Moving Fast Without Losing Support: The Key to Sustaining Change in Manufacturing

In today’s fast-paced business environment, the pressure to implement change swiftly can feel overwhelming. As senior leaders, we are constantly balancing the need for rapid transformation with maintaining the support of our teams. From my experience, both at Weiler Abrasives and throughout my career, I’ve learned that while moving fast is critical, sustaining those changes is the largest risk to lasting improvement.

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Change isn’t just about speed; it’s about making sure that the improvements we implement stick. I’ve seen first-hand the excitement of new initiatives that were embraced by the team, designed with input from the frontline, only to see those initiatives gradually fade and old habits creep back in. It’s not that the changes didn’t work – in fact, we saw measurable improvements – but without a deliberate focus on sustainment, the efforts can unravel.

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The Real Risk: Falling Back to Old Habits

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At our facilities, we’ve implemented changes that were fully supported, even designed by our frontline workers. I’ve found that involving the people closest to the process in decision-making has always been a cornerstone of success. Yet, even with this buy-in, we’ve seen teams revert to old habits after some time. This isn't unique to our facilities—it's a common challenge across industries.

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What I’ve realized is that sustainment is the key. We often celebrate the success of a well-executed change, but without a structured approach to embedding that change into daily operations, the risk of regression is high. And this is where the most significant risk lies: not in the speed of the change, but in its longevity.

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As the chart shows, even the most well-supported initiatives can lose momentum over time if not continuously reinforced. This visual demonstrates how quickly sustainment can erode without the right structures in place.

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Fail Fast, Pivot Deliberately

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One concept I’ve explored, particularly during my time at Cornell University, is the importance of failing fast. In the fast-paced world of manufacturing operations, it’s not realistic to expect every change to work perfectly from the start. However, the key is to fail fast and pivot – not to abandon efforts altogether. When a change doesn’t produce the desired outcome, instead of reverting back to the old way of doing things, we must pivot in a proactive and deliberate way.

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This process flowchart highlights the iterative nature of quick change: fail, assess, pivot, and re-implement. It showcases how constant adjustments, rather than abandoning new processes, can lead to sustained success.

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During my leadership courses, I’ve learned that the best organizations empower their teams to make changes, test them quickly, and then refine the approach based on feedback and data. It’s not about avoiding failure; it’s about using failure as a tool to drive continuous improvement.

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Sustaining Change Requires Culture

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In my experience leading teams in North and South America, one of the greatest lessons has been that culture is the foundation of sustainment. We’ve all seen it – the beautifully designed 5S initiative that starts strong but fizzles out over time. What I’ve come to realize is that the root of successful change isn’t in the systems or processes themselves, but in how those changes are woven into the daily fabric of the team’s work.

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For example, I’ve been rolling out the 5S process in our manufacturing operations and noticed that one of the biggest challenges is not just implementing it, but sustaining it. The missing piece I found? Culture. The culture of an organization must prioritize and value these changes. If the team doesn’t live and breathe the new way of working, they’ll naturally revert to what they know.

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This engagement model shows how real, lasting change is driven by engaging frontline workers, building accountability, and reinforcing behaviors. Making these cultural elements a core part of the organization is crucial for success.

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How to Sustain Change for the Long Haul

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Engage the Frontline: Change that is dictated from the top rarely lasts. Instead, design change with those who are closest to the process. Involving your frontline workers not only ensures the change makes sense operationally but also gives them a sense of ownership.

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Build a Culture of Accountability: Embed the changes into the daily routines and culture of the team. This could mean daily stand-up meetings, visual management tools, or creating a system of accountability where sustaining the change becomes a part of everyone's role.

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Celebrate Small Wins: In my time as Global Director of Manufacturing, I’ve learned that success isn’t about huge milestones. Celebrating small, incremental wins is what keeps the momentum going and reinforces the new behaviors.

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Fail Fast and Learn: When change doesn’t stick or results fall short, don’t immediately revert back. Instead, assess what’s working and what isn’t, pivot quickly, and keep moving forward. This iterative approach will help refine the process while maintaining the team’s support.

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Constantly Reinforce: Change isn’t a one-time event. It requires constant reinforcement and communication. Leaders must model the new behavior consistently, and regular check-ins with the team will ensure that the changes are being sustained.

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Closing Thoughts

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In a world where speed is often equated with success, it’s important to remember that sustainable change takes deliberate effort. Moving fast and implementing change is critical to keeping up with the demands of the market, but without a focus on sustainment, those efforts will be short-lived.

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Drawing from my experiences at Weiler Abrasives, my time at Cornell, and lessons learned from my leadership journey, the key takeaway is this: Change fast, but sustain deliberately. Empower your teams, create a culture that values the change, and make failure a tool for progress, not an excuse to revert.

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