Changemaker Series: Angela Marano

‍Welcome to Changemaker stories from LOCAL - an ongoing series of personal interviews with leaders driving change across every industry and discipline. Because change shouldn’t mean going it alone.

This week we've been talking with Angela Marano, a transformation leader who has pioneered continuous improvement, innovation, data, and AI over the last 15 years at Southwest Airlines. Angela shared some of her favorite lessons learned helping teams make sense of new and emerging technologies.
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My first adventure with transformation was around navigating Y2K. It was the first time I realized the power of working across departments and divisions. I’ve been practicing this skill ever since.

‍I’m a problem-solver at heart. Bringing good questions and curiosity to help solve big, gnarly problems is what gets me excited.

‍Big picture context is super important. In order to understand how to solve a problem for someone, you have to understand their business. A complete view of what they do and how they do it.

‍Thinking in systems matters. I love to connect dots. Listening to, and learning from, people in different parts of the business usually reveals a clearer picture of the problem.

‍Any change requires an end-to-end understanding of the business. When you start to have visibility into what’s happening upstream and downstream of your individual area of responsibility - understanding what other teams do, and how they do it - then you can start to figure out how to measure it, and what tools, technologies, or people and process improvements could make it better.

‍When you change how you work, you also have to change how you measure. Old metrics won’t necessarily show you change is working.

‍There is always a different way of working. You have to have the confidence to admit that the way we work today could use some work.

My process background helps me think in outcomes. What do we know today and what does success look like on the other end? Then, how do we get there?

‍I’m always on the lookout for inflexibility. “This is how we’ve always done it”. We have to be willing to admit that the way we've been working might be flawed.

‍Confidence shouldn’t mean stubbornness. Confidence means admitting that we could do things differently, and trusting the learning process and the discovery process to get to “better”.

‍Energy and passion matter as much as the data. If you want people to change and work differently, you have to give them a reason to believe in the...tap into their passion...

‍You may come up with the most amazing solutions. But if you haven’t prepared your people or culture to be ready and willing to change, it's likely going to sit on a shelf.

‍Don’t get caught up in competitive thinking. I’m always looking for ways that everyone can share in the goodness that comes from change that is implemented, adopted, and actually has an impact.

‍Linda Rutherford, Southwest’s Chief Administrative Officer, is an incredible change champion and advocate. Her support and advocacy enables my team to keep pushing forward.

I live in Dallas. I’m a big fan of the Dallas Farmers market. Good food, great atmosphere, and live music. It’s an easy getaway to clear your head and experience something fresh.