Leadership Explorer
For the last six years, the story has forced its way back from the recesses of my memory to the forefront of my consciousness. Rarely has a week in the last 300 or so passed without me thinking about it. The reality of that significant impression is owed to the astonishing details with which it is laden.
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No, it wasn’t a personal tragedy. It didn’t involve a decision or declaration from a world leader. I’m not sure it even made the national news. Yet, it was a significant event in a century-long story.
In March 2019, Ford shut down its plant on Torrence Avenue in Chicago. However, unlike many other auto plant closures, this was not a cost-cutting measure. The Chicago Assembly plant, as Ford calls it, was stilled for retooling.
Yeah, that’s not an unusual thing, either. It happens rather frequently all over the world. It was the details, again, that made it so extraordinary.
Ford’s retooling of the Southside plant took a month. One month. A modest retooling of an auto manufacturing plant would typically take six to eight months. Some have stretched beyond a year.
The Chicago Assembly project was not a small one. The redesigned Ford Explorer SUV the plant had built was shifting from a front-wheel-drive platform to a new rear-wheel-drive configuration. Additionally, there would be three variations of the vehicle: the segment-leading Explorer, a Lincoln-badged luxury variant, and the Police Interceptor patrol vehicle, with some specific parts and pieces unavailable on the consumer vehicles.
The retool involved more than new robotic equipment and redesigning the assembly line’s routing inside the building. New lighting and ventilation were part of Ford's investment to improve working conditions for their nearly 5,000 employees who work there. Several new dining areas were added inside the plant so assembly line workers didn’t have to traverse so much of the 113 acres at each meal break.
Ford also added two large-scale 3D printers to the facility to produce some of the parts in the vehicles they manufacture there. This reduced their dependence on outside suppliers and made them less vulnerable to supply chain delays and disruptions.
This massive project took just 30 days and cost $1 billion. The scale of that investment is also significant. When the Torrence Avenue plant started building the Model T, which revolutionized both the American automotive landscape and basic manufacturing, Ford invested eight million dollars in getting it started. In today’s economy, that would be just under $150 million. The retool was more than six times the original cost of the whole plant.
Even as I write, the scale and one-month timeline still astound me. Yet, there is more here than just the jaw-dropping awe of it all. There are some valuable leadership principles for every leader.
Preparation is critical to every successful endeavor. The original story I read about Ford’s investment in 2019 mentioned all the months of logistical planning that had gone into this retool. Details included the staged sequence of the dozens of trailers loaded with new equipment on a nearby lot that took place over the weeks leading up to the shutdown.
The piece described a scenario choreographed so meticulously that I’m convinced more time and detail were involved than the Allied plans for Operation Torch, which was key to defeating Hitler’s Germany in North Africa.
Regardless of our leadership role, preparation is critical to every successful endeavor. That may involve anticipating challenges before they arise, assuming ignorance of our listeners when we prepare to speak to a group, or thinking through transportation details for an event.
People are our most significant resource. One fascinating detail of Ford’s 2019 retool of the Southside Chicago plant was that the improved lighting, ventilation, new break areas, and other employee-focused improvements accounted for $40 million of the total $1 billion investment. In addition to those structural improvements, Ford hired an additional 500 workers, a more than 10% increase in hourly workers for the new production schedule. All these were a demonstration of Ford’s understanding of the value of the people who produce the products they sell.
In my earliest days of para-church work, I counseled church planters obsessed with finding more dollars to recognize that inspiring more people to partner with them was far more critical to their success than finding more money. “If you have the hearts of people, they will serve faithfully and give passionately, " I urged them to understand.
What about you? As you think about the strategy to pursue the vision for the church, professional practice, or nonprofit you lead, what preparations do you need to make? Who are the people you need to see that mission fulfilled? How can you communicate the value they bring to fulfilling that mission?
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Enjoy your weekend!
The views and opinions expressed in my Thursday Thoughts on Leadership are my own. They do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina or any affiliated churches.