Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart, Third Edition

CHAPTER SEVEN

MOVING FROM ANNUAL PROGRAMS TO SUSTAINED PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

Beware, lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.

—AESOP

At most large and medium-sized organizations, top managers like to embark on performance improvement programs. These programs tend to have a focal slogan, which includes terms like quality, customer service, reengineering, and teamwork. They tend to be launched with a great deal of publicity. They are initially supported by a large expenditure of resources (often cited as a symbol of significant support from top management).

Unfortunately, betterment programs frequently end up grasping at the shadow, rather than establishing an infrastructure for substantive, sustained performance improvement. To ...