BLUEDRAGON IN ACTION
BlueDragon Helped the Marine Corps Solve Longstanding Issues That Saved More Than $89 Million the First Year and Increased Mission Readiness to More Than 90%
EVENT DESCRIPTION
Bluedragon Was Used to Investigate Two Significant Longstanding Recurring Issues That Were Deemed Unsolvable and Challenged Mission Readiness at a Department of War Installation.
The Client
A major U.S. Department of War (formerly DoD) installation on the West Coast.
The Problem
(1) Infrastructure-driven operational risk and unnecessary capital expenditure
A mission-critical unit operated from severely outdated facilities that no longer met habitability requirements, driving three separate MILCON projects over several years with a combined value exceeding $120 million; all MILCON projects were based on the entrenched assumption that only new construction could solve the problem.
(2) Chronic staffing shortfalls and employment constraints
The same unit faced long-standing staffing shortfalls, with only 61% of validated mission-critical billets filled by ready, qualified personnel. After multiple failed attempts at resolution, the condition was widely regarded as structurally unsolvable.
The BlueDragon Mission
Infrastructure/MILCON: Conduct an independent investigation to identify root causes behind the unit’s facility deficiencies and the institutional bias toward new construction; determine whether existing on-base infrastructure could satisfy mission needs while reducing or eliminating planned MILCON requirements.
Staffing/Employment: Conduct an independent investigation to identify root causes and contributing factors behind chronic staffing shortfalls and employment constraints; convert findings into decision-quality options for senior leaders to measurably increase readiness.
The BlueDragon Integrated Problem-solving System (IPS) is a 3-phased approach that included the following activities, performed in a seamless manner on one chart:
Phase 1
Critical Thinking: develop evidence-based questions that will form our lines of inquiry.
- Gather and organize performance evidence and applicable standards and procedures onto a BlueDragon chart. This includes timelines, oversight reports, keep performance indicators, corrective action program databases, quarterly trend reports, and any other charts and graphs that provide insights into performance.
- Conduct a Systems Inventory, to establish a holistic approach to the investigation. This includes the identification of the applicable programs that are in place to ensure activities are performed safely and effectively.
- Conduct an Analysis of Defenses, to determine the effectiveness of the administrative requirements, physical barriers and cyber barriers that should have prevented the events. Analyze any available data that might shed some light on performance. This could include using any number of Lean 6 Sigma tools, and any other data analysis tools such as fault trees, control charts and human performance evaluation surveys. The goal of our data analysis is to identify non conformances, non-compliance with requirements and any other irregularities where performance does not match standards and expectations, which are actually the manifestation of the problem or event (i.e., the breadcrumbs left behind by the event that we can readily identify). In BlueDragon terms we call these irregularities “symptoms.”
- Using insights gained from the analysis of defenses, the data analysis and the identification of as many symptoms as possible, we generate focused, evidence-based questions to explore what causes those symptoms. These questions will form our lines of inquiry.
Phase 2
Causal Analysis: determine the deep-seated causes and contributing factors.
- Organize and schedule a series of facilitated causal analysis sessions with the organizations subject matter experts.
- Using cause and effect analysis, we reverse engineer our way from the symptoms identified in Phase 1 back to their points of origin (i.e., the deepest-seated causes) by pursuing the lines of inquiry.
- It’s important to understand that bias can creep into the analysis at any point during the investigation, which requires facilitation skills to ensure that does not happen.
- There are three levels of validation of causal factors that take place during the causal analysis. The first level is the validation of each individual answer as they are provided during a session. The second level is the review of the BlueDragon chart conducted by every new group that participates in these sessions. The third level of validation comes from the senior management team, which validates the entire chart.
Phase 3
Corrective Actions to Prevent Recurrence: develop corrective actions that address the deep-seated causes and have a high likelihood of preventing recurrence.
- Issue owners are identified for each of the root causes and contributing factors identified on the blue dragon chart.
- The issue owners are coached by the BlueDragon team on using the “Hierarchy of Hazard Controls” and Lean “Mistake Proofing” to develop an effective set of corrective actions.
- To dramatically increase the likelihood of preventing recurrence, the extent to which the root causes and contributing factors are causing damage in other program areas, or equipment performance, or human performance, must also be evaluated. Therefore actions to conduct “extent of the cause” determinations are also required.
Results
1. Infrastructure/MILCON Issue
Using BlueDragon’s three-phased Root Cause Analysis approach, one BlueDragon facilitator and subject matter experts surfaced a viable, previously overlooked option: a recently vacated facility that could meet mission needs with minimal modification. Following the investigation and senior-leader review:
- Two approved MILCON projects were recommended to be canceled; a third was never initiated
- Commanding General approved the cancelling of the MILCON projects and unit relocation into an existing facility
- Documented cost savings exceeding $89 million in the first fiscal year
- Improved unit placement aboard the installation and increased operational effectiveness resulting from the relocation
2. Staffing/Employment Issue
Applying the same three-phased methodology, the team distinguished root causes from symptoms, aligned stakeholders around a common fact pattern, and framed concrete courses of action. Following the Commanding General’s review:
- Targeted corrective actions approved
- Readiness increased from ~61% to more than 90%
- Reenlistment rates went from not making mission to making mission
Both projects were investigated in a matter of weeks and corrective actions completed in less than 10 months. Both problems, long treated as unsolvable, were resolved, materially strengthening the installation’s security posture. Overall, using the BlueDragon framework solved two “seemingly impossible problems” and resulted in significant resource (time, money, and material) savings.
| PREVIOUS CLIENT ACTIONS | BLUEDRAGON ACTUAL | |
|---|---|---|
|
RESOURCES |
Too Many |
1 BlueDragon Facilitator |
|
DURATION |
Years |
6 weeks |
|
REPORT PREPARATION |
N/A |
10 days |
Eliminated Chronic Problems Impacting Marine Corps Operations
Campaign Challenges:
1. Persistent issues causing delays and inefficiencies across multiple systems.
2. Lack of clarity on underlying root causes despite repeated fixes
3. Need for a structured, rapid approach to resolve long-standing problems
Campaign Results:
Reduced recurring maintenance costs and improved operational reliability across Marine Corps assets.