Why write a business book? Aren’t there enough of them out there already? It’s a great question. There are so many books, methodologies, and competing theories on how to be successful in today’s business world that there doesn’t seem to be a crying need for another one. I mulled this over for many an evening before committing the time and effort to produce this text. The factor that convinced me to proceed was recalling that most of the business books I have read tend to be theoretical, conceptual, and difficult to put into practice. My first thought when reading many of these texts is “sounds good—but how do I do it?”

My career has been spent helping organizations implement these big-picture ideas. I have been very successful over the years in translating theory into common sense terms so others can be comfortable with the how-to of implementation. I think creative ideas are wonderful, but they are even better when properly implemented. So this book has been written to provide some common sense thoughts and implementation tips for process management and the balanced scorecard. In my opinion, the single biggest opportunity for many companies in today’s world is to understand and leverage this synergy between strategy and process.

I have spent the last 16 years in the consulting business. My career started as an internal consultant in the heyday of total quality management (TQM), and through the years that followed I have been involved with such methodologies as reengineering, self-directed work teams, benchmarking, facilitating high-performance teams, Hoshin planning, strategy mapping, and the balanced scorecard. I’ve been around long enough now to watch fads come and go, and I’ve worked with enough companies to understand what makes them successful (and what doesn’t!). Hopefully this text will provide useful insights to managers who are interested in improving their organizations by focusing on the link between processes and strategy.

I’d like to thank the talented and creative managers at (among many others) XL Capital, Texas Children’s Hospital, the Michigan Department of the Treasury and Department of Management and Budget, Alcoa, and Brown’s Hill Farm. I have learned at least as much from them through the years as they have learned from me. I’d also like to thank original thinkers like Dr. Robert Kaplan, Dr. David Norton, and Michael Hammer for their contributions to the business world. Their grasp of the big picture is extraordinary. And last but not least, I’d like to thank my partners at the Orion Development Group: Paul King, Bob Boehringer, Susan Williams, and Mandy Dietz are all extraordinary people, and their drive and intelligence has always spurred me on to greater heights than I ever thought possible.

Enjoy the book! I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did in acquiring the experience to write it.