The Introduction
On August 28, 2025, the City of Garland proudly celebrated the graduation of its Wave 3 Business Transformation Leadership (BTL) Green Belt Cohort. This milestone event was more than a ceremony—it marked a significant step forward in advancing a culture of innovation and continuous improvement across North Texas.
For the first time, Garland welcomed participants from neighboring cities—Sachse, Rowlett, and Richardson—into the program. This regional approach not only expanded the reach of transformation but also created a shared learning environment where leaders could exchange ideas, tackle common challenges, and build a stronger foundation for collaboration across communities.
The Journey: From Training to Real-World Results
Over the course of four intensive training days, 19 participants explored tools and methodologies rooted in Lean Six Sigma, equipping them to tackle operational challenges with data-driven solutions. But training was only the beginning.
Each participant then embarked on a 90-day improvement project, supported by weekly one-on-one coaching and biweekly cohort syncs. These projects addressed real challenges within their organizations—ensuring the program created measurable value, not just classroom learning.
By graduation, participants had not only expanded their leadership capacity but also delivered tangible improvements across city services.
Projects Driving Impact
The projects showcased during graduation reflected both the diversity of city services and the creativity of the leaders driving them. Examples included:
- Planning Department: Improving the customer service experience during zoning applications by reducing service delays and communication breakdowns.
- Animal Services: Reducing Priority 1 call response time for emergencies such as animal bites or injured animals.
- Human Resources: Streamlining and consolidating the pre-boarding workflow for new hires.
- Environmental Services: Reducing recycling contamination rates to improve efficiency and sustainability.
- Library : Streamlining library programming workflows to create more consistent, high-quality resident experiences.
These initiatives represent the kind of practical, high-impact improvements that matter to both employees and residents—enhancing efficiency, responsiveness, and service delivery.
Leadership Commitment
The success of Wave 3 was made possible through the commitment of city leadership. By investing in their employees, Garland and its regional partners demonstrated the importance of empowering staff to lead transformation from within.
Assistant City Manager Phil Urrutia, sponsor of the Garland Transformation Office (GTO), provided the keynote remarks:
“The Transformation Office is about more than just improvement projects—it’s about creating the structures, skills, and culture to make continuous improvement part of how we work every day. The leaders graduating today are key to making that vision real.”
The Role of the Garland Transformation Office
The Garland Transformation Office (GTO) served as both a backbone and launchpad for this cohort. The GTO is charged with coordinating improvement projects, supporting leaders, and ensuring the sustainability of transformation efforts across departments. With Green Belts now playing an active role in facilitating GTO meetings and communities of practice, Garland is demonstrating what it looks like to embed transformation into city operations.
DMC’s Role
Dillon Morgan Consulting (DMC) was honored to partner with Garland and its regional neighbors to facilitate this training, provide project coaching, and support the journey from strategy to execution. Our role was to equip leaders with the skills and frameworks to succeed, but the results belong to the cities and the individuals who stepped forward to lead change.
Looking Ahead
With over 40 certified Green Belts now across Garland, and new leaders emerging from Sachse, Rowlett, and Richardson, the momentum for continuous improvement in North Texas is undeniable.
Graduation was not an ending, but a launching point. In the months ahead, these Green Belts will continue leading and inspiring others to take on transformation challenges. And as more cities join in, the region is proving what’s possible when local government commits to investing in its people and reimagining how services are delivered.
