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The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business

The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business

by PATRICK LENCIONI
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Release Date: March 2012
ISBN: 9780470941522
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Book Description

There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are. In this book, Lencioni brings together his vast experience and many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books and delivers a first: a cohesive and comprehensive exploration of the unique advantage organizational health provides.

Simply put, an organization is healthy when it is whole, consistent and complete, when its management, operations and culture are unified. Healthy organizations outperform their counterparts, are free of politics and confusion and provide an environment where star performers never want to leave. Lencioni's first non-fiction book provides leaders with a groundbreaking, approachable model for achieving organizational health—complete with stories, tips and anecdotes from his experiences consulting to some of the nation's leading organizations. In this age of informational ubiquity and nano-second change, it is no longer enough to build a competitive advantage based on intelligence alone. The Advantage provides a foundational construct for conducting business in a new way—one that maximizes human potential and aligns the organization around a common set of principles.

Table of Contents

  1. Cover
  2. Real-World Testimonials About the Advantage of Organizational Health
  3. Also by Patrick Lencioni
  4. Title page
  5. Copyright page
  6. Dedication
  7. INTRODUCTION
  8. The Case for Organizational Health
    1. STOOPING TO GREATNESS
    2. THE THREE BIASES
    3. UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH
  9. The Four Disciplines Model
    1. DISCIPLINE 1: BUILD A COHESIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM
    2. DISCIPLINE 2: CREATE CLARITY
    3. DISCIPLINE 3: OVERCOMMUNICATE CLARITY
    4. DISCIPLINE 4: REINFORCE CLARITY
  10. DISCIPLINE 1: Build a Cohesive Leadership Team
    1. WHAT’S IT WORTH TO YOU?
    2. DEFINING A LEADERSHIP “TEAM”
    3. BEHAVIOR 1: BUILDING TRUST
    4. BEHAVIOR 2: MASTERING CONFLICT
    5. BEHAVIOR 3: ACHIEVING COMMITMENT
    6. BEHAVIOR 4: EMBRACING ACCOUNTABILITY
    7. BEHAVIOR 5: FOCUSING ON RESULTS
  11. DISCIPLINE 2: Create Clarity
    1. WHAT’S IT WORTH TO YOU?
    2. BLATHER
    3. SIX CRITICAL QUESTIONS
    4. PERFECTION PARALYSIS
    5. QUESTION 1: WHY DO WE EXIST?
    6. QUESTION 2: HOW DO WE BEHAVE?
    7. QUESTION 3: WHAT DO WE DO?
    8. QUESTION 4: HOW WILL WE SUCCEED?
    9. QUESTION 5: WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT, RIGHT NOW?
    10. QUESTION 6: WHO MUST DO WHAT?
    11. THE PLAYBOOK
  12. DISCIPLINE 3: Overcommunicate Clarity
    1. WHAT’S IT WORTH TO YOU?
    2. CASCADING COMMUNICATION
    3. TOP-DOWN COMMUNICATION
    4. UPWARD AND LATERAL COMMUNICATION
  13. DISCIPLINE 4: Reinforce Clarity
    1. WHAT’S IT WORTH TO YOU?
    2. NON-GENERICS
    3. RECRUITING AND HIRING
    4. ORIENTATION
    5. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
    6. COMPENSATION AND REWARDS
    7. RECOGNITION
    8. FIRING
  14. The Centrality of Great Meetings
    1. MEETING STEW
    2. THE FOUR MEETINGS
    3. TOO MUCH TIME IN MEETINGS?
  15. Seizing the Advantage
    1. THE LEADER’S SACRIFICE
    2. FIRST CRITICAL STEPS
    3. ULTIMATE IMPACT
  16. CHECKLIST FOR ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH
    1. Discipline 1: Build a Cohesive Leadership Team
    2. Discipline 2: Create Clarity
    3. Discipline 3: Overcommunicate Clarity
    4. Discipline 4: Reinforce Clarity
    5. Meetings
  17. MORE RESOURCES
  18. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  19. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  20. Index