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In 1999, Paul C. Light embarked on an ambitious project which,
if successful, would provide organizations of all kinds with a powerful new tool
for navigating the turbulent sea of change that is today's global business environment.
A guide to achieving and maintaining superlative performance in a highly unpredictable
world, this book is the fruit of that endeavor. In it you will learn proven methods
for hardening your organization against the surprises and risks of an uncertain
future, and how to maintain a competitive edge by being the first to identify
and capitalize on the most promising growth opportunities. In
researching The Four Pillars of High Performance, Dr. Light had unprecedented
access to the vast information resources of The RAND Corporation -- an international
leader in the study of organizational performance for nearly six decades. He also
surveyed more than 125 senior RAND researchers, and spent four years gathering
information about what RAND has learned about creating and sustaining high performance.
What emerged was a portrait of the "robust organization" -- that rare
organization which possesses both the agility to adjust to changes in the external
environment at a moment's notice, and the compass needed to maintain a steady
fix on its strategic horizons. In this book, Paul Light
takes us inside a number of robust organizations across a range of business sectors,
as well as in government, the military, and more. From the examples set by Volvo,
Intel, Marriot, DuPont, and many other world-class performers, he extracts the
four key traits common to all robust organizations. - ALERTNESS:
Spotting fluctuations as they emerge -- not after their effects have already been
felt.
- AGILITY: Empowering employees with the authority
to make routine decisions, reducing barriers between units, encouraging participatory
management, and fostering open communications.
- ADAPTABILITY:
Changing with circumstances and taking advantage of new opportunities as they
arise.
- ALIGNMENT: Saturating the organization with
information and providing effective information technology.
Combining
the wisdom of a leading national expert on organizational performance with nearly
six decades of research conducted by one of the world's oldest and most revered
think tanks, The Four Pillars of High Performance is an indispensable and
unprecedented blueprint for transforming any company into a robust organization. Paul
C. Light is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service at the Robert F.
Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, and he holds the Dillon
Chair at the Brookings Institution, where he established the Center for Public
Service in 1999. The author of 19 books on business, public service, and education,
he is a familiar voice on NPR's "Morning Edition" and a well-known public
speaker on organizational life. |
