Case #8: TURNAROUND within 6 months only with Emotional Intelligence
- Marco Schlimpert
- Sep 7
- 5 min read
From Crisis to Market Leadership: How Systemic Constellations and Emotional Intelligence Saved a Plant
A case study on transformative leadership, product innovation, and the courage to change in the chemical industry
The Starting Situation: A Plant at the Crossroads
Imagine standing before one of the most difficult decisions of your career. In front of you lies a production facility with 200 employees that has been writing red numbers for years. The profit margin sits at minus 5 percent, energy costs are exploding, and the board is seriously discussing closure.
This was the situation at our British cellulose fiber plant at the end of 2018. With an annual production capacity of 45,000 tons, it was only a small part of the overall group with its 1,000,000 tons total capacity, but for the 200 people on site and the entire region, it was of existential significance.
The numbers spoke a clear language: high gas prices, stagnating demand for standard products, and a workforce that could sense their jobs were threatened. The mood was correspondingly depressed, and trust in the future was waning daily. Does that sound familiar?
The Task: Turnaround or Closure
The mandate was clearly formulated: Either we find a way to make the plant profitable, or it will be closed. A closure would not only have destroyed 200 jobs but also meant massive reputational damage for the group. The plant had been an important employer in the region for decades.
But how do you transform a loss-making standard production plant into a profitable specialty center? How do you get a demoralized workforce to believe in the future and open up to radical changes?
The Approach: Systemic Constellations as Navigation Tool
Instead of immediately diving into the analysis of numbers and processes, we chose a different path. We began with a systemic constellation of the product portfolio. With six participants from the leadership team, we positioned the various products in the tension field between short-term vs. long-term and Vision vs. Execution. This created a 2x2 matrix in the room with four fields: short-term - Execution / short-term - Vision / long-term - Execution / long-term - Vision.
The result was astonishing: The two specialty products, which had previously played only a marginal role, positioned themselves clearly in the areas "short-term - Execution" and "short-term - Vision." They virtually wanted to be implemented but seemed to have been overlooked until then.
In a second constellation, we looked at the entire corporate ecosystem: machines and equipment, employees, managers, the new products, company results, and group management. An interesting dynamic emerged here: Group management was skeptical but allowed freedom. The local managers, however, were not aligned - the leadership culture had to be switched from "Command & Control" to "Empowerment & Trust."
The Implementation: "SNAPP" Method and Cultural Change
The new plant manager introduced a revolutionary conversation culture. In meetings, he consistently asked five questions according to the SNAPP method:
Situation: What does the situation look like?
Need: What need do you have?
Alternatives: What alternatives exist?
Proposal: What is your suggestion?
Purpose: How does your proposal contribute to our purpose?
This seemingly simple change had dramatic effects. Instead of receiving instructions, employees suddenly became problem solvers. They began developing their own solutions and taking responsibility.
In parallel, we created a robust business plan for group headquarters. The two critical success factors were clearly identified: bringing local leadership to a common alignment and developing a convincing financing plan.
The Result: Transformation Against All Expectations
The transformation progressed faster than expected. Within six months, the first positive results appeared; after twelve months, the plant was completely transformed.
The two specialty products that emerged from the systemic constellation proved to be bull's-eyes:
Product 1: A unique wool fiber combination that had never existed in the market before. It offered triple value: refinement processes in the value chain became unnecessary, it perfectly matched the sustainability trend, and end customers loved the appearance.
Product 2: A specially developed short-cut fiber specialty that filled a market gap and immediately found great acceptance.
The numbers speak for themselves: The profit margin rose from minus 5 percent to plus 38 percent - a transformation considered extraordinary in the industry.
The real test, however, came with the pandemic. While production lines worldwide had to be shut down because demand collapsed, our British plant - together with only one other location worldwide - continued running at full capacity. The specialty products were so unique and in demand that even the crisis couldn't harm them.
The Insights: Why Systemic Constellations Work
This case study illustrates the power of systemic constellations in multiple ways:
Holistic Diagnosis: While conventional analyses stop at numbers and processes, systemic constellations uncover deeper dynamics - unspoken tensions, unused potentials, hidden resistances. They also make visible the unique strengths of the company that can be built upon.
Intuitive Problem Solving: The positioning of specialty products in the "short-term -execution" field was not rational analysis but an intuitive insight that proved absolutely correct.
Cultural Transformation: The constellation made visible that not only product strategy but also leadership culture had to be changed. Without this insight, the transformation would have failed.
Rapid Implementation: Because the essential levers were clearly identified through the constellation, implementation could be focused and efficient. Additionally, employees were involved in the process from the beginning and could quickly implement their ideas.
The Broader Context: Innovation Through Irritation
What makes the difference between a plant that gets closed and one that rises to market leadership? Often it's not the obvious factors like technology or capital, but the ability to recognize and activate hidden potentials.
Systemic constellations offer exactly the right balance of irritation that rigid systems need to open up: strong enough to bring about change, but not so strong that the system collapses.
In our case, this irritation was the insight that the solution didn't lie in optimizing existing products, but in a radical reorientation toward specialties that didn't even exist yet.
Lessons Learned: Courage for real Transformation from within
This case shows: Transformation is possible, even in seemingly hopeless situations. But it requires courage - the courage to go beyond conventional solutions, the courage to trust intuition, and the courage to change both strategy and culture simultaneously.
Ultimately, it also requires a perspective shift that employees are not cost factors but innovation and problem-solving potential that make the big difference.
Systemic constellation is more than a method - it's a way to activate the intelligence of the entire system and find solutions that aren't achievable through rational thinking alone.
If you face similar challenges, ask yourself: What potentials in your system are still undiscovered? What irritation does your system need to take the next development step?
The answers often lie closer than you think - they're just waiting to be seen.
Ready for the Next Step?
Discover why systemic constellation is the most effective method for your transformation projects. It helps your company not only uncover hidden barriers but also think through various future scenarios and thus foresee the most probable future - long before it appears as reality.
As an experienced expert in leadership transformation and mentor, I support you in successfully implementing your transformation project in a short time. It requires only: Open Mind, Open Heart, and Open Will.
Together we create "Clarity beyond Strategy".
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