Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1372612
18 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2021 What's interesting is that the latest Revision D of the AS9100 standard now identifies risks associated with the lack of a sound business plan or contextual awareness of where a busi- ness fits into the industry, supply chain, and even local community. e new standard re- quires companies to define the context of the organization, identify outside factors that can- not be controlled, inside factors that may or may not be controllable, and identify the inter- ested parties or stakeholders in how the com- pany operates. Because Calumet had a written plan that addressed these topics, the company passed the first Revision D audit with relative ease and zero nonconformances. Johnson: So, it all starts with a very clear vi- sion of who you are, what you stand for, what you're trying to accomplish. Still, it seems like it's too early for implementation. It sounds like it's time for making plans. Brassard: You do eventually get to the point where you have identified what's important and high-level company objectives. Time to implement, right? If writing a strategic plan was a challenging undertaking, implementing that plan can feel nearly impossible. Inside companies we find many different leadership styles. Two of the styles I'd like to talk about can loosely be lumped into the cat- egories of intuitive and methodical. e intu- itive leaders demonstrate a knack for perceiv- ing opportunities and finding pathways for- ward, provided they have a clear understand- ing of the company goals and access to the most current information. e methodical leaders succeed by breaking down the high-level ob- jectives into increasingly granular executable tasks that can be delegated within an organi- zation. Where the intuitive is satisfied when they sense forward progress and that things are going well, the meticulous want S.M.A.R.T. goals, quantitative measures of progress, pe- riodic reporting, and course adjustments. Of course, it's not this black and white, with many people occupying the space between these ex- tremes. Hopefully, your organization allows for the full spectrum. When Calumet set out to reduce its strategic plan to writing, one of the first steps was to get the intuitive ideas on the whiteboard then me- thodically work the ideas until a hierarchical expression of objectives, strategies, and tactics emerged. e objectives were derived from what's important, strategies were formulat- ed to meet objectives, and tactics were devel- oped to implement the strategies. Every level of the plan was intentionally brief, oen only one or two sentences, and even vague, provid- ing guidance but leaving a significant amount of latitude for people within the company to use their talent, skills, and insights to imple- ment the activities as they see fit. Where the in- tuitive leaders felt great about having the plan out of the heads of leadership and onto paper, the methodical leaders would go on to develop methods to track and measure progress to en- sure the company was in fact moving forward. Johnson: at's interesting. So, your team is comprised of both styles: the meticulous, me- thodical; and the more artistic, intuitive styles. And you're having success working with both. Can we compare and contrast this a little bit? Brassard: e intuitive leader is likely experi- encing a good flow of information and is ex- posed to what is happening in the industry, monitoring changes in demand, reading news, monitoring geopolitical developments, under- If writing a strategic plan was a challenging undertaking, implementing that plan can feel nearly impossible.