1. Leadership from Within Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC
Steven S Prevette
Senior Statistician
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC
SPC Trending Primer/ Two Day Training

2. What will you do with your new found knowledge and wisdom?
Question
What will you do with your new found knowledge and wisdom?
The theme of this presentation is about leadership from within. This is partly a self-reflective exercise, thoughts on how to draw on your own leadership skills. The other part of this presentation is how to lead within your organization, whether or not you are the formal manager.
I was hired at Hanford with a group of new line managers. In our first days of orientation, we were told that we were to “push the envelope”. That was thirteen years ago. I believe I can state that I did manage to push the envelope at Hanford, and in directions that I did not expect, and neither did my management expect.

3. Leadership: From Within? From within yourself
From within your place in the organization
“Pushing the Envelope”
The theme of this presentation is about leadership from within. This is partly a self-reflective exercise, thoughts on how to draw on your own leadership skills. The other part of this presentation is how to lead within your organization, whether or not you are the formal manager.
I was hired at Hanford with a group of new line managers. In our first days of orientation, we were told that we were to “push the envelope”. That was thirteen years ago. I believe I can state that I did manage to push the envelope at Hanford, and in directions that I did not expect, and neither did my management expect.

4. Discussion Points Story telling Numbers also tell a story
Communicate, communicate, communicate
Your underlying theory and product
Ethics and reputation
Use of the tools from the last two days
Here is a list of things to consider if you are going to embark on a leadership journey. At least, these are what I have found important.

5. Story Telling The ability to tell a story is a key to leadership
Cute penguins, eh?
The article Lead to Succeed was published in the September 2005 Quality Progress and is available to the public on the internet at
It was the result of a presentation I gave in May 2005 in Seattle at the ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement, and similarly, this presentation is a result of that article. One part of leadership is story telling.
Although I am a statistician dealing with mostly numbers, you must be able to put the numbers in a context and tell a story.
An interesting point is I have gotten more comments about the picture of the penguins (a good choice by the ASQ editor) than the article itself!

6. Numbers Also Tell a Story
OK, so here are the numbers (I had to work them in somehow). Fluor has a very aggressive and successful safety culture, of which use of statistics is a piece. We also have strong union and management cooperation, line management accountability and responsibility, and heavy employee involvement. We are proud of our safety record, and it is a differentiator for Fluor.
Please note that this is a Statistical Process Control chart. The use of SPC and other Quality Tools has been very important for what I have been able to accomplish, and what Fluor has been able to accomplish.

7. Clear Effective Communications
Project Reviews and Monthly Poster
Weekly Senior Management Leading Indicator and Injury Updates – near real time
A Dashboard focusing on Trends
A Systems Approach to Performance Indicators – charts all follow same format
Communication is important. I have partnered with the Vice President of Safety and Health for Fluor Hanford and implemented many products to help him to communicate. I was very fortunate that he did make a decision to allow me to propose various communications tools to meet his needs. The list on this slide are some of the products we use to communicate safety performance. The chart at the bottom is a “standard” format we use for control charts.

8. But I am not a Manager!
It helps to have buy-in from senior management (certainly never hurts)
Sometimes you are never so powerful as when you are powerless (Tom Peters)
Provide a product to your employer
Do work for many groups
Success breeds success (the “Wow!” project)
Quality tools can be your “brand”
If you are a big time guru (such as Dr. Deming) you can say “I won’t play unless I have senior management’s commitment to do this”. The rest of us often do not have this option. What do you do if you are not a manager? Do not despair. If you are low in the organization, sometimes you have more flexibility to do something radically different than one of the high visibility managers. A key thought is to provide product, provide something that is of more value to your employer than what they pay you for salary. I would recommend taking a look at Tom Peters’ writings, especially Reimagine. The best thing I did for my career was loan my VP (Tim Carter) that book.
A point Tim Carter made while we were writing the “Lead to Succeed” article is that his time as a senior manager is very limited. Lots of distractors. My use of statistical methodologies to help organize data and put it into context were very useful to Tim, and we formed a very effective partnership.
It should be pointed out that managers are mobile. If you are currently faced with a manager you are not succeeding with, hang around, inevitably there will be a change. If you are currently successful with your manager, they will leave, but they will remember you and spread the word. Also, do work for other groups – try to cause your boundaries to be transparent. The more exposure to your methods, the more likely to find proponents of your methods.
In the Quality arena, the Quality tools can be applied to create product. They can become your “brand”, your product. For me, it is the traditional Quality (Deming and Shewhart) tools. For you, it may be Six Sigma, Lean, or whatever the next buzzword is that comes along. The key is to have a valid theory . . .

9. “If there is nothing very special about your work,
“Wired”
“If there is nothing very special about your work,
no matter how hard you apply yourself, you won’t get noticed, and that increasingly means you won’t get paid much either.”
Michael Goldhaber, Wired –
Tom Peters’ has an interesting message on his website and his books about what you can do from where you are at.

10. Branding
Put your name on every chart
Do not brag, but have a brag sheet available
Provide a monthly status report to your manager
If you aren’t excited about your work, why would anyone else be?

11. Ethics and Reputation
"The reputation you develop for intellectual and ethical integrity will be your greatest asset or your worst enemy .... There is no victory, no advantage, no fee, no favor which is worth even a blemish on your reputation for intellect and integrity. "
Vincent Foster
“Steve, we don’t like your control charts, your control limits. But when it comes to getting data and getting charts, you’re the only game in town.”
A Hanford Manager
Sometimes you will have to say “no”. I discussed the issue of when to say “no” in Lead to Succeed. Turn the “no” into a training opportunity. Perhaps you may need to do something for a short term issue, at least to keep your foot in the door with the manager or group making the request. Throughout stay on message, stay with your theory, your path. Yes, you may need to modify your theory and path, based upon experience(s) which disprove your theory. So far, Systems Thinking and the System of Profound Knowledge have served me well.

12. Ya Gotta Have a Theory
You now have been exposed to Dr. Shewhart’s, Dr. Deming’s, and Dr. Ackoff’s theories
Apply these theories with rigor, credibility, and passion
The theories have remained valid and applicable
“There is no knowledge without theory” – Dr. Deming
“Follow a pathway that is true –
Stay on it and your future
Will be more wonderful
Than you can possibly imagine
At this moment”
- Dr. Oscar Mink

13. Personal Transformation
A person, once transformed, will
Set an example
Be a good listener, but will not compromise
Continually teach other people
Help people away from their current practices and beliefs and move into the new philosophy without a feeling of guilt about the past
From The New Economics, Deming
Please see page 93 of The New Economics for the source of the information for these past two slides. This slide is a direct quote from that page.

14. Tom Peters on Transformation
Leaders-Teachers Do Not “Transform People”! Instead leaders-mentors-teachers (1) provide a context which is marked by (2) access to a luxuriant portfolio of meaningful opportunities (projects) which (3) allow people to fully (and safely, mostly—caveat: “they” don’t engage unless they’re “mad about something”) express their innate curiosity and (4) engage in a vigorous discovery voyage (alone and in small teams, assisted by an extensive self-constructed network) by which those people (5) go to-create places they (and their mentors-teachers-leaders) had never dreamed existed —and then the leaders-mentors-teachers (6) applaud like hell, stage “photo-ops,” and ring the church bells 100 times to commemorate the bravery of their “followers’ ” explorations!
A direct quote from one of Tom Peters presentations – this one was titled “Internal Focus”

15. Your Transformation Stories
How have these two days affected you?
What will you do differently?
Are there barriers?
What can be done to minimize the effect of these barriers?

16. Some Thoughts
Volunteer! Volunteer to do things no one else wants to do
Follow a credible theory and means to accomplish it
Gain expertise, knowledge. Be the expert of something
Have a vision and plan, but leap upon opportunities that present themselves
Do things for many people, people outside your direct organization
I have presented this list in a number of presentations, from a Boeing presentation at Canoga Park in 2002, to the ASQ WCQI in Seattle May This list also provided the impetus for the “Lead to Succeed” article.

17. Some Thoughts (2) Brand yourself. Take a look at Tom Peters’ writings
Stick to your principles, your ethics
Maintain your own integrity. No one can take your integrity from you, only you can give it away
Certain problems cannot withstand the light of day. Operate “in the open”
You never know who will get on the elevator with you
Sell yourself
I have presented this list in a number of presentations, from a Boeing presentation at Canoga Park in 2002, to the ASQ WCQI in Seattle May This list also provided the impetus for the “Lead to Succeed” article.

18. Conclusion Quality tools and methodologies for data use
Reliable, real time knowledge for decision support
We can lead with vision and create and understand systems
We can build a better future