How can companies perform so well that their industry counterparts are competitors in
name only? Although they operate in the same industry, serve the same market, and even use
the same suppliers, these “rabbits” lead the race and, more importantly, continually
widen their lead. In Chasing the Rabbit, Steven J. Spear describes what sets
high-velocity, market-leading organizations apart and explains how you can lead the pack
in your industry.
Spear examines the internal operations of dominant organizations, including
Toyota, Alcoa, Pratt & Whitney, the US Navy's Nuclear Power Program, and top-tier
teaching hospitals--organizations operating in vastly differing industries, but which
share one thing in common: the skillful management of complex internal systems that
generates constant, almost automatic self-improvement at rates faster, durations longer,
and breadths wider than anyone else musters. As a result, each enjoys a level of
profitability, quality, efficiency, reliability, and agility unmatched by rivals.
Chasing the Rabbit shows how to:
- Build a system of “dynamic discovery” designed to reveal operational
problems and weaknesses
Attack and solve problems at the time and in the place where they occur, converting
weaknesses into strengths
Disseminate knowledge gained from solving local problems throughout the company as a whole
Create managers invested in the process of continual innovation
Whatever kind of company you operate--from technology to finance to
healthcare--mastery of these fourkey capabilities will put you on the fast track to
operational excellence, where you will generate faster, better results using less capital
and fewer resources.
Apply the lessons of Steven J. Spear's and leave the competition in the dust.
Table of Contents
Ch. 1 Getting to the Front of the Pack 1
Ch. 2 Complexity: The Good News and the Bad News 33
Ch. 3 How Complex Systems Fail 45
Ch. 4 How Complex Systems Succeed 87
Ch. 5 High Velocity Under the Sea, in the Air, and on the Web 109
Ch. 6 Capability 1: System Design and Operation 155
Ch. 7 Capability 2: Problem Solving and Improvement 193
Ch. 8 Capability 3: Knowledge Sharing 225
Ch. 9 Capability 4: Developing High-Velocity Skills in Others 263
Ch. 10 High-Velocity Crisis Recovery 295
Ch. 11 Creating High-Velocity Health-Care Organizations 323
Ch. 12 Conclusion 357
References 365
Notes 375
Index 393
432 pages, Hardcover