I’m going to let you in on a little secret. That “reliability culture” you keep talking about in your quarterly meetings? It’s not going to magically appear just because you put it on a PowerPoint slide. I know, shocking, right? You can’t just bark “let there be reliability!” and expect your team to suddenly start singing Kumbaya around a perfectly maintained piece of equipment. It’s a nice thought, but it’s pure, unadulterated bullshit.

 

I’m Alex Bolan, President of DigitalThinker, and I’ve seen more than my fair share of well-intentioned leaders who think they can just will a culture into existence. They buy the fancy software, they hire the expensive consultants, and they roll out the new “initiatives” with all the fanfare of a royal wedding. And then, a few months later, nothing has changed. The same problems persist, the same frustrations fester, and the same old excuses are trotted out.

 

Why? Because they’re missing the one thing that actually matters: leadership. Real leadership. The kind of leadership that isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty. The kind of leadership that understands that culture isn’t a top-down mandate; it’s a grassroots movement that starts with one person leading by example.

 

Here’s the thing about culture: it’s a direct reflection of you. If you’re a leader who’s disconnected from the day-to-day grind, your culture will be too. If you’re more concerned with appearances than with results, your culture will be a hollow, performative charade. And if you’re not willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work, why the hell should anyone else?

 

I’m talking about being on the production floor, not for a photo-op, but to actually understand the challenges your team is facing. I’m talking about picking up a wrench, not because you’re a master mechanic, but to show that you’re not above the work that needs to be done. I’m talking about having real conversations with your people, not just spouting corporate-speak from a teleprompter.

 

I once knew a plant manager who, every Friday, would spend his lunch break cleaning the bathrooms. The whole plant knew it. And you know what? That plant was the cleanest, most organized, and most efficient facility I’ve ever seen. Not because he was the best bathroom cleaner in the world, but because he showed his team that no job was beneath him. He led by example, and his team followed.

 

That’s the kind of leadership that builds a reliability culture.

It’s not glamorous.

It’s not sexy.

But it’s real.

And it’s the only thing that works.

 

Now, I’m not saying you have to spend all your time scrubbing toilets. You’re a leader, and you have a business to run. But you do need to have visibility into what’s happening on the ground. You need to have the data to make informed decisions. And you need to have a way to connect with your team and empower them to do their best work. This is where a tool like HxGN EAM comes in. And no, it’s not a magic wand that will solve all your problems. But it is a powerful tool that can help you be a more effective leader. It can give you the visibility you need to understand your operations, the data you need to drive improvement, and the platform you need to connect with your team.

With HxGN EAM, you can see the entire lifecycle of your assets. You can track work orders, monitor performance, and identify potential issues before they become catastrophic failures. You can give your team the information they need to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. And you can create a culture of transparency and accountability, where everyone is working towards the same goals. But here’s the most important part: HxGN EAM is not just about technology. It’s about people. It’s about giving your team the tools and the trust they need to take ownership of their work. It’s about empowering them to be the reliability champions you know they can be.

Look, I’m not here to sell you software. I’m here to tell you the truth. And the truth is, you can have all the best tools in the world, but if you don’t have the right leadership, you’re just pissing in the wind. Building a reliability culture is not easy. It’s a long, hard road, and there will be plenty of bumps along the way. But it’s a road you have to travel if you want to build a business that lasts. So, the question is, what kind of leader are you going to be? Are you going to be the kind of leader who talks a big game but never follows through? Or are you going to be the kind of leader who rolls up their sleeves, gets their hands dirty, and leads by example?

The choice is yours.

But if you’re ready to stop talking and start doing, then I’m here to help. I’m Alex Bolan, and I’m not your typical consultant. I’m a guy who’s been in the trenches, and I know what it takes to build a culture that works. And I’m not afraid to be a little self-deprecating along the way – after all, I’m still learning too. We all are. But the important thing is that we’re in it together.

 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear a toilet that needs cleaning.

 

Let me paint you a picture. You’ve got a manufacturing facility with a “world-class” reliability program on paper. Beautiful charts on the walls, color-coded KPIs, and a maintenance team that’s been through every training program known to mankind. But your unplanned downtime is still through the roof, your maintenance costs are spiraling out of control, and your team is more demoralized than a Cubs fan in October.

 

Sound familiar? That’s what happens when you confuse process with culture. You can have all the procedures in the world, but if your people don’t believe in them, if they don’t see you living them, then you’re just playing dress-up. You’re putting lipstick on a pig and calling it Miss America.

 

I’ve walked through plants where the safety boards were pristine, the 5S audits were perfect, and the reliability metrics were green across the board. But talk to the technicians, and they’ll tell you a different story. They’ll tell you about the shortcuts they take because “that’s how we’ve always done it.” They’ll tell you about the equipment that’s been “temporarily” bypassed for the past six months. They’ll tell you about the work orders that get closed without the work actually being done.

 

That’s not a reliability culture. That’s a compliance culture. And there’s a world of difference between the two.

 

Here’s where I’m going to get a little uncomfortable. If your reliability culture initiatives are failing, it’s probably because you’re approaching it all wrong. You’re treating it like a project with a start date and an end date, instead of recognizing it for what it really is: a fundamental shift in how your organization thinks and operates.

 

Most leaders make the mistake of thinking that culture change is something you do to your organization, rather than something you do with your organization. They roll out the new program, they mandate the new behaviors, and then they sit back and wait for the magic to happen. And when it doesn’t, they blame the program, or the consultants, or the “resistance to change.” But here’s the thing: people don’t resist change. They resist being changed. There’s a big difference. When you try to impose culture from the top down, you’re essentially telling your people that their current way of doing things is wrong, and that you know better. And guess what?

They’re going to push back. Hard.

The only way to build a lasting reliability culture is to make your people partners in the process. You have to involve them in defining what reliability means for your organization. You have to listen to their ideas, their concerns, and their suggestions. You have to make them feel like they have a stake in the outcome. And that starts with you. It starts with you being vulnerable enough to admit that you don’t have all the answers. It starts with you being humble enough to learn from the people who actually do the work. It starts with you being brave enough to get out of your comfort zone and into the trenches.

So I asked him a simple question: “When was the last time you spent time on the production floor?” He looked at me like I’d asked him to perform brain surgery. “I don’t have time for that,” he said. “I have a business to run.”

 

That’s when I knew we had found the root cause of their problems. The CEO was so disconnected from the day-to-day operations that he had no idea what was really happening. He was making decisions based on reports and dashboards, not on reality. And his team knew it.

 

And you know what happened? Within six months, their equipment reliability had improved by 40%. Not because they bought new software or hired new people, but because the CEO had shown his team that he cared enough to understand their world.

 

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Alex, this all sounds great, but I can’t spend all my time on the floor. I have meetings to attend, reports to review, and a board to answer to.” And you’re right. You do have a business to run. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be connected to what’s happening on the ground. This is where HxGN EAM becomes more than just a maintenance management system. It becomes your window into the soul of your operation. It gives you the real-time visibility you need to understand what’s happening, when it’s happening, and why it’s happening.

With HxGN EAM, you can see which assets are performing well and which ones are struggling. You can see which work orders are being completed on time and which ones are falling behind. You can see which technicians are excelling and which ones might need additional support. You can see the patterns and trends that might not be obvious from a casual walk through the plant.

 

But here’s the real power of HxGN EAM: it doesn’t just give you data. It gives you context. It helps you understand the story behind the numbers. It helps you ask better questions when you do get out on the floor. It helps you have more meaningful conversations with your team. And when you combine that visibility with your physical presence on the floor, something powerful happens. You become a leader who’s both strategic and tactical. You become a leader who can see the big picture and the small details. You become a leader who can make informed decisions and take decisive action.

Let me be crystal clear about something: building a reliability culture is not a sprint. It’s not even a marathon. It’s more like an ultramarathon through the desert, uphill, both ways, in a snowstorm. It’s going to take time. It’s going to take effort. It’s going to take persistence. And there are going to be moments when you want to quit. I’ve seen too many leaders start strong with their culture change initiatives, only to lose steam when they don’t see immediate results. They get impatient. They get distracted by the next shiny object. They start looking for shortcuts and quick fixes.

But here’s the thing about culture: it’s like a garden. You can’t just plant the seeds and expect a harvest next week. You have to water it, fertilize it, weed it, and protect it from pests. You have to be patient and persistent. You have to trust the process, even when you can’t see the results yet.

 

And just like a garden, a reliability culture requires constant attention. You can’t just build it and walk away. You have to nurture it, reinforce it, and protect it from the forces that would try to tear it down. You have to be the chief gardener, the one who’s always tending to the culture, always looking for ways to make it stronger and more resilient. That’s why the leaders who succeed in building lasting reliability cultures are the ones who approach it with a marathon mindset. They’re in it for the long haul. They’re willing to do the hard work, day after day, week after week, month after month. They understand that culture change is not an event; it’s a process.

Here’s the thing that keeps me up at night: I see too many leaders who are so focused on the quarterly numbers that they forget about the long-term impact they’re having on their organizations. They’re so worried about hitting their targets that they lose sight of the bigger picture.

 

But your legacy as a leader isn’t going to be defined by the numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s going to be defined by the culture you leave behind. It’s going to be defined by the people you’ve developed, the systems you’ve built, and the values you’ve instilled. When you’re long gone, when someone else is sitting in your office, what’s going to remain? Are you going to leave behind a culture of excellence, a team of engaged and empowered employees, and a system that can sustain itself? Or are you going to leave behind a house of cards that collapses the moment you walk out the door?

 

The choice is yours. But if you want to build something that lasts, if you want to create a legacy that you can be proud of, then you need to start thinking beyond the next quarter. You need to start thinking about the next generation.

 

And that starts with building a reliability culture that’s based on real leadership, real engagement, and real commitment to excellence. It starts with you being the kind of leader who’s not afraid to get their hands dirty, who’s not afraid to be vulnerable, and who’s not afraid to do the hard work that real culture change requires.