Many organizations have tried the cosmetics of quality and achieved disappointing results. Others have reached performance plateaus they can't seem to surmount. Using real people with real problems, this work shows us how to transcend all that and achieve long-term sustainable results.

This book urges you, as the CEO, President, or Director of an organization to take the lead in banishing apathy and excuses from your workplace. Through a compelling story, you will find out how a model company took four basic guiding principles -- think work flow, delight your customers, improve daily and relentlessly, go faster -- and transformed their business from a complacent, dead-end organization into a Continuous Improvement machine.

"This is a very important book."
Robert Waterman, Jr., Co-author of In Search of Excellence
"Clear, direct, specific, practical and insightful. Harwood shares his deep commitment and understanding by telling it like it is and revealing a method that can unleash the potential of America's organizations. A must-read for those who want to make a lasting difference."
Barry Z. Posner, Ph.D., Dean, School of Business, Santa Clara University
"Harwood proves that to be a good writer, write about what you know-and Harwood, a former CEO with hands-on experience, knows Continuous Improvement."
D.C. McKenzie, Quality Executive, N.V. Philips, retired
"Harwood has successfully captured the central elements of Continuous Improvement-one of the major management innovations of the last decade-and presented them in a format that is both readable and important."
Robert E. Cole, Ph.D., Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
"Motivated employees with dedicated and persistent leadership are essential for survival in today's competitive world. Harwood shows us how to achieve that with an easy-to-read, captivating story that includes important lessons in leadership and improvement."
James R. Houghton, Chairman, Corning Inc., retired
"Many organizations have tried the cosmetics of quality and achieved disappointing results. Others have reached performance plateaus they can't seem to surmount. Using real people with real problems, Harwood shows us how to transcend all that and achieve the long-term, sustainable results that others only promise. Must-reading for managers in all types of organizations."
Dave B. Luther, Immediate Past Chairman, American Society for Quality
"This compelling story provides an essential roadmap that every top management needs to successfully involve most, if not all, of its people in a process of change that will lead to Continuous Improvement."
Michael Beer, Ph.D., Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University
"We found everything we needed to design, install, and operate a first-rate Continuous Improvement effort in our relatively small, not-for-profit organization right here, including who should do what, when they should do it, and how."
Terry Moriarty, C.E.O., Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center