectives we need to accomplish. The concepts have really served as motivation tools and closed the gap between management and the line workers."
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The Story: A very well-known high-tech firm, once their industry leader, struggled to keep pace with their competitors. For every dollar of investment they spent, their competitors were spending $2.50. Their new strategy included reinventing themselves by outsourcing and transitioning their business model regarding their product offering. All of this meant a significant change in organizational culture to pull it off successfully.
They enlisted the aid of one consulting company, only to be disappointed with their approach and impact. Based on the bad experience, they abandoned their culture change effort, and enlisted Partners In Leadership to provide the Self Track™ Training. The sting of the earlier experience was so bad that, early on, they wouldn't even allow us to use the word "culture" when working with them. However, after a few months with the Accountability Training,® they informed us that our process was now being viewed as a cultural intervention because of the impact it was having throughout the organization. They quickly moved to implementing the Culture Track™ Training to fully bring about the culture change they wanted to achieve. One of their leaders shared with us the following: "I had a bunch of champions on my team but I did NOT have a championship team. We weren't executing, but we've changed that. This cultural transitional process has taught us how to collaborate effectively to deliver on our key metrics."
After 16 months, they're still working the process with tremendous success. At last, they had taken almost 1,000 managers through the Partners In Leadership Culture Track Training with a report card consisting of the following grades:
Today, they are #1 in 13 product markets as the retooled premier digital media company in the world. All eight of the CEO's direct reports and their respective teams (over 1,200 people and counting) are currently using the Culture Track Training to successfully guide what their "cultural intervention." One of their leaders waxed philosophical and said: "Mahatma Ghandi, said, 'Become the change you want to see.' We all want change but we tend to resist the change when it directly affects us. This process has helped us work through that resistance to become the 'change' that was needed."
New Business Model Means A New Culture...
The Result: #1 in 13 product markets worldwide.
The Story: A very well-known high-tech firm, once their industry leader, struggled to keep pace with their competitors. For every dollar of investment they spent, their competitors were spending $2.50. Their new strategy included reinventing themselves by outsourcing and transitioning their business model regarding their product offering. All of this meant a significant change in organizational culture to pull it off successfully.
They enlisted the aid of one consulting company, only to be disappointed with their approach and impact. Based on the bad experience, they abandoned their culture change effort, and enlisted Partners In Leadership to provide the Self Track™ Training. The sting of the earlier experience was so bad that, early on, they wouldn't even allow us to use the word "culture" when working with them. However, after a few months with the Accountability Training,® they informed us that our process was now being viewed as a cultural intervention because of the impact it was having throughout the organization. They quickly moved to implementing the Culture Track™ Training to fully bring about the culture change they wanted to achieve. One of their leaders shared with us the following: "I had a bunch of champions on my team but I did NOT have a championship team. We weren't executing, but we've changed that. This cultural transitional process has taught us how to collaborate effectively to deliver on our key metrics."
After 16 months, they're still working the process with tremendous success. At last, they had taken almost 1,000 managers through the Partners In Leadership Culture Track Training with a report card consisting of the following grades:
- 98.1% would recommend this program to their peers
- 97.1% will apply these new skills & concepts on the job
- 90.2% believe what they have learned will significantly enhance their performance
Today, they are #1 in 13 product markets as the retooled premier digital media company in the world. All eight of the CEO's direct reports and their respective teams (over 1,200 people and counting) are currently using the Culture Track Training to successfully guide what their "cultural intervention." One of their leaders waxed philosophical and said: "Mahatma Ghandi, said, 'Become the change you want to see.' We all want change but we tend to resist the change when it directly affects us. This process has helped us work through that resistance to become the 'change' that was needed."
