CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1:
THE NEED FOR A NEW DEFINITION 5
The Beginnings of Operational Excellence 6
Redefining Operational Excellence 8
Would You Know Operational Excellence If You Tripped Over It? 12
Organizations That Exemplify Operational Excellence 13
Why Operational Excellence Is Important to Any Organization 18
Redefining How We Operate 20
Chapter 2:
MAKING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE HAPPEN 23
The Core Components of Operational Excellence 23
Evolving Toward Operational Excellence 30
The Four Phases of Operational Excellence 32
Creating Gates: Protecting Your Gains 38
Four Types of Organizations 40
Redefining the Way We Measure Success 43
Chapter 3:
ATTRACTING AND RETAINING TOP TALENT:
DON'T SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST 46
The Key Principles of Leadership 47
The Four Attributes of a Great Leader 52
Attracting the Best People 56
A Strategy for Talent Management 65
Breathe Life into Your Organization by Letting People Go 66
Is Your Turnover Rate Too High? 69
Chapter 4:
THE INNOVATION EQUATION:
THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION 71
How to Foster Innovation 72
The Cycle of Innovation 76
A Culture of Innovation: The Interaction of Empowerment
and Skill 85
How to Become an Innovation Master 89
Accelerating the Adoption of Innovation 93
Chapter 5:
ALIGNING STRATEGY AND TACTICS TO
ENHANCE PERFORMANCE 99
Without Execution, There Is No Strategy 101
How to Achieve Execution Excellence 104
The Difference Between Responsibility and Accountability 108
Gaining a Tactical Advantage: Finding Performance Boosts
Where You Wouldn't Normally Look 111
Performance Boosts: The Do-It-Yourself Version 119
A Final Word on Strategy Execution 120
Chapter 6:
ACQUIRING AND KEEPING THE CUSTOMERS
YOU WANT 121
Why Current Customers Are Your Best Opportunity for
Growth 122
Stratifying Your Customers 127
How to Turn Customers into Great Referral Sources 132
Other Strategies to Strengthen Customer Loyalty
and Engagement 135
The Five Myths of Customer Engagement 140
Chapter 7:
OPTIMIZING SPEED MAXIMIZES PROFITABILITY 146
Determining Optimal Enterprise Velocity and Responsible
Speed 146
Slow Down to Improve Results 150
How Speed Impacts Profitability 153
The Speed-Profitability Correlation and the Four Components
of Operational Excellence 155
The Myth of the First-Mover Advantage 161
Knowing When to Speed Up and When to Slow Down 166
Implementing a Culture of Speed Optimization 168
Chapter 8:
CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE: NOT SO MUCH 170
Why Centers of Excellence Aren't Always Excellent 172
Why Create a Centralized Department? 177
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The Benefits of a Centralized Department 180
Centrally Led, Locally Executed 181
Ignore the Center and Focus on Excellence 183
Chapter 9:
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES 185
Retail 186
Services 190
Health Care 193
Technology 197
Manufacturing 201
Chapter 10:
GETTING TECHNOLOGY OUT OF YOUR WAY 205
Fix the Process, Then Implement the Technology 206
Technology and Change Management 212
Using Technology to Enhance Operational Excellence 214
Operational Excellence and Automation 225
Chapter 11:
A BRIGHT FUTURE WITH OPERATIONAL
EXCELLENCE 227
The Operational Excellence Crystal Ball 228
You've Achieved Operational Excellence—Now What? 231
Appendix:
ARE YOU ON THE PATH TO OPERATIONAL
EXCELLENCE? 237
Index 239
About the Author 245
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
