Navigating the hero’s journey in plant management: A tale of success and setbacks

It was 2010, Bert had just earned his degree in mechanical engineering. He accepted a job as a maintenance engineer in a plastics factory in Texas.

Bert was a talented engineer, but his real gift was rolling up his sleeves and working closely with technicians on the shop floor, getting work done with precision, efficiency, and design improvements to address root causes of reliability events. He was a catalyst for improvement, and the team loved him.

The combination of his technical abilities, people skills, and business results propelled him into the office of maintenance manager in just four years. As a new maintenance manager, Bert rapidly led safety, uptime, and costs changes through the deployment of best practices: planning, scheduling, problem solving, kitting, precision maintenance, and predictive maintenance technologies to name a few. These team results caught the eye of the plant manager.

Within three years, Bert was promoted to production manager of a 120-person plant where he continued to deliver strong results. Four years later, Bert was approached by a headhunter about a plant manager role. The job included a huge salary bump, but was in another state (Indiana), and another industry (aluminum). Never-the-less, Bert jumped at the opportunity after a discussion with his spouse.

In the new role, Bert quickly assessed current state. It was not good; the plant was the worst of 10 in the U.S. for profit, and it lacked procedures, process discipline, and a competent management team. Every day was a fire drill of problems and heroics. Bert’s manager was the vice president of North American operations. Bert and the vp quickly agreed on the business results that were needed in the next 90 days, 6 months, and 12 months. Bert, by the way, forced this granularity of results to ensure he had sponsorship for the culture change he was embarking upon.

Nine months later, Bert was fired. What happened? Did he fail to achieve results in the new role?

This is my 12th article in two years. I have provided 11 of my personal stories for how to create a culture of reliability. However, in preparing for this next lesson in reliability leadership, Bert’s termination occurred. This is a true story with different names and details to protect his identity. It is easy to tell stories of success and learning by glossing over the missteps, failures, forks in the road, and cliffs I fell off. Leading a culture change is fraught with obstacles. Most fail. It’s a hero’s journey.

The Hero's Journey, a concept popularized by Joseph Campbell in his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." It is a universal narrative found in myths and stories across cultures. The journey consists of 12 stages that a hero passes through:

Ordinary World: The hero's normal life.
Call to Adventure: The hero receives a challenge.
Refusal of the Call: The hero resists the call due to fear and doubt.
Meeting the Mentor: The hero encounters a mentor who provides guidance.
Crossing the Threshold: The hero leaves his normal world and enters the unknown beginning the adventure.
Challenges, Allies, and Enemies: The hero faces adversity, finds friends, and faces foes.
A Central Obstacle: The hero prepares for a significant challenge or crisis.
Challenge Accepted: The hero faces the major obstacle often confronting death and fears.
Reward: After overcoming the ordeal, the hero gains a reward and wisdom.
The Return Road: The hero begins the home journey with its own challenges.
Rebirth: The hero faces a final test that transforms them.
New Wisdom: The hero returns home with new insights that benefits society.

This outline is central to many cultural stories, books, movies, and myths because it resonates and enthralls the viewer. Examples include: Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, and even Spider-Man.

Any manager can say they want change, but how many are willing to endure the hero’s journey. To move from reactive maintenance to a culture of reliability, you (the hero) must pass challenges, find allies, and defeat enemies.

Challenges (not a complete list)

Operations must begin to own reliability, not maintenance nor engineering.
New skills must be trained, mastered, and audited: planning, scheduling, kitting, problem solving, incorporating predictive maintenance tools, and process management.
Some team members will not survive the changes in expectations. They will be angry and feelings will be hurt.
Superficial congeniality must be replaced with spirited debates.
Top management will be second guessing your changes every step along the way.
Some changes will initially fail but you will learn.
You will have 100 priorities but must focus on three to five to break out of current state.

Allies (not a complete list)

People willing to learn, fail, adapt and succeed, such as senior management, peers, supervisors, technicians, and engineers
Consultants

Enemies (not a complete list)

Passive aggressive and outspoken resisters and stragglers unwilling to make changes in a timely manner waiting out the initiative.
Senior Management
i. Unwilling to take the long view of failures, setbacks, lessons learned, and missteps.
ii. Unwilling to invest their calendar time sponsoring and auditing expectations of the new culture.

Bert’s vp was on the “Enemies” list above. He wanted change, but as long as nothing went wrong or failed and everyone at the plant was happy. He believed that a great leader can achieve a culture change without passing through the hero’s journey; he was wrong.

The spoils of creating a culture of reliability are great, but most fall short in the journey. Bert must see this as a setback filled with wisdom to go forward on his hero’s journey. I am convinced he will. Failure is not falling down, but failing to get back up.