CONTENTS
Your Reputation Is Worth More Than You Think
Look at What Works, and Emulate it
Robert Owen and Scottish Millworkers
Milton Hershey and the Town That Chocolate Built
Peach Limbs Don’t Grow on Oaks
You Get What You Expect to Get
Assumptions are a Two-Way Street: The Employees’ Perspective
What Employees Want: The Contented Cows’ View
But Will They Be Contented Here?
Contentability and Corporate Assimilation
Part II: Contented Cows are Committed
Chapter 3: The “Vision Thing”: Passengers or Crew
High Expectations Beget High Performance
Chapter 4: The Path to Commitment
So How Do You Get People Committed?
1. What Is This Organization All About?
2. Where are We Going, and Why?
3. How Do We Plan to Get There?
Part III: Contented Cows are Cared About
Chapter 5: First You Feed the Troops
The Best of All Worlds at Incepture
Delta’s Gerald Grinstein—A Class Act
R-E-S-P-E-C-T at Plantronics Mexico
Safety Is No Accident at Alaska Clean Seas
Motivation Doesn’t Necessarily Follow Money
Google Is Great—But It’s Not for Everybody
Pebble Beach Company—If You Care, You Listen
The Strength of Coffee, Steel, and the Truth
Not Every Performance Deserves a Standing Ovation
Chapter 7: When Times Get Tough
Marriott’s Response to Hurricane Katrina: Quick, Compelling, Sustained
Hanmer MSL’s Response to the Mumbai Bombings
Caring Means Going the Extra Mile
Employee Engagement in a Headwind
Don’t Expect Employees to Pay for Your Mistakes
Some Rules for “Staying Out of the Soup”
There’s Got to Be Another Way!
Chapter 8: Contented Cows are Connected
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Let’s Start at the Top—Recruiting
Consolidated Health Services—Ambassadors for Connection
Connecting in Layers at The Container Store
Building Affinity at Incepture
Connecting Doesn’t Get Easier with Size
Chapter 9: A Case for Some Useful Benefits
Is There a Doctor in the House?
Programs, Programs, Get Your Programs
Part IV: Contented Cows are Enabled
Identifying Four Types of Managers
One Bad Apple Can Spoil the Whole Barrel
Chapter 11: Enabled Employees are Incredibly Well Trained
Training Expands the Meaning of Professionalism
The Hidden Costs of Ignored Training
Beyond the Classroom and Webinar
An Intelligent Learning Process
Chapter 12: Enabled Employees are Tooled
Be Careful What You Incent; You’ll Likely Get It!
Mistakes Must Absolutely, Positively Not Go Unpunished
“Good Faith” Mistakes versus Errors of the Heart
Chapter 13: Enabled Employees are Trusted
Nordstrom Trust—As Simple as It Gets
Raise Discretionary Authority and Spending Limits
He’d Give You the Pants off His Legs
Chapter 14: When the Contented Cows Come Home
The Contented Cows . . . What Next?
No More Big Brooms or Silver Bullets