The secret of achieving and sustaining organizational excellence revealed In an ever-changing world where only a third of excellent organizations stay that way over the long term, and where even fewer are able to implement successful change programs, leaders are in need of big ideas and new tools to thrive. In Beyond Performance, McKinsey & Company's Scott Keller and Colin Price give you everything you need to build an organization that can execute in the short run and has the vitality to prosper over the long term. Drawing on the most exhaustive research effort of its kind on organizational effectiveness and change management, Keller and Price put hard science behind their big idea: that the health of an organization is equally as important as its performance. In the book's foreword, management guru Gary Hamel refers to this notion as "a new manifesto for thinking about organizations." The authors illustrate why copying management best practices from other companies is more dangerous than helpful - Clearly explains how to determine the mutually reinforcing combination of management practices that best fits your organization's context - Provides practical tools to achieve superior levels of performance and health through a staged change process: aspire, assess, architect, act, and advance. Among these are new techniques for dealing with those aspects of human behavior that are seemingly irrational (and therefore confound even the smartest leaders), yet entirely predictable Ultimately, building a healthy organization is an intangible asset that competitors copy at their peril and that enables you to skillfully adapt to and shape your environment faster than others—giving you the ultimate competitive advantage. " Beyond Performance is a gem – it is evidence-based, emotionally compelling, and relentlessly useful. If you want to create a team or organization that enjoys sustained financial performance—and where people love to work—this delightful book is for you." — Robert Sutton , Stanford Professor and author of Good Boss, Bad Boss The greatest invention of all time isn't the wheel, it's organization. By working together effectively, people can achieve feats far beyond anything they could accomplish individually. At a time of unprecedented economic, political, and social change, organizations need more than ever to operate at peak levels of performance. In order to do so, they need leaders who understand both how to achieve organizational excellence and how to sustain it. Evidence shows that only a third of organizations that achieve excellence are able to maintain it over decades. Even fewer manage to implement successful transformation programs. These statistics have devastating implications. In business, most of today's companies will falter within twenty years. In government, the majority of reform programs will fail. So will most efforts to create broader social change. This book is written for those who intend to beat these odds. Based on one of the most extensive research efforts ever undertaken in the field of management, Beyond Performance shows how leaders can deliver performance today while also ensuring that their organizations stay fitfor the future. Only a third of excellent companies remain excellent over the long term. Even fewer organizational change programs succeed. In this book, Scott Keller and Colin Price draw on the most exhaustive research effort of its kind, as well as the experiences of an impressive array of senior leaders, to explore why excellence is so hard to achieve and sustain. What's more,they provide you with groundbreaking insights and practical advice on how you andyour organization can beat the odds—giving you the ultimate competitive advantage. "Empirical, provocative, and refreshing, this book is a remarkable barometer of corporate progress. If you're running a company and you want enlightenment or inspiration about the next big step, you should read it. It's a book that has deep insights into behavior—and behavior matters, because it lies at the heart of successful culture." — John Varley , former group CEO, Barclays Bank "A sprinter who wins gold in the 100-meter dash and then collapses and dies isn o model for building a sustainable high-performance organization. Beyond Performance presents a powerful training plan for the institution that seeks to win today and tomorrow." — Tom Glocer , CEO, Thomson Reuters " Beyond Performance delivers a big, profound idea with remarkable simplicity.It draws on the accumulated experience of hundreds of companies over more than a decade to arrive at fundamental truths about how organizations large and small can stay healthy,adaptable, and responsive both now and into an uncertain future. We need more books like this one, and more authors like Keller and Price to provoke, challenge, and inform us." — Sir David Nicholson , National Health Service Chief Executive, England "This book makes a strong case for why a foc