CHAPTER 4

Focusing Your Organization’s Energy

Escaping the Acceleration Trap

In the last chapter, we looked at how to free organizations that have been caught in the corrosion trap. Now we will explore a second energy trap, a very tricky one, because it ensnares companies that seem to be doing quite well and that have reached the ideal of high productive energy. Their fatal mistake? They become overly energetic. Faced with intense market pressures, corporations often take on too much: they increase the number and speed of activities, raise performance goals, shorten innovation cycles, and introduce new management technologies or organizational systems. For a while, they succeed brilliantly, but too often, the CEO tries to make this furious pace ...

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