Jumping the S-Curve

9	SHARP CURVES AHEAD

BEGINNING IN THE SUMMER of 2008, the global economy suffered turmoil to a degree that hadn’t been seen in generations. As venerable and seemingly rock-solid companies vanished and stock markets crashed, we worried for a time that high performance was a thing of the past. Every company seemed to be spiraling downward. What would we be able to say?

Our concerns were misplaced. As events played out during the global recession, the characteristics of high performance that we have discussed in this book were more than validated. In fact, the companies that embodied those characteristics before the crash have generally performed better through these hard times than other organizations. While the high performers may not have ...