JEREMY EDEN and TERRI LONG have worked with the CEOs of a wide range of companies in both size and industry to guide their teams through a galvanizing earnings growth process. They have worked with companies such as PNC Financial, H.J. Heinz, Manpower, The Schwan Food Company, Energy East, Webster Financial, and Standard Register, among many others. Jeremy attended Yale College and Yale School of Management where he is on the Advisory Board. As a McKinsey & Co. consultant, Jeremy served clients such as Goldman Sachs, Hilton Hotels and Travelers Insurance. Jeremy then left to develop what is now the Harvest Earnings innovative Idea Harvest process. Terri received her degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was in the corporate banking world for nearly two decades in a number of customer-facing senior roles, including at U.S. Bancorp, one of the most efficient banks in the country. Terri was a client of Jeremy's and was so impressed with the principles of his approach that she joined him over a decade ago. They are the Co-CEOs of Harvest Earnings Group headquartered in Chicago.

Acknowledgments xiii Introduction Why Is Low-Hanging Fruit So Hard to Spot? xvii Part 1 How to Uncover Low-Hanging Fruit: Seeing the Problem Is Harder than Solving the Problem 1 Chapter 1 Put a Price Tag on Everything to Stop the Waste 5 Chapter 2 "Value Engineer" Your Products to Eliminate What Your Customers Won't Pay For 7 Chapter 3 Ask "Why?" Five Times to See the Real Problem 9 Chapter 4 Ask, "How Do We Know That Is True?" 12 Chapter 5 You Need to Tag It to Bag It: Name a Problem to Help Everyone See It! 17 Chapter 6 Don't Be Fooled by Misleading Metrics: Zero in on the Ugly and Rattle the Status Quo by Turning Metrics Upside Down 19 Chapter 7 The 80/20 Rule: Everyone Knows It, but Few Use It! 22 Chapter 8 Find Quick-and-Dirty Data to Get Refined Insights 24 Chapter 9 Benchmarking Is a Mistake 26 Chapter 10 Use Brainstorming in a New Way: To Find Problems, Not Solutions 28 Part 2 Now That You See It, Solve It! 29 Chapter 11 Ask the People Closest to the Work for Their Ideas 33 Chapter 12 Get Out of Your Office and Go See for Yourself 36 Chapter 13 Stop Ignoring Your Introverts 38 Chapter 14 Turn Complaints into Collaboration: The Interdepartmental Job Swap 41 Chapter 15 Other People Have Great Ideas--Just Ask Your New Hires and Your Vendors! 43 Chapter 16 Does Your Customers' Journey Take Them on a Road Full of Potholes? 47 Chapter 17 The Unintentional Squelch 50 Chapter 18 Stop Brainstorming to Find New Ideas That Move the Profit Needle 52 Chapter 19 Making Problems Harder Can Make Finding Solutions Easier 54 Chapter 20 Use a Checklist--It Works for Fighter Pilots and Brain Surgeons, and It Will Work for You! 56 Chapter 21 Actually ... Just Don't Do It! 58 Chapter 22 Give People What They Need, Not What They Want 60 Chapter 23 Simplify 62 Chapter 24 Push Work Down to the Lowest-Paid Person Capable of Doing It 64 Chapter 25 Save a Bundle: Take Simple and Low Tech over Sexy and High Tech 66 Chapter 26 Save More than a Bundle: Go No Tech over Low Tech! 68 Chapter 27 Borrow Good Ideas 70 Chapter 28 Force People to Get Help 72 Part 3 Motivate Your Team to Harvest Low-Hanging Fruit 73 Chapter 29 Create an Idea-Based Budget 75 Chapter 30 The Five Surprising Words That Keep a Good Executive from Being Great: "I Want Everyone on Board" 77 Chapter 31 If You Want the Money, Spend the Time 79 Chapter 32 Executive Motivators that Demotivate Everyone Else 81 Chapter 33 The Corporate Imposter Syndrome: "The Better I Do, the Worse You'll Think of Me" 82 Chapter 34 Improving the Company Should be Everyone's "Job One" 84 Chapter 35 Sweat the Small Stuff 86 Chapter 36 Rally the Troops 89 Chapter 37 Catch the Vision or Catch the Bus 94 Chapter 38 Eliminate Corporate Whac-A-Mole 96 Chapter 39 Beat the Competition by First Beating Your Teammates 98 Chapter 40 "Blame the Other Guy" Syndrome 100 Chapter 41 How Dimming the Lights Increases Productivity, and Why Paying Attention Pays Staggering Dividends 102 Chapter 42 Firings Can Boost Motivation 104 Part 4 One Company--It's Not an Impossible Dream 107 Chapter 43 Form a Steering Committee to Make Sure the Left Hand Knows What the Right Hand Is Doing! 109 Chapter 44 "Pocket Fisherman," Yes; "Pocket Veto," No! 112 Chapter 45 Hold Collaboration Workshops 114 Chapter 46 The One Monthly Meeting You Must Hold 116 Chapter 47 Celebrate Good Times, Come On 117 Part 5 Decide and Deliver 119 Chapter 48 The Three Essential Parts of a GOOD Idea 123 Chapter 49 The Miracle of Deadlines 125 Chapter 50 For Big Results, Focus on Small Ideas 127 Chapter 51 Fight the War with the Army You Have, Not the One You Want 129 Chapter 52 Add to Your Army Only When Necessary 131 Chapter 53 Create an "Idea" Flight Plan That Coordinates Implementation 132 Chapter 54 The People Who Implement the Idea Should Help to Develop the Idea: Make Sure the Buy-In Is Built In 134 Part 6 Accountability: The Holy Grail! 137 Chapter 55 The Devil's in the Details: Track Every Idea, Every Dollar, Every Month 139 Chapter 56 The Golden Rule: Withdraw and Replace 141 Chapter 57 Follow the Money All the Way to the Budget 142 Chapter 58 Don't Let Someone Else Dictate the Value of the Ideas You Implement 144 Chapter 59 Want to Actually See the Earnings? Lock the Vault 146 Chapter 60 Track Your Position Plan 148 Chapter 61 It's Not What You Start, It's What You Finish 149 Chapter 62 ROI: Making the Investment Is Easy, Now Make Sure You Get the Return 151 Chapter 63 Learn from Your Mistakes: The After-Action Report 153 Part 7 Need More Time? It's Easier to Find than You Think! 155 Chapter 64 "Everyone Is Entitled to Their Own Opinion, but Not Their Own Facts" 159 Chapter 65 Replace Agendas with Game Plans 161 Chapter 66 Ban Meeting Tourists 163 Chapter 67 Don't Have a 60-Minute Meeting to Do 22 Minutes of Work 164 Chapter 68 Watch the Clock! 165 Chapter 69 Use Hard Starts, Not Just Hard Stops, for Your Meetings 166 Chapter 70 The Obligation to Dissent 167 Chapter 71 Talk More, E-mail Less 170 Chapter 72 PowerPoint Kills 171 Chapter 73 Schedule a Little "Me" Time 173 Chapter 74 If You Feel Busy, Take on Even More Important Work 175 Chapter 75 Increase Your Return on Time 176 Chapter 76 In Order to Shine, Have Other People Do Your Work! 177 Chapter 77 Mom Should Have Said, "Don't Always Do Your Best!" 178 You Can Find the Time--Now Use It Wisely! 180 Part 8 Win Over the Skeptics, Cynics, and Faint of Heart! 189 Part 9 P.S. For Our C-Suite Readers (and Those Aspiring to Get There)! 191 And a Few More Thoughts for Everyone ...: Fight Decision Fatigue 196 In Conclusion 199