On the Road to Responsible Leadership
A Case Study
On the Road to Responsible Leadership
As reported to the 2006 Cutter Summit by Steven B. Ambrose Director Non-Utility Subsidiaries DTE Energy [email protected]
Presented by The Cutter Consortium and Partnerwerks Inc. Cutter Consortium Account Executives Visit http://www.cutter.com/forms/contactUs.html Cutter Consortium +1 781.648.8700 [email protected] Partnerwerks Inc. Account Executive Flower De Raadt National/International Accounts +1 830.331.9339 [email protected]
Synopsis DTE Energy’s 800-member ITS organization (Fortune 500 2006 ranking #259) is strategically focused on building an agile and responsible culture by, among other steps, focusing on leadership development. They chose to explore and then invest in the Responsibility Redefined™i framework developed by Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Christopher Avery (http://www.cutter.com/meet-our-experts/averyc.html). This case study profiles the company, department, and timeline, then presents some initial results and next steps.
Cutter.com
christopherAVERY.com
Case Study: On the Road to Responsible Leadership
The DTE Energy Organization
DTE Energy Key Facts, 2005 Revenues Net Income Market Cap Assets Credit Rating Employees
$9 Billion $537 Million $8 Billion $23 Billion BBB+ 11,400
The ITS Organization Profile • • – –
IT Spend $155 Million Staff Employee 611 Contract 227 838
• – – –
Leaders Directors 5 Managers 15 Supervisors 27 47
Responsibility Redefined™ Timeline
Cutter Consortium www.cutter.com
Partnerwerks Inc. www.christopherAVERY.com
2
Case Study: On the Road to Responsible Leadership
Organizational Impacts Positive results have begun to accrue for DTE Energy’s ITS organization and their business customers. A few qualitative and a few quantitative results are presented here. Qualitative Results 1.
Responsible and Collaborative Attitudes and Behavior. The approximately 80 participants who attended the three-day Knowledge Team Leadership workshops remain enthusiastic and vocal about using, spreading, and expanding the concepts, tools, and lessons from the workshop. The tools are being learned and adopted even by project managers and teams that did not attend.
2.
Using the Language of Responsibility. The natural language of responsibility revealed by the Responsibility Process™ is broadly used throughout the leadership culture. This means that more and more people are catching and stopping irresponsible thoughts and actions and replacing them with responsible (i.e., resourceful) thoughts and actions. This translates to rapid, truthful, and respectful communication as well as agile and adaptive response to change and uncertainty (i.e., rapidly learning, growing, and achieving).
3.
Leadership Resourcefulness Distinctly Improved. Leaders report resolving, in minutes, potentially irritating issues that formerly required revisiting across many weeks of leadership meetings. They also report an unusually low “noise” level (bickering, rumors, complaints, etc.) during a period of organizational upheaval. Instead, leaders are owning the situations and taking resourceful actions.
Quantitative Results 1.
Six New Line Supervisors Fully Functional Six Months Faster Than Expected. At the beginning of the timeline, six individuals were moved into supervisory positions. Through the Responsibility Redefined™ program, they developed far more rapidly than expected, and contributed an extra 1/3 year at full productivity. Today they are confident, respected, collaborative, contributing leaders. Direct Savings: 1/3 * 6 supervisors * 6 months = 1 FTE
2.
Solution Delivery Process (SDP) Accelerated by 3 to 5 Months. At the same time that the new supervisors were coming up to speed, the organization was engaging in a CMMI 3 activity to strengthen the Solution Delivery Process. That effort ran smoothly and ahead of schedule to the delight and amazement of the CMMI 3 consultant and auditor. Direct Savings: 50 people part-time, ~7 FTE * 3 months = 2.5 FTE
3.
Gallup Workplace Quality Scorecard Up Significantly. Ten of twelve items measuring employee engagement improved significantly (0.2 movement and greater) during the
Cutter Consortium www.cutter.com
Partnerwerks Inc. www.christopherAVERY.com
3
Case Study: On the Road to Responsible Leadership
Responsibility Redefined™ program. This occurred in spite of two other organizationwide change efforts that could have had a negative effect on engagement scores.
Moving Forward ITS continues to develop Responsible Leadership with three thrusts. Transitioning into Phase 2 Responsibility Redefined™ research shows two naturally occurring phases as organizations focus on developing a culture of responsibility. The results described above are Phase 1 results: leaders and other participants learn the language of the Responsibility Process™ and begin to apply it to function at higher and higher levels, both individually and collectively. Phase 2 kicks in when leaders begin to identify current organizational systems that impede responsibility taking. For example, a DTE supervisor recently noted that when using the company’s prescribed performance management process to counsel an underperforming employee, the employee exhibited less, rather than more, ownership for the situation. IT leaders began to look at how they could produce more resourceful responses in employees being counseled through this process. Working on “Train the Trainer” ITS leaders have taken up the challenge to learn to teach the Responsibility Process™ and Keys to Responsibility™ themselves so that they may spread the material faster and farther. Expanding the Population Efforts are underway to expand the reach of Responsibility Redefined™ within both ITS and DTE Energy. Within ITS, there continues to be opportunity to develop leaders as well as team members. Outside of ITS, interest in Responsibility Redefined™ is developing in other DTE Energy groups. i
Responsibility Process™ and Keys to Responsibility™ are trademarks of Christopher Avery and Bill McCarley. Responsibility Redefined™ is a trademark of Christopher Avery.
Cutter Consortium www.cutter.com
Partnerwerks Inc. www.christopherAVERY.com
4
On the Road to Responsible Leadership
As reported to the 2006 Cutter Summit by Steven B. Ambrose Director Non-Utility Subsidiaries DTE Energy [email protected]
Presented by The Cutter Consortium and Partnerwerks Inc. Cutter Consortium Account Executives Visit http://www.cutter.com/forms/contactUs.html Cutter Consortium +1 781.648.8700 [email protected] Partnerwerks Inc. Account Executive Flower De Raadt National/International Accounts +1 830.331.9339 [email protected]
Synopsis DTE Energy’s 800-member ITS organization (Fortune 500 2006 ranking #259) is strategically focused on building an agile and responsible culture by, among other steps, focusing on leadership development. They chose to explore and then invest in the Responsibility Redefined™i framework developed by Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant Christopher Avery (http://www.cutter.com/meet-our-experts/averyc.html). This case study profiles the company, department, and timeline, then presents some initial results and next steps.
Cutter.com
christopherAVERY.com
Case Study: On the Road to Responsible Leadership
The DTE Energy Organization
DTE Energy Key Facts, 2005 Revenues Net Income Market Cap Assets Credit Rating Employees
$9 Billion $537 Million $8 Billion $23 Billion BBB+ 11,400
The ITS Organization Profile • • – –
IT Spend $155 Million Staff Employee 611 Contract 227 838
• – – –
Leaders Directors 5 Managers 15 Supervisors 27 47
Responsibility Redefined™ Timeline
Cutter Consortium www.cutter.com
Partnerwerks Inc. www.christopherAVERY.com
2
Case Study: On the Road to Responsible Leadership
Organizational Impacts Positive results have begun to accrue for DTE Energy’s ITS organization and their business customers. A few qualitative and a few quantitative results are presented here. Qualitative Results 1.
Responsible and Collaborative Attitudes and Behavior. The approximately 80 participants who attended the three-day Knowledge Team Leadership workshops remain enthusiastic and vocal about using, spreading, and expanding the concepts, tools, and lessons from the workshop. The tools are being learned and adopted even by project managers and teams that did not attend.
2.
Using the Language of Responsibility. The natural language of responsibility revealed by the Responsibility Process™ is broadly used throughout the leadership culture. This means that more and more people are catching and stopping irresponsible thoughts and actions and replacing them with responsible (i.e., resourceful) thoughts and actions. This translates to rapid, truthful, and respectful communication as well as agile and adaptive response to change and uncertainty (i.e., rapidly learning, growing, and achieving).
3.
Leadership Resourcefulness Distinctly Improved. Leaders report resolving, in minutes, potentially irritating issues that formerly required revisiting across many weeks of leadership meetings. They also report an unusually low “noise” level (bickering, rumors, complaints, etc.) during a period of organizational upheaval. Instead, leaders are owning the situations and taking resourceful actions.
Quantitative Results 1.
Six New Line Supervisors Fully Functional Six Months Faster Than Expected. At the beginning of the timeline, six individuals were moved into supervisory positions. Through the Responsibility Redefined™ program, they developed far more rapidly than expected, and contributed an extra 1/3 year at full productivity. Today they are confident, respected, collaborative, contributing leaders. Direct Savings: 1/3 * 6 supervisors * 6 months = 1 FTE
2.
Solution Delivery Process (SDP) Accelerated by 3 to 5 Months. At the same time that the new supervisors were coming up to speed, the organization was engaging in a CMMI 3 activity to strengthen the Solution Delivery Process. That effort ran smoothly and ahead of schedule to the delight and amazement of the CMMI 3 consultant and auditor. Direct Savings: 50 people part-time, ~7 FTE * 3 months = 2.5 FTE
3.
Gallup Workplace Quality Scorecard Up Significantly. Ten of twelve items measuring employee engagement improved significantly (0.2 movement and greater) during the
Cutter Consortium www.cutter.com
Partnerwerks Inc. www.christopherAVERY.com
3
Case Study: On the Road to Responsible Leadership
Responsibility Redefined™ program. This occurred in spite of two other organizationwide change efforts that could have had a negative effect on engagement scores.
Moving Forward ITS continues to develop Responsible Leadership with three thrusts. Transitioning into Phase 2 Responsibility Redefined™ research shows two naturally occurring phases as organizations focus on developing a culture of responsibility. The results described above are Phase 1 results: leaders and other participants learn the language of the Responsibility Process™ and begin to apply it to function at higher and higher levels, both individually and collectively. Phase 2 kicks in when leaders begin to identify current organizational systems that impede responsibility taking. For example, a DTE supervisor recently noted that when using the company’s prescribed performance management process to counsel an underperforming employee, the employee exhibited less, rather than more, ownership for the situation. IT leaders began to look at how they could produce more resourceful responses in employees being counseled through this process. Working on “Train the Trainer” ITS leaders have taken up the challenge to learn to teach the Responsibility Process™ and Keys to Responsibility™ themselves so that they may spread the material faster and farther. Expanding the Population Efforts are underway to expand the reach of Responsibility Redefined™ within both ITS and DTE Energy. Within ITS, there continues to be opportunity to develop leaders as well as team members. Outside of ITS, interest in Responsibility Redefined™ is developing in other DTE Energy groups. i
Responsibility Process™ and Keys to Responsibility™ are trademarks of Christopher Avery and Bill McCarley. Responsibility Redefined™ is a trademark of Christopher Avery.
Cutter Consortium www.cutter.com
Partnerwerks Inc. www.christopherAVERY.com
4
