Accelerating Performance: How Organizations Can Mobilize, Execute, and Transform with Agility - Hardcover

Price, Colin; Toye, Sharon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1119147492 ISBN 13: 9781119147497

Publisher: Wiley, 2017

Synopsis

Transform your organization into a dynamic catalyst for success

Accelerating Performance is not just another “warm and fuzzy” change management book―it's a practical, comprehensive, data-driven action plan for picking up the pace and achieving more. Co-written by one of the authors of Beyond Performance, this book draws on a combination of empirical research and decades of experience advising global companies to show you how to reduce time to value by building and changing momentum more quickly than your competitors.

The META framework (short for Mobilize, Execute, and Transform with Agility) offers advice for leading change at four levels: strategy, the organization, teams, and individuals. In addition to step-by-step guidance toward assessment, planning, and implementation, the book offers:

• A diagnostic tool for leaders, teams, and organizations to assess their starting place, and highlight the specific areas needed to improve the ability to accelerate performance.
• A detailed look at the factors proven to create drag―and drive―at each of the four levels: strategy, organizations, teams, and individuals.
• An exploration of the 39 differentiating actions that organizations can combine as dictated by their strategy and context into a winning recipe.
• A closer look at the practices of 23 “superaccelerators,” a global (and perhaps unexpected) mix of companies that have demonstrated a consistent ability to accelerate performance.

A single taste of success is all it takes to spark change, but the hard work of following through requires constant vigilance―and a plan. Learn how to capture that drive, bottle it, and use it to sustain motivation, inspiration, and achievement. Deliver at the highest level, and then turn around and do even better next time. Accelerating Performance gives leaders a step-by-step framework for taking action and transforming their organizations, teams, and even themselves―starting today.

About this title

About the Author

COLIN PRICE is an executive vice president and the global managing partner of the Leadership Consulting Practice at Heidrick & Struggles. He has advised many of the world's largest companies, as well as a number of national governments and charitable institutions. He is the coauthor of several books, including Beyond Performance.

SHARON TOYE is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles' London office and a member of the Leadership Consulting Practice. An organizational development expert, qualified psychotherapist, and skilled consultant, she has more than 20 years of experience as an executive and top-team coach.

From the Back Cover

“This is a no-nonsense resource that gets to the root of an organization’s performance problem. By using science, the authors examine the best practices of great teamwork, the how-to of building high-performing organizations, and the code to building a winning culture and driving sustainable growth.”
―Paula Ketter, editor of TD magazine, Association for Talent Development

"With an unashamed focus on data and empirical evidence, Accelerating Performance stands out from the sea of performance and change management books that are based on anecdotes and theory. As such, it is essential reading for anyone serious about analysing or improving organisational, team or individual performance."
―Management-Issues

"It is absolutely true that 'the soft stuff is the hard stuff' and that most HR departments need less PowerPoint and more Excel. Accelerating Performance offers a sharp analysis of how successful companies 'crack the code' to build a winning culture and drive sustainable growth―and do it faster than their competitors."
―Jim Smith, president and CEO, Thomson Reuters

"In a continually disrupted marketplace, companies live and die by their ability to accelerate their performance. The genius of this book is its rigorous analysis of the blockers to acceleration and how to remove them―and its insights into the agility required to transform a business. It is eye-opening stuff."
―Mark Wilson, group CEO, Aviva

"Using a deeply analytical and forensic approach, the authors tease out why some companies have avoided the drag of underperformance. Their detailed analysis of these 'superaccelerators' reinforces some deeply held beliefs but also uncovers crucial insights about what it takes to succeed. Filled with insights, action points, and wisdom―this is a must-read for any leader tasked with building a high-performance organization."
―Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice, London Business School, and coauthor of The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity

"Health care is delivered in teams. Whether it's in the operating theater, the hospital, or in the community, it is how we work together that determines our ability to save lives. Accelerating Performance sheds light on the practices that constitute great teamwork."
―Lord Ara Darzi, Paul Hamlyn chair of surgery, Imperial College London, and former U.K. health minister

"Some business books excel at data-based analytical rigor, others at strategy, leadership, or soft skills. Accelerating Performance integrates all these vital components and teaches leaders how to drive fast with vision."
―Tom Glocer, founder of Angelic Ventures LP, director of Merck & Co. and Morgan Stanley, and member of the supervisory board for Publicis Groupe

"An ambitious, breakthrough book! Who wouldn’t want their company to be in Colin and Sharon's group of super-performers? Drawing on original research, illuminating cases, and practical advice, they show us a surprising―even unfashionable―route for companies to get there: not by reinventing themselves but by becoming significantly better versions of who they already are! Smart, funny, with a very high 'PIPSI' (provocative ideas per square inch)."
―Robert Kegan, Meehan Professor of Adult Learning and Professional Development, Harvard University, and coauthor of An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization

"Delivering sustainable, standout performance is the holy grail for business leaders. Colin and Sharon present a compelling agenda to help leaders increase the metabolic rate in their business, thereby creating the conditions for long-term success. Boards and CEOs should take note―and take action."
―David Roberts, chairman, Nationwide Building Society

From the Inside Flap

“This is a no-nonsense resource that gets to the root of an organization’s performance problem. By using science, the authors examine the best practices of great teamwork, the how-to of building high-performing organizations, and the code to building a winning culture and driving sustainable growth.”
—Paula Ketter, editor of TD magazine, Association for Talent Development

"With an unashamed focus on data and empirical evidence, Accelerating Performance stands out from the sea of performance and change management books that are based on anecdotes and theory. As such, it is essential reading for anyone serious about analysing or improving organisational, team or individual performance."
—Management-Issues

"It is absolutely true that 'the soft stuff is the hard stuff' and that most HR departments need less PowerPoint and more Excel. Accelerating Performance offers a sharp analysis of how successful companies 'crack the code' to build a winning culture and drive sustainable growth—and do it faster than their competitors."
—Jim Smith, president and CEO, Thomson Reuters

"In a continually disrupted marketplace, companies live and die by their ability to accelerate their performance. The genius of this book is its rigorous analysis of the blockers to acceleration and how to remove them—and its insights into the agility required to transform a business. It is eye-opening stuff."
—Mark Wilson, group CEO, Aviva

"Using a deeply analytical and forensic approach, the authors tease out why some companies have avoided the drag of underperformance. Their detailed analysis of these 'superaccelerators' reinforces some deeply held beliefs but also uncovers crucial insights about what it takes to succeed. Filled with insights, action points, and wisdom—this is a must-read for any leader tasked with building a high-performance organization."
—Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice, London Business School, and coauthor of The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity

"Health care is delivered in teams. Whether it's in the operating theater, the hospital, or in the community, it is how we work together that determines our ability to save lives. Accelerating Performance sheds light on the practices that constitute great teamwork."
—Lord Ara Darzi, Paul Hamlyn chair of surgery, Imperial College London, and former U.K. health minister

"Some business books excel at data-based analytical rigor, others at strategy, leadership, or soft skills. Accelerating Performance integrates all these vital components and teaches leaders how to drive fast with vision."
—Tom Glocer, founder of Angelic Ventures LP, director of Merck & Co. and Morgan Stanley, and member of the supervisory board for Publicis Groupe

"An ambitious, breakthrough book! Who wouldn’t want their company to be in Colin and Sharon's group of super-performers? Drawing on original research, illuminating cases, and practical advice, they show us a surprising—even unfashionable—route for companies to get there: not by reinventing themselves but by becoming significantly better versions of who they already are! Smart, funny, with a very high 'PIPSI' (provocative ideas per square inch)."
—Robert Kegan, Meehan Professor of Adult Learning and Professional Development, Harvard University, and coauthor of An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization

"Delivering sustainable, standout performance is the holy grail for business leaders. Colin and Sharon present a compelling agenda to help leaders increase the metabolic rate in their business, thereby creating the conditions for long-term success. Boards and CEOs should take note—and take action."
—David Roberts, chairman, Nationwide Building Society

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1119147492
• ISBN 13: 9781119147497
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352