The Agility Factor: Building Adaptable Organizations for Superior Performance

CHAPTER 4Testing and Implementing

It is not always what we know or analyzed before we make a decision that makes it a great decision. It is what we do after we make the decision to implement and execute it that makes it a good decision.

—William Pollard

Rich Fairbank and Nigel Morris founded Capital One in 1994 believing that information technology could be used to understand consumer behavior and create niches in the credit business. Their initial analysis—that many people were carrying large credit card balances and paying interest rates in excess of 20 percent—led to an experiment. They offered a specific group of people the opportunity to transfer their balances at no cost to a new credit card with a lower interest rate. The offer struck ...