Breakaway: Deliver Value to Your Customers––Fast!

Breakaway is a literary breakthrough! This is a business book that reads more easily than most and is as enlightening as any. Fred has succeeded in demystifying the previously arcane world of employee performance and competency management. Kudos for stripping the industry of its gobbledy–gook jargon and baring its substantive soul."
––Howard M. Block, managing director, Education Services, Banc of America Securities, LLC
"Speed and proficiency is a great and highly practical concept for gaining competitive advantage. Chuck Fred has done a beautiful job of blending the ideologies of continuous quality improvement and those of continuous learning to create an articulate and compelling case for winning through the development of people. Breakaway cuts right to the core of what differentiates winners from losers in the race to provide superior customer value."
––Gary Jusela, vice president, learning, The Home Depot
"Chuck Fred′s concepts reflect the importance of business velocity, speed of decision making, and customer impact often overlooked in many popular works regarding quality in business."
––Terry J. Erdle, vice president, Sun Microsystems Educational Services
"Getting new employees up to speed rapidly––and helping current employees learn new skills––has never been more important for success. The Breakaway concepts are becoming a key competitive edge in the war to attract and utilize top talent. A quick ′cycle time to proficiency′ is now a must to meet both our customer and employee needs."
––Eric J. Ross, president, Global Customer Care Services, Nortel Networks
"Breakaway reflects the winning philosophy of valuing each person as an individual with unique skills and talents. Fred recognizes that by adapting employee education and training to meet this reality, it is not only good for the person, but good for the customer and for business."
––C. William Pollard, chairman and chief executive officer, The ServiceMaster Company

Spis treści:
Acknowledgments.
The Author.
INTRODUCTION: The Breakaway.
CHAPTER ONE: The Intersection of Speed and Expertise.
The Need for Speed.
Speed to Proficiency.
CHAPTER TWO: Three New Rules for a New World.
Linking Development to Delivery of Value.
Accumulating Experience.
Focusing on Speed.
The Three New Rules.
The Challenge.
CHAPTER THREE: Rule 1: Establish the Proficiency Threshold.
Delivering on the Promise to Customers.
What Is the Proficiency Threshold?
Threshold Proficiency in Action.
Threshold Proficiency and the Value Chain.
Threshold Proficiency and the Back Office.
Initiating the Breakaway.
CHAPTER FOUR: Rule 2: Accelerate the Accumulation of Experience.
How People Really Learn.
The Four Phases of Learning.
Accumulation of Experience Left to Chance.
Managing the Accumulation of Experience.
CHAPTER FIVE: Rule 3: Measure the Cycle Time to Threshold Proficiency.
A New Metric of Human Development.
Measuring the Proficiency Rate.
Revisiting the Learning Curve.
Redefining the Learning Curve.
The Partners of Starbucks.
Staying Grounded.
CHAPTER SIX: Putting It All Together: Orchestrating the Breakaway.
Two Companies, Two Styles.
Six Themes for Speed.
The Breakaway.
CHAPTER SEVEN: The Leadership Agenda: Taking People from Where They Are to Where They Need to Be–Fast.
Creating the Obsession.
Leading the Net Generation.
Attracting the Free Agent Worker.
Bringing Innovation to the Development of People.
Leading the Breakaway.
Notes.
Index.

Nota biograficzna:
Charles L. Fred is a thought leader in performance improvement and an expert in learning speed. He is the president and CEO of Avaltus, Inc., a leading provider of e–learning services to the world′s largest companies. In the pas t twenty years he has directed major change efforts in both the manufacturing and service industries, has consulted to successful companies around the globe, and has been a frequent speaker to major business forums and groups of senior executives. Once a nationally ranked NCAA track athlete, he continues to compete in corporate races across the country. He lives in Centennial, Colorado, with his wife, Julie, and their three teenage children.

Okładka tylna:
"Breakaway is a literary breakthrough! This is a business book that reads more easily than most and is as enlightening as any. Fred has succeeded in demystifying the previously arcane world of employee performance and competency management. Kudos for stripping the industry of its gobbledy–gook jargon and baring its substantive soul."
––Howard M. Block, managing director, Education Services, Banc of America Securities, LLC
"Speed and proficiency is a great and highly practical concept for gaining competitive advantage. Chuck Fred has done a beautiful job of blending the ideologies of continuous quality improvement and those of continuous learning to create an articulate and compelling case for winning through the development of people. Breakaway cuts right to the core of what differentiates winners from losers in the race to provide superior customer value."
––Gary Jusela, vice president, learning, The Home Depot
"Chuck Fred′s concepts reflect the importance of business velocity, speed of decision making, and customer impact often overlooked in many popular works regarding quality in business."
––Terry J. Erdle, vice president, Sun Microsystems Educational Services
"Getting new employees up to speed rapidly––and helping current employees learn new skills––has never been more important for success. The Breakaway concepts are becoming a key competitive edge in the war to attract and utilize top talent. A q uick ′cycle time to proficiency′ is now a must to meet both our customer and employee needs."
––Eric J. Ross, president, Global Customer Care Services, Nortel Networks
"Breakaway reflects the winning philosophy of valuing each person as an individual with unique skills and talents. Fred recognizes that by adapting employee education and training to meet this reality, it is not only good for the person, but good for the customer and for business."
––C. William Pollard, chairman and chief executive officer, The ServiceMaster Company