Ruthless Consistency: How Committed Leaders Execute Strategy, Implement Change, and Build Organizations That Win

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HEROIC PROCESSES, POSITIVE POLICIES, AND THE SPACE BETWEEN THE BOXES

For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.

—Benjamin Franklin

 

A LARGE, INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE was suffering. Not only were sales being siphoned away by online retailers, but customer satisfaction was slipping. Finding books in the store could be confusing, availability was hit or miss, lines were often long, and overwhelmed staff would at times show their frustration. All things considered, the bookstore’s future did not look promising.

When they asked us to help, our first and most obvious concern was that they weren’t yet offering online sales. Yet we wanted to know if there was more to the story. Our assessment 165uncovered 19 root causes underlying ...