Why do most corporations fail to achieve breakthrough performance? They make things too complex. They clutter it with jargon and confusion. They dither on the launch pad. They hire too many consultants, chase after too many fads. It doesn’t have to be that complicated. Whatever your goal, whatever your role, Michael T. Kanazawa and Robert H. Miles introduce a simple, practical, 100% results- driven approach that works. Drawing on their experience working with hundreds of senior executives, they show how to align your organization behind just a few core initiatives; bias your people toward speed; create leaders at every level; and achieve traction and accountability in all facets of execution. You’ll learn how to engage people instead of frustrating them, and harness their energy instead of wasting it. Whether you’re executing a new initiative, entering a new market, or attempting to transform your entire enterprise, this book will help you find the right path, clear the obstacles, and get there—surely and quickly.

 

Today’s companies recognize that they must constantly improve at every level, from frontline customer-facing functions to enterprise-wide strategy. They must execute bold new strategic initiatives more effectively... integrate and align acquisitions more quickly...and accelerate and sustain growth in the face of unprecedented competition. But wherever business transformation and breakthrough performance must occur, many of the challenges are the same.

 

Now, there’s a breakthrough methodology for overcoming these challenges. In BIG Ideas to BIG Results, Michael T. Kanazawa and Robert H. Miles introduce the Accelerated Corporate Transformation (ACT) methodology: A simple, no-nonsense process that is grounded in reality, inclusive of people, and 100% results-oriented.

 

Drawing on over twenty years refining and applying ACT, initially at Harvard Business School and then in leading enterprises, Kanazawa and Miles identify crucial steps to success, as well as practical solutions to the inevitable roadblocks you’ll face. Their #1 insight: Many obstacles stem from managers making situations and decisions more complex than they really are, and taking too much time to get ready. ACT strips away complexity and indecision, helping you move far more rapidly and predictably from strategy development through execution. Designed by leaders for leaders, this book will help you execute more rapidly and lead more effectively, to achieve breakthrough performance at any level, in any function, in any organization.

• Step-by-step, leader-driven techniques that work–simply and quickly
  Business transformation and breakthrough performance without the confusion and complexity
• What leaders must know–and do–to succeed
  Making it happen from the inside out–without hordes of consultants
• Conquer “corporate gridlock” at last
  Stay focused on what really matters, instead of bouncing from one initiative to the next
• Rapidly engage the full organization...
  ...to power up leadership at every level

www.bigideastobigresults.com

 

Michael T. Kanazawa, chief executive officer of Dissero Partners, is a business advisor, author, and speaker. Michael serves as a business advisor to executives on the topics of corporate transformation, strategy, business execution, and leadership. Previously, he built the technology and innovation practice at a premier consulting firm that spun off from the Boston Consulting Group. With a blend of operating experience at Fortune 500 companies and collaboration on the development of the Accelerated Corporate Transformation (ACT) process, he brings a practical approach to driving breakthrough growth to his clients. He has worked with organizations including Silicon Valley start-ups, private equity investors and global corporations, such as AT&T, Anadigics, Intel, PG&E, Schlumberger, Symantec, and Verizon.

 

Robert H. Miles, Ph.D., chairman of Dissero Partners, is a thought and practice leader in the fields of corporate transformation and executive leadership. He also serves as chairman of Galloway Consulting and president of Corporate Transformation Resources. Miles was a faculty member at the Yale School of Management and later at Harvard Business School, where he chaired the innovative program for CEOs, division presidents, and their teams that generated the initial insights for the ACT methodology. He has authored several books on his intensive support of corporate transformations at over twenty-five companies, including Corporate Comeback and Leading Corporate Transformation.

Chapter 1: A Better Way  1

The Sugar High  3

Get Your ACT Together  6

Make Transformation a Simple Routine  9

Endnotes  11

Chapter 2: Breaking Through Gridlock  13

Gridlock! The Task Overload Epidemic  13

Where Did All of This Clutter Come From?  14

The New Definition of Big Box Retail  15

Task Overload Undermines Accountability  16

One Company–Not Many  18

Busting Through Gridlock: Getting Started  19

The Leader’s Challenge: Less Is More   20

Fighting Fires Versus Fire Prevention  23

Endnotes  24

Chapter 3: Creating Safe Passage  25

Safe Passage–A Clear Transformation Process  25

The ACT Process Basics: Powerfully Simple  28

This Is Not a New Religion, Just a Better

Way of Managing the Business  30

Endnotes  32

Chapter 4: Confronting Today’s Reality  33

The Emperor’s Ugly Clothes  35

Dialogue Versus Discussion  36

Generating Dialogue as a Leader  37

Priming the Pump  39

Canary in a Coal Mine  41

On the Outside Looking In  44

Talk with Customers and Noncustomers  47

You Are Here: Map the Market  48

Confronting Reality Work Session  52

Endnotes  54

Chapter 5: Sharpening the Strategy Arrow  55

A One-Page View of the Future  56

Creating a Strategic Vision  60

Business Success Modeling  63

Due Diligence on Yourself  65

Endnotes  71

Chapter 6: Absolute Alignment  73

Translation to Three Corporate Initiatives  74

Have You Lost Your Marbles?  76

What NOT to Do  78

Restack the Whole  80

Individual Commitments to Action  83

Alignment of Commitments–Reducing Silos  84

Alignment of Values  87

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is  89

The Bottom Line on Alignment  90

Endnotes  93

Chapter 7: Rapidly Engaging the Full Organization  95

It’s All about the Results  96

Quantum Jumps  98

“Back in Black” Friday  99

Employee Engagement Is Not Barbeque  100

High-Engagement  101

Hear It from My Boss  102

Unbounded, But Grounded in Reality   102

Putting It All Together  104

Reaching Scale and Speed  109

Lighting 1,000 Fires Only Gets You Burned  110

Endnotes  112

Chapter 8: Productive Speed  113

Get the Train Moving, Now  113

The Benefits of Productive Speed  116

All Aboard at Internet Speed  118

Designing the Process for Speed  121

The No-Slack Launch  123

Quick Starts  127

How Do You Keep Time?  131

Speed as a Leadership Discipline  133

Endnotes  134

Chapter 9: Creating Leadership Power at All Levels  135

The Power Curve  136

The Under-Powered Organization  137

Shifting Up the Power Curve  137

Executive Management  138

Middle Management   141

A Real High Flyer  142

Front-Line Managers  143

Big Ideas from within the Team  145

Sharing Power Creates Power  147

Endnotes  148

Chapter 10: Building Operational Traction  149

Commit with Confidence, Publicly  150

Building Traction  151

Accountability  156

Simple Closed-Loop Accountability  156

Promises Versus Declarations  160

Don’t Get Overly Fixated on the Dashboard   164

Misguided Incentives  168

Performance Coaching  171

Endnotes  173

Chapter 11: Over the Hump and Into the Slump  175

Post-Launch Blues  178

Mid-Course Adjustment   181

The Process Is Not a One-Time Overlay  182

Mini-Cascades  184

Launching the New Year  187

Oh Right, the Behaviors  191

You Don’t Get to Relax  192

Plan to Punctuate the Equilibrium Regularly  192

Endnotes  194

Chapter 12: Are You Up to the Challenge?  195

White-Hot Commitment of the Leader  196

Change the People, or Change the People  197

You Don’t Have All the Answers (And Nobody Expects You To)  201

Get Real  203

Go For It!  204

Endnotes  205

Afterword  207

Acknowledgments  217

About the Authors  221

Index  225