Page 160 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Dare to Dare 141

■ Assign cross-functional teams to re-engineer products, processes, and
services. Examine projects that failed and celebrate employee efforts,
despite the outcome.
■ Communicate to employees how the study of so-called “organiza-
tional failures” is essential for planning future projects and strategies.

The Spirit of Challenge

When the Whirlpool Global No-Frost project started, Jerry McColgin
was faced with a real challenge. Not only was the schedule cut by a third,
but so was the budget. He thought he could deliver on time if—but only
if—he had the team fully behind him. “I felt it was doable, but the team
would tell me if I was right or not. I decided, for my benefit and for the
team’s benefit, that we had to decide very quickly. We couldn’t get half-
way through and then realize that we couldn’t deliver. This was one of the
main reasons I took everyone off for a five-day retreat. We all concluded
that the project was feasible within the time and budget limits the company
had given us.”
Of course, by its very nature, the team took risks all along the way.
Inviting the suppliers to work as partners was a major risk. Everyone
involved was under a microscope from top management. Management had
cooperated all the way—by setting up an international team, by giving the
team specially outfitted and expensive offices, and by allowing personnel
to be taken away from their regular functions to work full time with the
team. All of these moves created some resentment and jealousy among
coworkers.
The Global No-Frost team was always under pressure to reach its mile-
stones on schedule. “From a risk point of view,” says McColgin, “we were
carrying a heavy load.”
There were personal risks too. Take the case of the finance manager.
When the project began, McColgin interviewed various people within the
company and found no one he felt was really right. Then an American, who
had been working as a controller in Brazil, came to see him. He wanted
to relocate back to his own country. He was offered the job but expressed
reservations at the risk involved in taking on a two-year job when he needed
permanence. But he accepted the risk and took the job. In the end, he was
given a management position in the company.