The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life

How do companies, both large and small, in different countries and industries, achieve breakthrough performance when the odds are stacked against them? Such results are possible when people apply The Three Laws of Performance and rewrite their futures. This book will show you how to do the same in your organization and your life. Although most of us aren′t aware of it, we have a future that′s already been written. Our future is written by hopes, fears, dreams, expectations, and decisions made about life. In the same way, organizations have futures written by history, circumstances, culture, aspirations, successes, and failures. These already–written futures determine and shape the level of performance that′s possible for individuals and organizations. In The Three Laws of Performance, Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan crack the code on rewriting the future for people and organizations, elevating performance to unprecedented levels. "This book is a wonderful reminder that things we don′t see determine what we do see, and therefore, what really gets done. The Three Laws of Performance hits the mark in providing both rich food for thought and techniques that can create profound results."—David Allen, author, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress–Free Productivity; Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work; and the Business of Life "The Three Laws of Performance is must–reading for leaders who want to make a positive difference. Change doesn′t happen in a vacuum; it happens when people see and hear a future they can get excited about. Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan show how true leaders sidestep negative stumbling blocks to articulate visions that heal and inspire."—Ken Blanchard, coauthor, The One Minute Manager and Leading at a Higher Level "An inspiring, practical book that will assist all who seek to rewrite the future of our world."—Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate

Editor′s Note, byWarren Bennis xiii Foreword, by Michael C. Jensen xvii Authors′ Note xxi Introduction: The Power of Rewriting the Future xxv Part I: The Three Laws in Action. 1. Transforming an Impossible Situation 3 2. Where Is the Key to Performance? 31 3. Rewriting a Future That’s Already Written 65 Part II: Rewriting the Future of Leadership. 4. With So Many Books on Leadership, Why Are There So Few Leaders? 93 5. The Self–Led Organization 117 Part III: Mastering the Game of Performance. 6. Who orWhat Is Leading Your Life? 143 7. The Path to Mastery 169 8. Breaking the Performance Barrier 199 Appendix: The Three Laws of Performance and the Leadership Corollaries 212 Notes 213 Acknowledgments 215 The Authors 219 Index 221