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‘All in to Win’ – Go MAD Thinking working with Kraft
We are excited to bring you regular updates from a current piece of work with one of our key clients Kraft Foods. On this page follow their progress of using the Go M.A.D.® Framework and Results Focused Thinking tools to support their ‘All in to Win’ approach and to achieve measurable business results.
Currently managed by Thinking Engineer Rob Smith, this programme of work was started by Thinking Engineer Jo Hutchinson with the Leadership Team at The Champaign, IL USA plant in December 2011. The programme has involved the Senior Leadership Team, the Continuous Improvement Team and Front Line Leaders to help them achieve the results they want for themselves, their teams and the Plant.
With other Go MAD Thinking Engineers joining Jo to deliver the programme with visits to the USA in March, June and September 2012 the team were well on the way to smashing the success measures agreed. Now with the programme continuing in 2013, more than 100 people from all levels within the Plant have been involved and amazing measurable results continue to be achieved.
Also, at the start of 2013 work started in Avon, New York, extending the power of Results Focused Thinking to other plants in Kraft Foods USA.
Read regular news from Christine Bense the Plant Manager, programme participants, Jo and other Thinking Engineers.
Contact Us to find out how we can help you improve results.
Just scroll down the updates below to track Kraft’s progress.
Latest Update - May 23, 2013 – Danny Agee, Plant Manager, Avon NY
We wrapped up our 90 day challenges last week with the final report outs and some fun. We had 15 successful challenges from the initial training back in February. Our largest financial challenge out of the 15 was worth over $300M! (We are already seeing the savings come through!) There were some very creative report outs and awards were given to the following folks:
-Kelly Wojakowski – Best demonstrated use of Go MAD Tools
-Terry Sawyer – Most difficult 90 day challenge
-Sany Chavan – Most impressive results from 90 day challenge
-Bill Batzel – Most creative presentation
We then had some fun bowling to celebrate the successes! We’re planning to kick off the next 90 day challenge with this group in June and then looking forward to training another group of people in the Go MAD tools in August to really gain some momentum and keep those measurable differences rolling in.
April 22, 2013 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Another week of Go MAD Thinking events here in Champaign has come and gone. We wrapped up another successful 90 day challenge and awarded prizes to our individual and department winners. We trained 17 more people in all the Go MAD basics. Several department teams had half day sessions on how to lead people through change – all of which resulted in tangible agreed actions that individuals took personal responsibility for. Our wave 1 coaches got feedback from coaches on the coaching experience to date and we trained our wave 2 coaches. These are all important steps in driving the personal transformation in ourselves and our people that will underpin our culture shift towards ownership and high performance. We were all sad to say goodbye to Jo but feel confident in Rob’s ability to partner with us moving forward.
March 31, 2013 – Joelle Stevens, Quality Engineer, Champaign
I absolutely love possibility thinking and I use it daily. It allows my mind to take my question in any and every direction. I currently have a project I’m working on fixing and what is so fun with possibility thinking is every time I get one step closer it allows me to go back to the drawing board and ask myself what else.
March 13, 2013 – Danny Agee, Plant Manager, Avon, NY
It was great to have the initial kick-off training with Go MAD Thinking in Avon, NY in February! We were able to get 15 people both salaried and hourly in key positions introduced to Go MAD. The first day was spent on introducing the basic framework, possibility thinking, helpful and hindering thoughts, etc. The second day was focused on coaching and developing and asking high quality questions and then the third day was all about change management. At the end of the third day all 15 of us developed 90 day challenges to kick start the first half of 2013. It was a great experience for the Avon facility as we were introduced to a new way of thinking. Thanks to Jo for the great coaching and engagement of all for a very inspiring week!
February 12, 2013 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
A visual reminder of our last visit to the Champaign plant in January. Here are the group, hard at work creating ‘Umbrellas’ to help them achieve their challenges.
January 10, 2013 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Another Go MAD Thinking event has come and gone. We trained a fresh batch of 16 employees and kicked off our Q1 90 day challenge with well over 100 participants – that’s 4 times as many people as we had this time last year. There’s no doubt we will get a stronger start off the blocks this year!
Our 3 Production Departments and Maintenance Department participated in facilitated umbrella goal sessions that helped all the staff in each department collectively define what matters most this year and who will be responsible for what. Jo spent some time in the Plant soliciting feedback from production employees on the coaching capability of the extended leadership team. That feedback served as input to the team on our journey to become accredited as coaches by April.
And finally, the leadership team spent a day with Jo doing team building activities and learning more about Transactional Analysis. With several new members to the group, this was time well spent that yielded a couple of key priorities for us to focus on in the coming months. Overall, another infusion of focus and energy supporting the ‘what’s’ and the ‘how’s’ that matter most here in Champaign.
January 7, 2013 – Tim McPhillips, Thinking Engineer
My first visit to the U.S. with Jo to work with Kraft Foods. Here’s a short taster of my trip:
7 days, 4 hotels, 2 States, 2 plants, 100 + umbrellas and the Go MAD tour of North America rolls on! As well as inducting another group of 15 to the Champaign Go MAD community (now circa 120), Christine launched a further set of 90 day challenges.
Seeing all those Umbrella goals pinned up certainly was an impressive sight. Also, whilst in Champaign Jo worked with the Senior Team on some visioning and team development while I supported the Enhancers, Maintenance and Dinners Teams to develop their 2013 departmental goals.
Then it was off to Davenport, Iowa, the city by the Mississippi! The first Go MAD Thinking programme for John Schmidt (Plant Manager) and his leadership team. A great bunch of delegates, lots of fun and participation topped off with 18 new 90 day challenges. Quote of the week… from delegate feedback… “Drank the cool aid … and the cool aid was good!”
January 4, 2013 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Just walked passed someone’s desk and couldn’t help but notice the umbrella… another sign that Go MAD tools are alive and well…
December 21, 2012 - Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
Here are the winners of the individual prizes from the Q4 challenge reviews. Great to hear about the fantastic differences being made.
December 19, 2012 - Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
When reviewing the achievements of the 90 day challenges of Q4, prizes were awarded to the team who made the greatest difference. And… the winners are…
December 14, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Today, we reviewed the results of our Q4 90 day challenge and once again, I was impressed with the outcome! Collectively, participants delivered about $5 million in full year benefit to the business (a combination of cost savings and inventory reduction). What was most pleasing to see was the level of collaboration within teams and hearing people describe how the challenge focused them to achieve things they wouldn’t have otherwise. As usual, we awarded individual prizes for biggest bottom line impact, most collaborative and best demonstration of ‘All In To Win’. The grand prize and traveling trophy left our Cheese team and went this time to Distribution! What a great way to wrap up the year!
December 5, 2012 - Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
It’s hard to believe it’s now a year since we started the work in Champaign… and what a fantastic year it’s been! Working with a leader with courage, tenacity and vision, a team with a real thirst to continuously improve and embrace new ways of thinking, and the opportunity to be there when they celebrated the tremendous results they’ve achieved has been a truly rewarding experience.
Now for 2013… the work continues in early January to introduce the Results Thinking System as deep and as wide as possible in the Plant plus to sustain the work already done through team facilitation focused on getting the best possible start to 2013’s goals. And of course we’ll be kicking off the latest quarterly challenge for over 100 people – a process which has now become business as usual for them as it delivers results
And we start work in a new plant in Davenport, Iowa… this plant does meat product production… wonder when will be a good time to tell them I’m (sort of) vegetarian…although I have been known to eat American bacon once in a while…
So I’d like to send best wishes for the festive season to all the fabulous difference makers we have met in Champaign and here’s to a remarkable and success filled 2013 in both Champaign and Davenport!
October 30, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Our Q4 Challenge is taking shape! This is such a great visual reminder for everyone in the plant of how many people are pulling together in an effort to bring this year home.
October 28, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
For the third time over the past few weeks I’ve heard someone say “that’s so-and-so’s 90 day challenge” when a particular business issue came up in discussion. It’s evidence that 90 day challenges are becoming a way of working and are helping create the focus and accountability for results that we were aiming for.
October 26, 2012 - Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
At the last 90 day Challenge Review there were prizes for the differences made. And… here are the winners.
October 19, 2012 - Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
So many differences being made by the teams at Kraft. On the last visit Richard and I were excited to hear about these amazing results from the 90 day challenges.
October 12, 2012 - Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
Take a look at the fantastic differences made as a result of the last 90 day challenges. These were reviewed during our last visit to Champaign in September.
September 28, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
After asking one of my department managers to implement a focused improvement effort in a critical area, I received a team charter today from the team lead (one of our front line supervisors) whose stated goal is “By December 07, 2012, I will lead and direct a focus group of four 90 day challenges that will reduce French Room downtime by 50%” – if this isn’t ‘all in to win’, I don’t know what is!
September 27, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
We took some great photos when we were over in the States a couple of weeks ago. Take a look at the group involved in the last challenge review.
September 14, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
We reviewed our Q3 90 day Challenge and learned that between 61 people, we delivered a whopping $8.5 million in full year savings, identified $1 million in new ideas for 2013 and made several improvements to key work processes. The best part was seeing everyone sharing their successes with each other, particularly those who weren’t sure THEY could make a difference and seeing the pride in peoples’ faces. I had the privilege of awarding prizes to a few individuals and the winning department who will get $1000 to invest back in their department to mark their success and boost morale.
We are living proof that thinking differently leads to different behaviors and a different level of results – results we are proud of, results we achieved together by going all in to win.
Thank you Jo and Richard for helping us along the way…
September 14, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Another week of Go MAD activities have come and gone and we got the boost we needed at this point to bring 2012 home…
• Our Cheese leaders have better alignment behind priority plans to lift their year to go performance
• Everyone who attended master classes at the plant got information and support they asked for
• We developed action plans to close gaps against our individual and site priority business goals using the framework and coaching
• We developed vision statement descriptors that will help us clarify our desired future state and inspire people across our plant to move towards it
• We took an important step in improving our 3-year site master plan by defining the capabilities we will need to build and the behaviors we will need to change to enable successful execution of our business priorities
• We discussed how we will improve our effectiveness as coaches on the floor and committed to completing coaching accreditation over the next 6 months
• 36 more people were trained on solution focused thinking, bringing the total to 101 this year!
• We kicked off the Q4 90 day Challenge that has nearly 100 people focused on personal goals that will contribute to our plant’s success as we take our final steps of 2012
Overall, the week’s events brought everyone together, gave us the gift of time away from the plant to celebrate recent achievements, think about our priorities and what we will do to deliver them, reminded us how the framework and coaching can be used to raise performance and that our responsibility for doing so is at the center of it all.
August 31, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
All the planning is nearly complete for mine and Richards return to Champaign on 10th September. This is a view of our week, in numbers:
2 = no. of teams (the Cheese Team and the Integrated Lean Six Sigma Team) who will have a bespoke facilitated day each to help them bring their visions to life and increase their likelihood of success.
8 = no. of master classes to be run in the plant on topics such as influencing, personal responsibility and key issues coaching.
15 = no. of All In To Win Champions who will re-group to share wins and best practice and think through ways to continue to challenge mindsets and role model a solution focused approach.
25 = no. of people from the leadership and CI team who will spend a day using the Go MAD Framework diagnostically to identify improvement to ensure their work based performance goals are achieved this year, and top up their coaching skills.
30 = no. of front line leaders being trained in Solution Focused Thinking techniques to help unlock the potential of themselves and their team
70 = no. of Q3 challenges that will be reviewed. In the last 2 quarters, they have made approx $5m full year savings each quarter. Watch this space to discover the measurable difference this time!
100 = no. of people from all levels in the plant who will commence an individual Q4 challenge
More challenges leads to more measurable differences leading to a greater return on investment and a more sustainable change…..can’t wait to get back out there and help them make it happen!
August 16, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Walked into a conference room this morning and saw a department manager’s desktop on the screen… the Go MAD framework! See it here.
August 3, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
One of three giant scorecards displayed in our plant as an agreed means of holding ourselves accountable for delivering against our Q3 Challenges! Have a look here.
July 6, 2012 - John Fuzfa, Line Technician, Kraft Foods
When it comes to the term Going Mad most people assume you are going crazy. Me on the other hand, I look at the term Going Mad as an opportunity for knowledge and the source to success. When people ask me what I have been up to, I tell them I have been Going Mad. Sure people look at me weird when I say that, and I do not mind when I get those weird looks because I know the million dollar question will follow. “What do you mean you are Going Mad?” That single question opens the door for me to share the knowledge I have learned from my Go MAD training; it gives me that opportunity to get others to buy-in on the concept of Going Mad.
The most important thing I have taken from my Go MAD training is the structure building techniques the program teaches you. Structure is very important in my life and it should be a staple in everyone’s life in my opinion. I used to be an Iron Worker before my career started at Kraft Foods. Iron workers trust their lives on the structures they build. If one piece of that structure fails, you will have a domino effect that follows. Go MAD Training helps build structures that will last a life time! Iron Workers are not the only ones that benefit from strong structures. Go MAD Training is for anyone who wants to better themselves, help others, and take control of everyday life situations on their own terms. I am very thankful to have been exposed to such a wonderful and useful set of tools that will help others and I build the strongest structures for any goal we set our minds to.
June 22, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Our week of Go MAD ended on a high note! We reviewed the results of our Q2 60 day challenges this morning and learned that 32 of us delivered almost $5 million in full year savings! That tops our Q1 challenge results (considering we had 30 less days)! Then this afternoon, we kicked off the Q3 90 day challenge that has 70 people (made up of participants from the leadership team through middle managers, front line leaders, operators, technicians and utility employees) focused on delivering personal productivity goals using Go MAD tools. Everyone built umbrella goals and worked in buddy pairs to share content and agree 10-day deliverables. The focus and energy in the room was encouraging and the best part was the lack of recognizable distinction between people based on role or hierarchy. Another fantastic sign of ‘All in to Win’ coming to life!
June 21, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
A great week back in the USA with Kraft, working with fellow Thinking Engineer Richard Armeson. So far we have run a programme for 33 more ‘All in Win’ champions, facilitated the ‘All Salaried Conference’ and delivered a session for the Senior Leadership Team. Really looked forward to tomorrow and the Challenges review. Excited to hear about the differences that will have been made as a result of the team putting into practice the results focused tools and techniques that we have introduced throughout the Go MAD programme.
June 21, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Today, Jo and Richard guided us (the top team) through a powerful feedback session that helped us gain insight into ourselves as individuals and as a team. I left feeling elated about the level of constructive feedback shared with positive intent amongst us. I believe this will drive us forward and help us deliver our business results this year.
June 20, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Our first ever all salaried engagement day was a success! Over 100 staff all dressed as their favourite winners/champions worked together to agree the few key cultural attributes we will focus on shifting to go ‘All in to Win’ and become an unequivocal competitive advantage for our company! And each one of them made a personal commitment to change one thing about their own behaviour as a start to leading the way. This is the beginning of real change…
June 19, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Just finished reviewing the feedback forms from the 2-day solution focused training with our newly identified ‘All in to Win Champions’ and I’m thrilled about all their positive comments! Extending this type of development to our hourly employees at Champaign is a first and I believe it will have a powerful impact on our efforts to drive improvement and cultural change.
June 18, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Jo and Richard have arrived and another week of Go MAD has begun!
June 15, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Planning for next week’s Go MAD event is almost complete… 32 more people to get trained in solution focused thinking, an all-salaried engagement day focused on igniting our winning spirit, Q2 challenge review and Q3 challenge kick off and a leadership team effectiveness session. There’s a buzz across the plant in anticipation, between our first hourly employees to receive training, to our staff deciding what costumes to wear for the winning themed ‘engagement day’…. I can hardly wait.
June 15, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
Here the final three videos of Joelle Stevens, Tonya Cagle and Brian Mosley sharing their experiences of the Go MAD programme.
June 6, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
Last time John and I were with Kraft in the States we recorded some short video clips some of which we have already shared with you. We wanted the people involved to be able to tell you about their experience of participating in the Go MAD Programme. Here are two more videos of Cecilia Gonzalez and Jeff Frey talking about how they have been using high quality questions to help them achieve personal and work goals.
June 1, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
Here is another short video of John Schmidt talking about the differences made in the first 90 day challenge following the first Go MAD programme.
May 30, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Watch a short video blog from Christine.
May 25, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
Now in serious planning mode for our return in June. We’re going to be reviewing the quarter 2 challenges for 40 people, training 35 All-in-to-Win champions and helping to run an Engagement Day for 100 people. If the measurable differences from last time are anything to go by, we’re going to have an awesome week. 3 weeks and counting!
May 14, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
When John and I were with Kraft in the States in April we recorded some short video clips. We wanted the people involved to be able to tell you about their experience of participating in the Go MAD Programme. Here are the first three videos of Lloyd Cochran, Ryan Lippert and Stephanie Brownstein, talking about the differences they made. More to follow.
May 10, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
I was thrilled to see one of my senior leaders kick off an overtime reduction challenge yesterday and encourage all frontline leaders and middle managers across the site to use possibility thinking. And today, one of my black belts asked me for a coaching session – thank you framework! More signs of Go MAD Thinking taking root in Champaign…
April 27, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
600 people participated in possibility thinking over the last week as part of our first 7-day challenge. The result? $800k of full year savings. Another good example of ‘All In To Win’!
April 24, 2012 – Tonya Cagle, Assistant to Plant Manager
My brother is implementing some major changes at his law firm and I walked him through the “Change Train” over the weekend. He could already identify with some of the stops on the curve! It is such a great tool.
April 20, 2012 – John Bullock, Thinking Engineer
Great week with the Senior Team. Massive measurable differences achieved and all the team living and breathing Solution focused Thinking! Homeward bound to the UK now.
April 20, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
2 words I used to describe this week’s Go MAD activities – results (we’re delivering them) and energy (you can feel it in the air).
April 19, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Positive feedback from my folks reinforces the value gained from this week’s change management workshop. 30 people structured around 6 key change initiatives learned how to lead people through change and built action plans for making it happen. Lots of ‘light bulb moments’ and comments like ‘I wish we knew this before’…
April 17, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Reviewed the results of our Q1 90 Day Challenge today… 25 people delivered over $5M in full year savings, claiming the Challenge changed their thinking, improved collaboration, drove accountability and had a notable impact on the results they achieved. We’re ahead of plan 3 months in and with 15 more freshly-trained leaders on board, our collective mission is now to crush Q2!
April 16, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
Day 1 of the programme with a new group of International Food Manufacturing Leaders: impressive possibility thinking – 1037 possibilities generated by the team in 5 minutes!
April 16, 2012 - Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Jo and John are back in town – it’s time to build on what we started in Dec!
April 13, 2012 – Jo Hutchinson, Thinking Engineer
In 24 hours John and I will be in Chicago, for a week of creating, changing, challenging & celebrating with great people! Making a Difference Stateside!
April 3, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Just received our preliminary Q1 plant financials – looks like our first 90 day challenge was a success! Bring on Q2!
April 2, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Officially 2 weeks from our next Go MAD event! 90 day challenge reviews and 2 days of change management focused on our top 6 initiatives, plus a fresh group getting exposure to Go MAD for the first time. I’m looking forward to building on what we started in December…
April 2, 2012 – Jeffrey Frey, Dinners Business Unit Manager
I have found that since completing the Go MAD training at the end of last year I am taking a different approach to many things in life. At the end of the year I sat down and put together umbrella goals with my wife for our 2012 priorities. One of the goals I used for myself during Go MAD training was to lose 30 lbs and between January 1st at March 9th I lost 40 lbs! I also find that I am asking questions and leading differently by utilizing high quality questions and letting people think for themselves rather than imposing my ideas on them.
March 23, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Just approved the cover of ‘Our Choices’ – a little book we’ve created that reflects completed choices cards from across the plant and broader business. After launching our plant roadmap, we encouraged everyone to think about the choices they will personally make to get involved and drive progress. We hope this book demonstrates our collective intent and gives everyone ideas for how they could possibly go ‘All In To Win’!
March 16, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
One of my department managers found an ‘outlier’ idea off one of our possibility thinking sheets. It didn’t make the short list originally but with further investigation, looks to be worth over $300k to us and is likely scalable across the US processed cheese network.
Feb 22, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Had a good coaching session with one of my black belts this morning. 60 minutes to stretch each other’s thinking every 2 weeks is proving to be time well spent…
Feb 12, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Ideation sessions complete for all departments – $20million in new ideas in hand for us to now scrub and decide what to prioritize and action to help us deliver this year.
Feb 1, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Hosted our first of 5 ideation sessions today – engaged 40 people from across the business in a structured event using possibility thinking tools to identify $7million of potential new savings ideas. Not bad for 1 day!
Jan 25, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Launched our roadmap with the entire plant staff today – share fair style! Our 10 Roadmap Champions gave personal descriptions of their 3-year umbrella goals and highlighted this year’s priorities while competing for one of our top 3 Super Bowl themed prizes (based on popular vote of all participants). Worked well.
Jan 24, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Completed stakeholder alignment on our 3 year plant roadmap today! Have hosted all 3 business teams in the last 2 weeks, tied them up in ropes, talked about helpful and hindering thoughts, assessed their self-belief and had them sign choices cards stating their commitments to support us in our goals this year. Thumbs up from all directions – its full steam ahead!
Jan 10, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Offsite today with my team finalizing goals and planning the launch of our 3-year plant roadmap. We used possibility thinking tools to generate ideas and defined next steps.
Jan 6, 2012 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Had a short 90 day reconnect this morning to kick start the New Year… was encouraged by the level of enthusiasm and progress made already!
Dec 16, 2011 – Christine Bense, Plant Manager
Just completed Go MAD’s solution focused program for the second time but with a different team in a different country. Great to see it have as powerful an impact in the US as it did in the UK! A new way of thinking has been introduced, tools are in hand, we know how to write good goals and our first 90 day challenge is underway. Q1, we’re going to crush you…