Kick Down the Door of Complacency: Seize the Power of Continuous Improvement
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Summary
Kick Down the Door of Complacency
provides a new solution to an old problem: how to persuade and teach managers to enact Continuous Improvement.
The book is a story of a CEO who persuades his direct reports that having Continuous Improvement is vital, and then leads and teaches them exactly how to do a basic method for the next 24 months.
Harwood's method is built on some new assumptions: a change process is necessary; the top person must personally lead; everyone is required to participate (two hours per week); speed is critical; and obtaining measurable meaningful improvement, early and forever, is essential.
This approach is applicable to any organization, and parts of large organizations of up to 2,000 people, be they in manufacturing or service, for-profit or not-for-profit.
With two supplemental books - one for trainers, the other for participants - all can easily be trained (two sessions totaling 15 hours) in how to use 22 basic problem-solving techniques. By actually using them to solve problems presented in two cases, they learn the techniques.
Editorial Reviews
"This is a very important book."
Robert Waterman, Jr., Co-author of In Search of Excellence
"Clear, direct, specific, practical and insightful. Harwood shares his deep commitment and understanding by telling it like it is and revealing a method that can unleash the potential of America's organizations. A must-read for those who want to make a lasting difference."
Barry Z. Posner, Ph.D., Dean, School of Business, Santa Clara University
"Harwood proves that to be a good writer, write about what you know-and Harwood, a former CEO with hands-on experience, knows Continuous Improvement."
D.C. McKenzie, Quality Executive, N.V. Philips, retired
"Harwood has successfully captured the central elements of Continuous Improvement-one of the major management innovations of the last decade-and presented them in a format that is both readable and important."
Robert E. Cole, Ph.D., Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
"Motivated employees with dedicated and persistent leadership are essential for survival in today's competitive world. Harwood shows us how to achieve that with an easy-to-read, captivating story that includes important lessons in leadership and improvement."
James R. Houghton, Chairman, Corning Inc., retired
"Many organizations have tried the cosmetics of quality and achieved disappointing results. Others have reached performance plateaus they can't seem to surmount. Using real people with real problems, Harwood shows us how to transcend all that and achieve the long-term, sustainable results that others only promise. Must-reading for managers in all types of organizations."
Dave B. Luther, Immediate Past Chairman, American Society for Quality
"This compelling story provides an essential roadmap that every top management needs to successfully involve most, if not all, of its people in a process of change that will lead to Continuous Improvement."
Michael Beer, Ph.D., Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University
"We found everything we needed to design, install, and operate a first-rate Continuous Improvement effort in our relatively small, not-for-profit organization right here, including who should do what, when they should do it, and how."
Terry Moriarty, C.E.O., Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center
