Problem Evaluation and Formulation of Solutions (8-10 page paper)

Case Studies

Becoming a Creative Change Leader

MANIFESTING A VISION: HOW ONE PERSON BECAME A CREATIVE CHANGE LEADER IN HER ORGANIZATION

Challenge

How do you create a full-time position for yourself focused on innovation with a successful international company? To make the challenge even more difficult, you’re currently not on the management fast track, there is a hiring freeze, and most people in your organization don’t know you exist. Can it be done?

One person has shown us how she went from relative obscurity to prominent player in her organization’s quest for continuous innovation with the help of CPS. This case will chronicle how Shari Rife found her vision, laid the groundwork for her new position, and followed through in a way that positively impacted the company and validated her role.

Initial Exposure to Creativity: Developing a New Career Vision

With an undergraduate degree in business, 15 years of experience as an administrative support person in the IT division of her company, and 3 years’ experience in customer service and logistics, Shari Rife’s career was alive but moving slowly. Though she consistently worked hard and pursued opportunities, she lacked a vision for her career.

Shari works for Rich Products Corporation, headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Rich’s was founded in 1945 and is known around the world as an innovative company. They are the founders of the nondairy segment of the frozen food industry and a leading supplier and solutions provider to the food service, in-store, and retail marketplace. Rich Products has grown from a niche maker of soy-based whipped toppings and frozen desserts to a major U.S. frozen foods manufacturer. Since the 1960s, the company has developed products such as Coffee Rich (nondairy coffee creamer) and has expanded to include frozen bakery and pizza doughs and ingredients for the food service and in-store bakery markets, plus RICH-SEAPAK (seafood) and Byron’s (barbecue). Overall, Rich Products markets more than 2,000 products in about 75 countries.

Approximately 18 years and 2 positions into her career at Rich’s, Rife received a surprising invitation to interview for participation in an intensive company-sponsored training program. The training focused on the CPS process. Rife knew nothing about CPS, but she was willing to learn. Of the 50 people who interviewed, Shari was 1 of the 15 selected to attend.

After 15 years of using outside creativity consultants to boost performance and innovation, Rich’s was sold on the value and principles of CPS. The CPS training program was designed to complement the external consultants with internal consultants skilled in CPS, thus building an internal base of expertise in creativity. To ensure employee follow-through, all participants attending the training were required to make a 2-year commitment not only to learn but also apply their CPS skills throughout the company. Specifically, this multinational company stipulated that employees involved in the CPS training would need to devote 25% of their time in applying what they learned to real business issues.

The training program began with a full week of intense CPS instruction, followed by a second week of CPS facilitation skills training. Once the classroom training was complete, each participant was required to facilitate a set number of problem-solving sessions with coaching support. Monthly lunch and learn sessions took place over the first year to hone the participants’ skills, and a call center was created to market and coordinate the utilization

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of the newly trained CPS facilitators. Rife was very much taken by the training program. Struck by the usefulness of the CPS process, Shari gained

self-confidence and the desire to apply the skills and principles on a much broader scale within the company. “At that point, I knew what I wanted to do with my career,” said Rife. She had found her vision and was now on a mission to make it a reality.

Laying the Groundwork for a Full-Time CPS Position

Rife was aggressive during her 2-year commitment to apply CPS within Rich’s. Anytime a need arose, she would make herself available. She took every opportunity to apply her new CPS skills while maintaining her other responsibilities. “I went from not being able to speak in front of a group to being in front of the room guiding teams through various problem-solving sessions,” said Rife. These CPS experiences allowed her to begin internalizing the process and recognize how the principles and tools could be applied to a multitude of business problems. It became clear to Shari that her role could be much bigger within the company.

About a year into her CPS training program, Rife discovered and pursued a graduate degree, specializing in the CPS process and creativity. Not only did this move demonstrate her commitment, it also helped facilitate the transition to her new career. During one class assignment, she was asked to state a goal and develop it using the convergent tool PPCO (see Chapter 10). While Rife was clear about her vision—to become a full-time CPS facilitator in her company—she was uncertain as to how to make this a reality.

Her class assignment forced her to articulate and strengthen her career vision. More specifically, she listed pluses, potentials, and concerns of creating a full-time CPS and innovation specialist position in Rich’s. She then generated ideas for overcoming the identified concerns, such as “how to prove this is impacting the bottom line.” The end result of Rife’s assignment was a recommendation for management outlining why they should hire her full-time to lead the CPS and innovation initiative. The accompanying box highlights excerpts from her PPCO work. Management reviewed Rife’s recommendation and approved the new position based on the fact that they had experienced the value of CPS, had seen Rife in action, and were inspired by her commitment and vision.

Follow-Through: Personal Growth and Impact Within the Organization

With her self-created position, Manager of Creative Process and Facilitation, Rife was given the freedom to define her duties and responsibilities. She described her role as an internal consultant and facilitator focused on bringing creativity, open-minded thinking, and planning to everyday meetings and processes. She was focused on encouraging all associates to display the principles of CPS every day in every way. Now, it was her time to prove herself and stimulate innovation.

During the early stages of her new role, most of Shari’s time was spent providing CPS facilitation sessions. She would help groups have more productive problem-solving sessions and meetings. As her experience and reputation grew, she began receiving more requests from groups throughout her organization and discovered new areas in which she might apply her facilitation skills. Upper management also began asking Rife to work alongside outside consultants to learn other processes, such as strategic planning, and to be sure there was an effective interface between established internal processes, such as CPS, and new processes.

PPC° Section of Recommendation

Pluses (likes)

Focused attention Increased usage of CPS Consistency in the process Services offered to customers that no other manufacturer provides Project tracking—measurements, $ saved and earned Ability to see the process through to implementation More implementation and success stories Less money spent on outside consulting

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More visibility throughout the company Supports key initiatives Builds credibility and furthers company reputation in the industry as a learning organization Introduces more customers to company campus Makes higher profile in the customer community (not selling them but partnering with them) Enhances/sharpens skills for dedicated CPS agents Creates a value-added, competitive advantage Solidifies customer relationships Matches vision of the company— brings it to life by actually solving problems and coming up with customer solutions

Potentials (opportunities)

More CPS-facilitated sessions conducted, resulting in innovative ideas, savings, and earnings Implementation Big impact on Drive 2005 initiative Could sell service/expertise to other companies Increased business customer partnerships—care about helping their businesses grow, not just selling them

Concerns

How to (H2) insure the position is not eliminated in a year or when budgets get tight? H2 prove this impacts the bottom line—is it a valuable business tool? H2 not add to head count? H2 convince management that a fulltime position is required? H2 educate associates to insure they know how to use the process when needed?

Overcoming Key Concerns

H2 not add to head count?

Fill with two existing associates and not replace their positions Replace an open position with this position Transfer associates from wholly owned subsidiaries Have associates agree to work for nothing and get a % of everything impacted

H2 prove this impacts the bottom line? H2 insure positions are not eliminated? H2 convince management a full- time position is required?

Document all success identifying $$ and time saved Show cost savings between internal full-time versus paid outside consultant Start to educate nonmanagers of the power and impact of the process Introduce CPS to the entire corporate body—bottom-up approach Introduce CPS service attrade shows to show customers this value-added service Offer off-site sessions for priority customers who attend trade shows we participate in Run problem-solving sessions with customers and get feedback on how they impacted their business

Shari believes the principles and procedures of CPS have provided her with an ideal foundation for understanding and incorporating other group processes and credits CPS for much of her success. “Since my introduction to CPS, my career has blossomed—I travel worldwide, have speaking engagements for various organizations, train others, lead groups, and absolutely love what I do!” She consistently helps her organization innovate and succeed worldwide in all types of ways. These include:

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Facilitating Internal Ideation Sessions to develop new product ideas, naming products, marketing opportunities, and so on. Leading Discovery Events to find out what consumers want and then figuring out how to solve the need. Facilitating Quarterly Leadership Meetings to assist in setting objectives and agendas and help ensure efficient, effective meetings for the international division of her company. Leading Customer Innovation Events to develop strategies and signature products in a creative and collaborative way in customer-specific meetings. Facilitating Strategic Planning to promote international long-range planning in such venues as Brazil, Mexico, the U.K., and India. Redesigning Processes to challenge the current design by driving efficiency into processes. Driving Efficiency in Meetings to identify clear objectives and agendas, facilitating teams, and modeling behavior. Informal and Formal Coaching to help others drive innovation and internalize the CPS process. Coordinating Innovation Events to promote a celebration and sharing of implemented ideas across the organization. Facilitating Governance Procedures to implement and facilitate a process for driving accountability and decision making for key corporate initiatives. Training to deliver workshops on facilitative behaviors and creative leadership that promote foundational CPS and improve management skills throughout the organization.

Closing Thoughts

In a short 5 years, Rife transformed her career and now contributes significantly to the success of her company. She has clearly demonstrated her value and the value of CPS throughout Rich’s. She receives requests for her services from all levels of the company. Rife has also played a part in the creation of numerous new product concepts, process redesigns, and customer innovations.

In the face of worldwide change and competition, Rich’s continues to lead its industry and is known for being innovative. When asked why the demand of CPS facilitation has increased, Rife simply states, “It has increased because it works.”

As for the others who participated in the intense CPS training, most have seen their careers advance. “CPS skills are critical management and leadership skills that can enhance a person’s career,” says Rife, whose overarching goal is to insure everyone applies these skills “every day in every way.” Shari’s story highlights both the personal transformation that can be realized through CPS and the positive organizational effects it has on groups. Shari Rife epitomizes what it means to be a Creative Change Leader.

CREATING A CREATIVE CULTURE

A TURNAROUND STORY: HOW CREATIVE PROBLEM

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