THREE
Breaking Bottlenecks
Using Decision Maps and Archetypes
In his book on habits, Charles Duhigg recalls a now-famous speech Paul O’Neill gave to investors when he took over as CEO of the multibillion-dollar metals company Alcoa. The company, which makes the aluminum that goes into Coke cans and Hershey Kisses wrappers, among other products, had been struggling for some time while competitors stole away market share. Several new product lines had failed. Fifteen thousand workers had recently gone on strike, and the unions were angrily gearing up for another fight with the new CEO, who would surely focus on cutting more costs to fix the declining margins.
When O’Neill stepped to the podium for his first speech as CEO on an October day ...
