Beth Crowley

Background

About Beth Crowley

I come to Operations and Continuous Improvement naturally: my paternal grandfather graduated from the Henry Ford Trade School and was a faculty member there from 1925-1941. When automotive companies were tasked to make aircraft for the war, he was appointed General Foreman of Engine Parts Machining & Assembly at the Ford River Rouge Aircraft Engine Plant. According to my aunt, who was a teenager at that time, “they switched from cars to aircraft in record time” to produce Pratt & Whitney engines for the B24 Liberator bombers made at Willow Run. My grandfather & I were very close and he died in 1975 when I was 7. Two decades later, after listening intently as I described a work project, my grandmother said “it’s like your grampa is sitting right on your shoulder.” We’re 100% Irish, with a sometimes dark sense of humor, and my immediate response was “well if you see him before I do, tell him to keep those ideas coming!” We laughed really hard & I remember it like it was yesterday. The attitude toward change and continuous improvement has changed drastically in the past 30 years. In the 1990s I worked for AlliedSignal (AS), and as the organization was pushed by new CEO Larry Bossidy to hit “breakthrough goals” and continuously lower costs, change was not a choice - it was a matter of survival. Many AS people and businesses did not survive the Bossidy era. I was hired under the umbrella of Total Quality and our team was tasked with starting Lean in Automotive. In this role I traveled to several manufacturing facilities for training and implementation. It made me even more passionate about making sure that what I leave behind is sustainable and creates a better organization and life for the people who work there. One mentor taught me about human nature and the psychology of change, about how we are hard-wired to act and react certain ways. If only I had known that at the beginning of my career! I still quote him at least once / month. I find that through living my "herstory" I have learned: I don’t always have to be right (that’s a hard one!); Be flexible, the only constant in life is change; Lead by example; Do what you say you’re going to do; and most importantly, there’s always more to learn. It's been a pleasure, and together we’ve built engaged teams who know where they stand with respect to goals and what to do if the trend starts moving in the wrong direction. The best part of eliminating waste in leadership, culture & processes is watching the smiles return to the faces of people who feel heard & appreciated.