CASE STUDY
Katy Stephens
Senior Customer Demand Planning Manager, Vimto Soft Drinks UK (Salford)
Katy joined Vimto early in 2016 and…
At the start of her Incredible Thinking journey Katy had a one to one coaching session and completed the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test online, before starting and attending a programme of team sessions.
Working one to one at the outset and utilising the framework that the MBTI offers is where the Incredible Thinkers start to work with individuals. Helping them to understand their own personality profile, preferences, challenges and increasing their personal awareness supports later team based interactions and sessions.
The Incredible thinkers have a reputation for challenging, they are unapologetic about this and believe that honest conversations are needed to really make a difference. Katy said “Matt and Paul are challenging, I really like the fact that they do this consistently and at all levels with no fear. They test you, they push boundaries, strive for Change and they make a difference by doing so in my experience.”
Katy has completed the ‘Great Line Management’ programme over the course of the last year with the Incredible Thinkers at Vimto. This was a series of eight workshops tailored to the businesses objectives and delivered over a year. Workshops included;
- Incredible Thinking
- People Manager skills
- Communicate to engage
- Situational leadership
- Coaching for performance
- Leading change
- Creative thinking
- Action Learning group
Katy’s ‘wow’ moment was “…regarding the use of the word fail and your own interpretation of failure. They turned this on its head, learning not to fear failure but using it to develop and learn was just inspiring! This was not at all like any training I’ve been on before.”
I had come across the concept of a ‘Growth Mindset’ but again with the working examples and their unique insights Incredible Thinking really does change you, not just how you think.
The process and the exercises within the sessions teach you about other people’s perspectives through creativity, there was a lot of fun and laughter but no doubt the impact is serious! Working with different personality types, buddying up to embrace opposite perspectives was something that they taught me that has had a big influence.”
Bringing learning to life and keeping it alive through tried and tested tools and techniques is embedded in what the Incredible Thinkers deliver. When they leave and individuals and organisations are left to their own devices this is what has the most value. They maintain light touch contact with clients to support and embed what they show people.
As Katy reflects “There really was so much to implement from the sessions personally as well as professionally, in my home life I see things differently and have applied the learning there too. Incredible Thinking has increased my awareness massively of behaviours, both my own and in other people. I genuinely have no fear of failure now which is huge for me. I’m more creative, striving to break the norms and ‘embracing the weirdness’ is a phrase I’ve enjoyed adopting.”
Vimto has taken Incredible Thinking to a whole new level in the organisation. Katy along with others from cross functional teams has also been involved in what they call ‘the Mars team’ looking at the values and culture of the organisation not top down but bottom up. The people own the organisations culture and live it. Change is actively embraced and the challenge that Incredible Thinkers are reputed for is replicated which breeds innovation.
Katy attributes outputs including improved processes, increased innovation and a culture of continuous improvement to Incredible Thinking and overall what is now a high performing team as a result.
