Low-hanging fruit: 77 eye-opening ways to improve productivity and profits

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Why Is Law-Hanging Fruit So Hard to Spot?

Part 1. How to Uncover Low-Hanging Fruit: Seeing the Problem is Harder than Solving the Problem

Chapter 1. Put a Price Tag on Everything to Stop the Waste

Chapter 2. "Value Engineer" Your Products to Eliminate What Your Customers Won't Pay For

Chapter 3. Ask "Why?" Five Times to See the Real Problem

Chapter 4. Ask, "How Do We Know That Is True?"

Chapter 5. You Need to Tag It to Bag It: Name a Problem to Help Everyone See It!

Chapter 6. Don't Be Fooled by Misleading Metrics: Zero in on the Ugly and Rattle the Status Quo by Turning Metrics Upside Down

Chapter 7. The 80/20 Rule: Everyone Knows It, but Few Use It!

Chapter 8. Find Quick and-Dirty Data to Get Refined Insights

Chapter 9. Benchmarking Is a Mistake

Chapter 10. Use Brainstorming in a New Way: To Find Problems, Not Solutions

Part 2. Now that You See it, Solve It!

Chapter 11. Ask the People Closest to the Work for Their Ideas

Chapter 12. Get Out of Your Office and Go See for Yourself

Chapter 13. Stop Ignoring Your Introverts

Chapter 14. Turn Complaints into Collaboration: The Interdepartmental Job Swap

Chapter 15. Other People Have Great Ideas-Just Ask Your New Hires and Your Vendors!

Chapter 16. Does Your Customers' Journey Take Them on a Road Full of Potholes?

Chapter 17. The Unintentional Squelch

Chapter 18. Stop Brainstorming to Find New Ideas That Move the Profit Needle

Chapter 19. Making Problems Harder Can Make Finding Solutions Easier

Chapter 20. Use a Checklist-It Works for Fighter Pilots and Brain Surgeons, and It Will Work for You!

Chapter 21. Actually… Just Don't Do It!

Chapter 22. Give People What They Need, Not What They Want

Chapter 23. Simplify

Chapter 24. Push Work Down to the Lowest-Paid Person Capable of Doing It

Chapter 25. Save a Bundle: Take Simple and Low Tech over Sexy and High Tech

Chapter 26. Save More than a Bundle: Go No Tech over Low Tech! 6H

Chapter 27. Borrow Good Ideas

Chapter 28. Force People to Get Help

Part 3. Motivate Your Team to Harvest Low-Hanging Fruit

Chapter 29. Create an Idea-Based Budget

Chapter 30. The Five Surprising Words That Keep a Good Executive from Being Great: "I Want Everyone on Board"

Chapter 31. If You Want the Money, Spend the Time

Chapter 32. Executive Motivators That Demotivate Everyone Else

Chapter 33. The Corporate Imposter Syndrome: "The Better I Do, the Worse You'll Think of Me"

Chapter 34. Improving the Company Should Be Everyone's "Job One"

Chapter 35. Sweat the Small Stuff

Chapter 36. Rally the Troops

Chapter 37. Catch the Vision or Catch the Bus

Chapter 38. Eliminate Corporate Whac-A-Mole

Chapter 39. Beat the Competition by First Beating Your Teammates

Chapter 40. "Blame the Other Guy" Syndrome

Chapter 41. How Dimming the Lights Increases Productivity, and Why Paying Attention Pays Staggering Dividends

Chapter 42. Firings Can Boost Motivation

Part 4. One Company-It's Not an Impossible Dream

Chapter 43. Form a Steering Committee to Make Sure the Left Hand Knows What the Right Hand Is Doing!

Chapter 44. "Pocket Fisherman" Yes;" Pocket Veto," No!

Chapter 45. Hold Collaboration Workshops

Chapter 46. The One Monthly Meeting You Must Hold

Chapter 47. Celebrate Good Times, Come On

Part 5. Decide and Deliver

Chapter 48. The Three Essential Parts of a GOOD Idea

Chapter 49. The Miracle of Deadlines

Chapter 50. For Big Results, Focus on Small Ideas

Chapter 51. Fight the War with the Army You Have, Not the One You Want

Chapter 52. Add to Your Army Only When Necessary

Chapter 53. Create an "Idea" Flight Plan That Coordinates Implementation

Chapter 54. The People Who Implement the Idea Should Help to Develop the Idea: Make Sure the Buy-In Is Built In

Part 6. Accountability: The Holy Grail!

Chapter 55. The Devil's in the Details: Track Every Idea, Every Dollar, Every Month

Chapter 56. The Golden Rule: Withdraw and Replace

Chapter 57. Follow the Money All the Way to the Budget

Chapter 58. Don't Let Someone Else Dictate the Value of the Ideas You Implement

Chapter 59. Want to Actually See the Earnings? Lock the Vault

Chapter 60. Track Your Position Plan

Chapter 61. It's Not What You Start, It's What You Finish

Chapter 62. ROI: Making the Investment Is Easy, Now Make Sure You Get the Return

Chapter 63. Learn from Your Mistakes: The After-Action Report

Part 7. Need More Time? It's Easier to Find than You Think!

Chapter 64. "Everyone Is Entitled to Their Own Opinion, but Not Their Own Facts"

Chapter 65. Replace Agendas with Game Plans

Chapter 66. Ban Meeting Tourists

Chapter 67. Don't Have a 60-Minutc Meeting to Do 22 Minutes of Work

Chapter 68. Watch the Clock!

Chapter 69. Use Hard Starts, Not Just Hard Stops, for Your Meetings

Chapter 70. The Obligation to Dissent

Chapter 71. Talk More, E-Mail Less

Chapter 72. PowerPoint Kills

Chapter 73. Schedule a Little "Me" Time

Chapter 74. If You Feel Busy, Take on Even More Important Work

Chapter 75. Increase Your Return on Time

Chapter 76. In Order to Shine, Have Other People Do Your Work!

Chapter 77. Mom Should Have Said, "Don't Always Do Your Best!"

You Can Find the Time-Now Use It Wisely!

Part 8. Win Over the Skeptics, Cynics, and Faint of Heart!

Part 9. P.S. For Our C-Suite Readers (And those Aspiring to Get There)!

And a Few More Thoughts for Everyone… Fight Decision Fatigue

In Conclusion