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Home/About DTA
Dannemiller Tyson
Associates and the Whole-Scale™ Methodology
Dannemiller Tyson
Associates is a virtual company of senior
consultants, whose names and biographies you can find in the
"DTA Consultants" area of this site. Our company was
started in 1981 by Kathie Dannemiller and the late Chuck Tyson
when they were working on change processes with Ford Motor
Company. They built on their collective knowledge as senior
consultants in the 1970's to invent a whole system change process
that they discovered – and Ford agreed – was astonishingly
successful in getting everyone in a company aligned strategically
and pointing in the same direction. They were able to achieve
those results quickly enough to save a company from the effects of
a significantly changed environment.
It is clear to us
that the ability to get an organization connected "one-brain,
one-heart" is as important all around the world today as it
was in the Rust Belt world of Michigan in 1981. We don't have time
to waste – in India, Korea, Africa and all of the world, the
times they are a'changing...at incredible speed.
So all of this
compels us to create this website and learn more in interactions
with those of you out there who see things we may not see – and
know things we may not know. Come talk to us!
History
Dannemiller Tyson
Associates was founded in the early 1980’s by Kathleen D.
Dannemiller and the late Charles Tyson to help organizations
achieve fast, long-lasting change. The earliest work was with the
Ford Motor Company as it sought to move its culture from
"command and control" to a more participative style. In
the late 1980’s DTA expanded its work to other companies and
organizations. Over the past decade, DTA has worked with literally
hundreds of organizations in the for-profit, non-profit and
governmental sectors around the world. Although each situation is
different, the basic direction of the work has been the same: to
help organizations uncover and engage the knowledge, wisdom and
heart of their people to meet the business challenges of a
changing world.
Our methodology, which we call
Whole-Scale®,
is used in a variety of applications including strategic
planning, work design, re-engineering, training and culture change.
We have developed processes that allow our client systems to:
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Clarify their current reality (including the
drivers for change)
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Shape a vision for the organization they are
striving to become
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Develop action plans that move them toward
that future
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Address information, process, structure and
relationship issues vital to the change process
Our core competency is around planning and facilitating
large Whole-Scale® meetings as the key
link in the change process. These sessions allow a "critical
mass" of the organization (or a sub-system within the organization)
to define the criteria for the new culture while experiencing
it directly. Whole-Scale® is a model
for what the change can look like and the vehicle by which a paradigm
shift is accomplished. The processes we have developed are robust.
They work in many different circumstances with people from all
parts of the organization. As a result, we have been successful
in a wide variety of industries, in government and non-profit
organizations and in cultures around the world.
We have done extensive work in hundreds of organizations
world-wide on planning and leadership alignment issues. A few
of those are United Airlines, Hewlett
Packard, Weyerhaeuser Paper, United States Steel, ARCO Coal, Chrysler
Corporation, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, The United States Department
of Defense, and Marriott Hotels.
The Whole-Scale® process
is a powerful tool. It can be used for different purposes, at
different levels and at different stages of the change process.
We stress that Whole-Scale® sessions
can create "critical moments" in the process but only
in the context of a sound change strategy that includes clear
strategic goals, strong leadership alignment, adequate training
and concerted implementation follow-through.
Core
Beliefs and Values
The core beliefs and values that underlie our approach are:
Creating Empowerment and
Participation
We believe in engaging the entire organization in ways that
lead to ownership of and commitment to a shared purpose and
future direction.
Creating Community
We believe that when you foster an environment where employees
can come together, they can create and believe in something
larger than themselves.
Using Reality as a Key
Driver
We believe the change process must keep a continual focus on
the simultaneous and sometimes conflicting realities that exist
in the internal and external environments of the organization.
Building and Maintaining
a Common Database
We believe that a "level playing field" of information
and common understanding of the strategic issues informs the
discretion of people at all levels so that they can make wise
decisions, individually and collectively.
Creating a Shared Preferred
Future
We believe creating a collective "image of potential"
for the future forms the basis for action today.
Creating Change in Real
Time
We believe in simultaneous planning and implementation of individual,
group and organizational changes.
Practicing Action Research
We believe that only through continuous re-examination throughout
the process can we adjust our approach to ensure reaching our
vision of success.
Transferring Learning
We have a strong value for creating self-sufficiency and against
creating dependency on us in our client systems. Our goal for
the completion of a project is that participants will make our
methods their own so they would feel confident and capable of
carrying on with or without Dannemiller Tyson Associates.
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