1. TACAIR Electronic Warfare
TACAIR EW Change Story
Mark Roth, TACAIR EW IPT Lead
Code GE, (805) (DSN 351)
This Briefing Material is UNCLASSIFIED
4 March 2004
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

2. TOPICS
Mission
Change History
Our Experience
Plan Forward

3. Our Mission: Enhanced Warfighter Effectiveness
TO THE FLEET
Deployed EW Mission Systems Software
Real time link to the Fleet
Rapid Response / Reprogramming
Support Equipment
TO THE PROGRAM MANAGER
Systems Engineering, Test, and Integration
Studies & Analyses, Tech Insertion
TO FOREIGN CUSTOMERS
EW Suite & Support Equipment Software
Custom EW Suite Integration
Mission Data Software Support Facilities 3

4. History
Several environmental factors have been constant which have driven the need for change
War
Budget pressures
Bureaucracy / hierarchy
Through the first two decades, the organization’s response was largely …
Reorganizations (strategy, structure)
Process definition / improvement
Measurement
Work had also evolved from stand-alone tasks integrated later in development, to team-based efforts that required constant communication and collaboration 4

5. History
The organization has endured for over two decades and real improvement had been achieved, but to many it felt like we had reached somewhat of an improvement plateau / stalemate
“Low hanging fruit” had been harvested to achieve cost and schedule efficiency
A SCE revealed that although 60% of CMM level III KPAs were met, there was a lack of buy-in towards documented work processes
People were frustrated and exhausted at the rate of environmental change and skeptical of management initiatives
People were flooded with communication, yet were concerned about not getting the “right” information 5

6. Challenges
We needed to somehow become re-energized, as challenges were coming at a more frequent pace
It became apparent that we needed to focus on three “change levers” that are commonly overlooked
Leadership
Vision
Values 6

7. Diagnostic/Change Model7

8. Leadership Leadership team had to lead by example
Senior leadership within the IPT needed to communicate the need for leadership across the organization, at every level
We had spoken of “empowerment” for some time, but had never shown examples
Leaders needed to be aligned
Leadership team needed to be equipped 8

9. Leadership Form and Function
Leadership team started meeting periodically to put team based leadership into practice
Cross section of the organization was invited; makeup consisted of team leads and practitioners as the topics warranted
Environmental scans were provided to enable predictive versus reactive efforts
Strategic Customer Value Analysis (SCVA) was performed to understand our customer’s view of our performance
Training in facilitative leadership was conducted
Practiced shared leadership to review and update past business practices
Planned and prepared for team-wide training and participation in the development of a common vision and set of values 9

10. Team Workshops
In 2003, the entire organization was invited and encouraged to attend one of three workshops designed towards building a High-er Performance Organization (HPO)
Workshops were designed to educate, equip, and practice aspects of developing a common vision and improving our work culture
MBTI
Covey Seven Habits
Peer Feedback 10

11. Results
The Team developed their own shared vision of the future; Vision is posted on a team server with a chat room established to allow feedback
The Team initiated an internal newsletter to communicate the issues and information that was important to them but previously not readily available
The Team initiated their own recognition program to say “Thanks” to fellow team members
External evaluator has voiced substantial improvement in organizational alignment and buy-in when discussing process improvement across the team
Numerous people have voiced
Better understanding of each other
Better understanding of the pressures on the organization
Improved alignment of leaders and their communication from sub-team to sub-team
Improved buy-in on improvement initiatives 11

12. Path Forward
We are just starting! but focusing on Leadership, Vision, and Values change levers has had a definite positive effect on our organization in terms of . . .
Work culture (i.e. how we treat each other, openness, trust)
Alignment towards a common vision
Alignment towards a common set of initiatives
We now have a “Leadership Team” versus just a collection of Leaders
We will continue to consider and review all change levers as we strive towards improved performance 12

14. Chronology 14