Now that the regional division structures and unraveling and the resources (those not cut) are being pulled back into the divisions, is there a date set when the division VPs (particularly in SIBG) can make a public announcement about how ignorance the Advance 3M strategy was and what a waste of precious resources Business Transformation turned out to be. Every manager globally said this is the d-mbest, most ineffective structure POSSIBLE. We will wait for the apologies or resignations.
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Those that think A3M was a good idea did not have enough real world manufacturing experience to judge correctly. It was and still is a terrible idea that lacks accountability, ownership, innovation, and true leadership. Under A3M and other initiatives, 3M has become a check-the-box organization. People believe they are doing their job when they complete or make other people complete a list of pre-determined actions with no regard for whether these actions make sense for the particular plant, product, process, or situation. This broad-brush approach is ki-ling the creative spirit and sense of empowerment. I have never felt more despair for the future of 3M in my 30+ year career.
Top notch consultants also should understand the environment into which they are birthing these not-so-fresh ideas. Much like SAP, the sellers of these great “improvements “ are clueless about the convoluted operations of 3M and how little coordination exists between staff and division resources. I’m sure it looked great in theory - but if you’d asked any of the thousands of experienced change managers within 3M, they could have told you how slowly the ship turns at 3M. And it usually sinks long before successfully changing course.
I was on the early strat team for A3M before that was the name. The consulting company we used was truly top notch. They had done incredibly similar programs at other large multinationals. I was so impressed with their work that I was about 7 seconds away from getting a job with them (why didn’t I?!?!!). So all this to say the plan was solid. 3M aka Ippo ba----dized all of it, hacked out about 80% of it, and rammed it into place. It was not supposed to go down the way it did. The consultants watched in horror. They could not fathom how bad we fu---d it up. They knew start of 2020 right around pandemic starting that we were going to ruin the execution of a plan that could have actually worked.
Amen to this commentary. You don't hear the term A3M as much anymore. Someone is eating crow.
These new leaders are from A3m and the model stays inside each division so we're just going to add the mess a cumulative level.
The old saying applies here:
Success has many parents, failure is an orphan
No one will take responsibility for this. It's a career ki-ler to have thus on your resume. In fact, it's almost like the person who spent 2 years in the Big House. His resume just jumps from one job to the next and nothing filling in the two years that he was "away."