70% of change programs fail to achieve their goals. Furthermore, according to numerous business research articles, most management-inspired improvement and cost-saving initiatives waste time and money and de-motivate employees. MATT POLASKI and his band of unsung maintenance engineering heroes are nearly burn-out, trapped in the 'circle of despair' at the Mornington Dairy Plant. Instead of continuing to patch one breakdown after another, they propose a reliability improvement project to improve plant performance and their mental well-being. Matt realizes his marriage may even survive if they are successful. JIM CHAMPION, Mornington's Site Manager, also wants to improve performance, but he can't wait as long as Matt's plan requires. Jim's approach leads to a temporary improvement followed by a major catastrophe.