SwitchPoints Culture Change on the Fast Track

SwitchPoints is the inspiring story of how Canadian National Railway (CN) advanced from good to great in a few short years-becoming North America's top-performing railroad and a favorite with of corporate customers and investors. In it, the authors reveal how company-wide culture change propelled this aging transportation giant to become the profitable powerhouse it is today. Rich with insights and anecdotes, SwitchPoints offers lessons that can be applied to any organization seeking to improve the bottom line by improving their culture.

Judy Johnson, PhD, a Partner with the Continuous Learning Group (CLG), applies behavioral science to help leaders create environments that dramatically improve organizational performance and profitability. Johnson coaches executives on personal leadership and executing strategies through pinpointing key behaviors that lead to success.

Les Dakens, retired Senior Vice President of People for CN, was responsible for strategic direction of CN's Human Resources and Labour Relations in North America and worldwide. Prior to joining CN, Dakens was Vice President of Human Resources for the North American division of the H.J. Heinz Company.

Peter Edwards, Vice President of Human Resources for CN, is responsible for human resources, culture change, implementation, leadership, and organizational development. He assisted CN's CEO in writing two landmark books for employees and designed CN's "Railroad MBA" program.

Edward (Ned) Morse, a Senior Partner with CLG, offers three decades of experience helping Fortune 500 executives develop and implement business-critical strategies. Morse has worked with clients in transportation, petrochemicals, food service, healthcare, engineering, telecommunications, insurance, pharmaceuticals, and retail.

List of Illustrations	p. xvii
Foreword	p. xix
Preface	p. xxiii
Acknowledgments	p. xxv
Introduction: A Broken Culture	p. xxix
The Culture of Early Quits	p. xxx
A New Trip Plan	p. xxxi
Switchpoints	p. xxxi
Spiking the Switch	p. xxxiii
Building One of North America's Top Railroads	p. 1
The Road to Best-in-Class	p. 3
1830: Pioneering Days	p. 3
1919: Nationalization	p. 3
The 1980s: Deregulation	p. 5
1992: Organizational Redesign	p. 6
A Quick Change	p. 7
1995: Privatization	p. 7
The Right Leaders for the Job	p. 9
1998: Precision Railroading	p. 10
2003: Passing the Reins	p. 13
Culture Change on the Fast Track	p. 15
Acquisitions	p. 15
Buying Other Cultures	p. 16
The Challenge	p. 17
The Results	p. 17
The Trip Plan for Culture Change on the Fast Track	p. 18
Clarifying the Vision	p. 21
CN's Five Guiding Principles	p. 23
The Culture of Precision Railroading	p. 27
The Organizational Culture Continuum	p. 28
The Spectrum of Employee Engagement	p. 29
The Role of Organizational Leaders	p. 30
Washing Out the Mud in the Middle	p. 31
Choosing the Right Switchpoints	p. 35
How to Change CN's Culture?	p. 37
Culture Equals Behavior	p. 37
Creating a Culture of Discretionary Performance	p. 40
What's in It for the Employee?	p. 41
Creating Q4 Leaders to Drive Change	p. 43
Culture Change Begins with Leadership	p. 43
The Q4 Leadership Model	p. 44
How Did CN Create Q4 Leaders?	p. 46
Changing Your Style Isn't Easy	p. 47
Building Leadership Fluency	p. 49
Selecting the Tools for Change	p. 51
The Science of the ABCs	p. 53
It's All about Behavior	p. 53
The ABCs of Behavior	p. 54
The ABCs Make Fundamental Sense	p. 55
The Commanding Power of Consequences	p. 58
Timing	p. 59
Importance to Recipient	p. 59
Probability of Recurring	p. 60
Where Does the Consequence Come From?	p. 60
Which Consequences Should I Use?	p. 62
Consequences and Culture Change	p. 63
Authors' Note: Doing the Right Thing with the ABCs	p. 63
The ABC Toolkit	p. 65
The Five-Step Model	p. 65
Aligning the Switches	p. 73
Finding a Champion	p. 75
A Quiet Tryout in Capreol	p. 75
"I Hate Consultants!"	p. 77
Testing the Business Case	p. 81
Partnering in Memphis	p. 82
Partnering in Capreol (Northern Ontario)	p. 83
Partnering in Transcona (Winnipeg)	p. 84
Learnings from the Pilots	p. 85
We Did What We Said We Would Do	p. 86
A Skeptical Hunter Gives the Nod	p. 87
Gaining Visible Sponsorship: The CEO's Essential Role	p. 89
"How We Work and Why"	p. 89
Addressing the Naysayers	p. 91
Learning from a Strike	p. 93
Spiking the Switch	p. 94
Start with the Supervisors	p. 95
Planning the Trip	p. 98
Going to Rome (and Paying for It)	p. 98
Implementing the ABCs CN-Wide	p. 99
Selling the ABCs to the Operating Regions	p. 100
I Love Your Passion, But...	p. 101
Managing the Pull	p. 102
Deployment Wasn't All Rosy	p. 103
Making the Case for Change	p. 105
The Case for the ABCs	p. 105
Spreading the Word	p. 107
Answering Four Basic Questions	p. 108
Expanding Sponsorship	p. 110
Visiting Sites to Set the Stage	p. 110
Sponsoring a Safety-First Culture	p. 113
Personally Walking the Talk	p. 117
Assessing Switchpoints' Impact	p. 121
Applying the ABCs: Dressed & Ready	p. 123
Guess I'll Have Another Coffee...	p. 123
Another Switchpoint	p. 124
The Science behind the Change	p. 124
Of Course There Was Resistance!	p. 128
"I Can't Ask My Friends to Do That!"	p. 128
The Rewards of "Dressed & Ready"	p. 130
Early Wins with the ABCs	p. 131
Release the Brakes!	p. 131
Culture Change in the Michigan Division	p. 133
The ABCs Improve ETAs	p. 135
Want Better Meetings? Show Up on Time!	p. 136
Small Things Matter	p. 138
Curing Technophobia	p. 140
Demonstrating Q4 Leadership Through the ABCs	p. 143
"More Work? Are You Nuts?!"	p. 143
Improving Reliability: Getting KIST	p. 145
Understanding Q4 Leadership-by Knowing What It Is Not	p. 147
Life or Death Leadership	p. 149
A Grim Tale	p. 149
Safety and Culture Change	p. 150
Developing Safety Programs	p. 151
Zero Tolerance and Why	p. 154
Sawing Our Way to Improvement	p. 157
Tackling Old Problems in New Ways	p. 159
Reducing Overtime	p. 159
"Improve" Can Even Mean Tossing Old Paper Files	p. 162
Formalizing the Opportunity	p. 163
Spiking the Switches	p. 165
Leadership Competencies to Support the Change	p. 167
Accountability and Importance	p. 168
The New Competency Framework	p. 168
Leadership Equals Bonus	p. 170
The New Power of Performance Reviews	p. 171
Performance Scorecards for Unionized Employees	p. 173
Doing the Unthinkable	p. 174
Executing EPS	p. 175
Communicating EPS	p. 175
Then Came the Problems	p. 176
Rollout for Success	p. 177
Supervisors: I Didn't Know That!	p. 178
EPS Was Another Switchpoint	p. 178
Learning through the Railroad MBA	p. 180
The Railroad MBA	p. 180
Railroader Undergraduate Programs	p. 181
CN Is a Destination, Not a Job	p. 182
Today North America, Tomorrow the World	p. 183
Hunter Camps Develop Leaders	p. 184
Expanding the Impact	p. 185
Learning from the Master	p. 185
Twelve Characteristics of Leadership	p. 186
Leadership Is about People	p. 187
Some Campers' Views	p. 188
The Power of Consistency (17 out of 17)	p. 191
Inconsistency in the Rules	p. 192
Inconsistency in Applying Rules	p. 193
Inconsistency Breeds Opportunity	p. 194
Be Consistently Flexible	p. 195
Developing Internal Consultants	p. 197
Why Internal Consultants?	p. 197
Transitioning from CLG to Internal CN Consultants	p. 198
Selecting the Right People	p. 199
Developing Internal Consultants	p. 199
Reality Hits	p. 200
The Value of Internal Consultants	p. 202
Sustaining Culture Change	p. 204
Preventing Backsliding	p. 204
Techniques for Sustaining Change	p. 207
Examples of Sustainability	p. 208
Sharing Our Story	p. 209
Sharing with Our Customers	p. 210
Sharing with Our Suppliers	p. 210
Sharing with Our Competitors	p. 212
Sharing with Our Communities	p. 213
Improving Relations with Our Unions	p. 216
The 2007 UTU Strike	p. 216
When to Say Yes, When to Say No	p. 218
Confronting a Long Legacy	p. 218
The United Steelworkers	p. 220
Improving Labor Relations	p. 221
What CN Brings to the Bargaining Table	p. 222
The Future	p. 223
Learning from Our Journey	p. 225
Top 10 Tips for Leaders Using the ABC Methodology	p. 227
Manage Your Culture	p. 227
Measure What You Value	p. 228
Challenge, Disagree, and Then Make the Decision	p. 228
Focus on Behavior You See or Hear at Work	p. 228
Ask "Would You, If Your Life Depended on It?"	p. 228
Transition from Good to Great Performers	p. 229
Deal Quickly with Poor Performers	p. 229
Get Face-to-Face	p. 229
Balance Your Use of Consequences	p. 229
Manage the Learning Curve	p. 230
The Culture Change We Achieved	p. 231
Ten Lessons Learned from Our Switchpoints	p. 231
The Final Word	p. 234
The Transformation	p. 234
What Lies Ahead	p. 235
Where We Are Now	p. 236
The Trip Is Not Over	p. 237
Notes	p. 241
About the Authors	p. 243
About the Companies	p. 247
Index	p. 249
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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SwitchPoints Culture Change on the Fast Track to Business Success

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials