4 Hard Truths About Operational Transformation (That Most Leaders Learn Too Late)

Transforming under pressure is possible. But only when leaders move beyond strategy decks and training sessions to reshape systems, behaviours, and culture from the inside out. These four truths, drawn from real-world operational transformation across sectors, highlight what separates successful change from yet another failed initiative.

 

Henkan’s Perspective

At Henkan, we don’t just deliver frameworks. We work side-by-side with organisations to deliver transformation when pressure is already high, when systems break down, performance stalls, and frontline teams are stretched thin. The truths below reflect what we’ve seen work across manufacturing, defence, healthcare, and FMCG when the stakes are real.

 

Truth 1: You Can’t Partially Commit to Transformation

Real business transformation challenges doesn’t happen by dipping your toe in the water. If you treat it as “something we’ll do when we have time,” it will always remain tomorrow’s priority.

Leaders who succeed under pressure make deliberate choices to create capacity and legitimacy for the effort. In practice, that means showing commitment in five specific ways:

 

 

However, commitment isn’t just about actions,  it must be anchored in principles and values: respect for every individual, leading with humility, and thinking systemically.

Commitment must be anchored in principles and values – respect for every individual, leading with humility, and thinking systemically.

“Without aligning hard systems (KPIs, performance routines) and soft systems (coaching, recognition), even the most urgent organisational change pitfalls risk becoming short-term fixes.”

 

What This Looks Like

We’re currently supporting an NHS trust with more than 100 sites on their transformation program. Instead of layering on another initiative, they aligned all programmes under one long-term roadmap. Values were redefined, a 10-year vision clarified, and executives committed to personal behavioural change.

Transformation is no longer a project – it’s how they operate.

 

 

 

Truth 2: There’s Never a Perfect Time

Operational teams are always under strain. Waiting for “breathing space” is the same as deciding not to transform: one of the most common operational excellence mistakes leaders make.

Leaders who move forward anyway use practical, human-centred strategies:

• Triage the portfolio – stop zombie projects and park vanity work.
• Start where the energy is – work with volunteers and outliers who show what’s possible.
• Piggyback existing efforts – align with current initiatives rather than start from scratch.
• Redefine “good enough” – to create short-term bandwidth.
• Protect morale – keep engagement active, not just informed.

Playing the game’ to create headroom, secure quick wins, build engagement, and show demonstrable improvement means transformation must begin with flexibility and agility, making the most of current opportunities.

In this context, perfect is the enemy of good –transformation and leadership teams need pragmatism, not fixation on theory.

 

From Experience

In a global actuator firm, our leadership programme was reshaped to protect operations: half-day theory, half-day on-site application. Another client in construction manufacturing used quick wins and energy sprints to get early traction – proving that momentum can be built without full breathing space.

 

Truth 3: Culture is the Multiplier (or the Limiter)

Past initiatives often fail not because the process was wrong, but because the culture never shifted.

Resistance takes many forms – apathy, cynicism, quiet compliance and is fuelled by poor engagement and lack of continuous improvement leadership & alignment.

These behaviours aren’t fixed – they’re signals. Here’s how to turn them into progress: 9 Practical Actions to Minimise Resistance to Change in Your CI Programme.

To embed change:

• Make leaders model it – what you walk past, you permit.
• Build daily ownership – embed change into Leader Standard Work.
• Connect belief to behaviour – values, not just capability.
• Integrate hard and soft systems – both structure and safety matter.

Shingo insight: Respect Every Individual and Lead with Humility are not soft extras. They’re how habits become culture.

Real-World Application

At a nuclear decommissioning site, a TPM-led asset care programme led to a 58% uplift over target. More importantly, culture shifted: teams began tracking takt time, loss reasons, and value-add time weekly. The data wasn’t just recorded. It was used, owned, and understood.

Read the full case study here: https://henkan.com/project/coaching-change-sellafield-hlwp/

Truth 4: Capability is the Real Legacy

You haven’t transformed if your people can’t run the system without you. Capability isn’t just skills. It’s confidence, community, and alignment.

You haven’t transformed if your people can’t run the system without you. Capability isn’t just skills. It’s confidence, community, and alignment – the true foundation of sustainable manufacturing transformation.

• Skills  –  Lean, TPM, CI applied to real work.
• Confidence  –  understanding the why, when, and where.
• Community – cross-level leaders who carry the change.

“You can’t rent transformation. You have to build it into the DNA.”

The most capable organisations are those where systems are deliberately designed to drive ideal behaviours – empowerment, ownership, disciplined problem-solving – so that capability grows as part of daily work, not in isolated training events. Hard and Soft systems are supportive and interwoven – personal goals and the organisational strategy, role descriptions and the needs of the system, continuous improvement routines and coaching networks.

 

Proof in Action

In one FMCG plant, TPM training happened on real assets with real leaders coaching live. Within two years, OPI rose from 38% to 67%, productivity grew by 24%, and schedule conformance jumped from 62% to 95%.

Years later, the site is still sustaining without external support – now showing a 45% productivity uplift, over €2M in structural cost savings, and a ZERO accident record maintained. Not because the system was perfect, but because the people owned it.

Read the full case study here: FMCG Operational Excellence: A Post-Merger TPM Case Study

The Non-Negotiables Under Pressure

From 20+ years of experience in operational transformation, we’ve learned these 5 moves make the difference:

 

• Win fewer battles faster – belief builds through success.
• Make culture change explicit – bake it into plans, budgets, and leadership accountability.
• Define non-negotiables – let teams shape the how.
• Design hard + soft systems together – align metrics, routines, coaching, and recognition.
• Plan for sustainability from day one – a transformation that depends on you is not a transformation.

The Role of a Transformation Management Office

Don’t build a bureaucratic PMO. Build a Principle-Driven TMO that:

• Drives behaviours, not just timelines.
• Tracks change readiness, not just milestones.
• Empowers sites while providing leadership visibility.
• Removes blockers, not just reports on them.

Done well, it gives senior leaders visibility and cadence, while empowering local teams to adapt and innovate within a clear framework. This is where external support can help hold up the mirror, apply pressure where needed, and provide the external perspective leaders often need when navigating near-term delivery alongside long-term strategy.

 

 

Final Word: Pressure Doesn’t Block Transformation. It Reveals It

You don’t need perfect conditions to start. You need principled leadership, integrated systems, and belief at every level.

At Henkan, we equip you to become the experts in operational excellence – so that long after we’ve left, your systems, people, and culture continue to thrive.

 

Ready to lead transformation under pressure?

Explore how other organisations achieved real operational transformation, or request your free performance assessment with us. We start with value, not invoices.