Simply Brilliant: How Great Organizations Do Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways

<b>There's no such thing as an average or old-fashioned business, just average or old-fashioned ways to do business. In fact, the opportunity to reach for extraordinary may be most pronounced in settings that have been far too ordinary for far too long.</b><br> <br>Far away from Silicon Valley, in familiar, traditional, even unglamorous fields, ordinary people are unleashing extraordinary advances that amaze customers, energize employees, and create huge economic value. Their secret? They understand that the work of inventing the future doesn't just belong to geeks designing mobile apps and virtual-reality headsets, or to social-media entrepreneurs hoping to launch the next Facebook. Some of today's most compelling organizations are doing brilliant things in simple settings such as retail banks, office cleaning companies, department stores, small hospitals, and auto dealerships.<br><br>William C. Taylor, cofounder of Fast Companyand best-selling author of Practically Radical, traveledthousands of miles to visit these hotbeds of simplebrilliance and unearth the principles and practices behindtheir success. He offers fascinating case studiesand powerful lessons that you can apply to do ordinarythings in extraordinary ways, regardless of your industryor profession. Consider, for instance, how...<br> <br>·Miami Beach's dazzling 1111 Lincoln Road reimagined the humble parking garage as a high-profile public space that hosts weddings, yoga classes, and celebrity gatherings.<br>·USAA, the financial-services giant that provides soldiers and their families with insurance and banking products, inspires frontline employees to deliver legendary service by immersing them in military culture.<br>·Pal's Sudden Service, a fast-food chain with a cult following, serves up burgers and fries with such speed and accuracy that companies from other industries pay to learn from its astonishing discipline. <br>·Lincoln Electric, a manufacturer based in Euclid, Ohio, dominates its ultracompetitive markets with a fierce devotion to quality and productivity. But the key to its prosperity is a share-the-wealth model that gives everybody a sense of security and a piece of the action. It has maintained a strict no-layoff pledge since 1958.<br> <br>As Taylor writes: &quot;The story of this book, its messagefor leaders who aim to do something important andbuild something great, is both simple and subversive:In a time of wrenching disruptions and exhilaratingadvances, of unrelenting turmoil and unlimited promise,the future is open to everybody. The thrill of breakthroughcreativity and breakaway performance . . . canbe summoned in all sorts of industries and all walks oflife, if leaders can reimagine what's possible in theirfields.&quot; Simply Brilliant shows you how.