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Bernie Haffey
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Cutting Through: Your Company's High Performance Management System Kindle Edition

by Bernie Haffey (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 33 ratings
See all formats and editions
NEW: to find the latest edition of Bernie Haffey's Cutting Through, click on "SEE ALL FORMATS AND EDITIONS" underneath the star rating today!

SUCCESS BEGINS WITH A SYSTEM!

Doctors, mechanics, pilots…. What do all of these professionals have in common? Simple: each operates within the framework of an established set of principles that guides all they do. Just as you wouldn’t build a house by first tacking on a roof, you can’t expect your business to flourish without understanding the underlying mechanisms that drive it.

You need a foundation, an order, a system.

Cutting Through, is the blueprint to discovering and optimizing that system. The ideological quicksand of leadership trial-by-fire is gone. The best businesses of tomorrow will need to be equipped with a robust management system that drives performance from the ground up! How do you get there? Here’s a hint: you can’t intuit it, it’s going to take some work.

Keep reading to:
  • Discover the Six Pillars of a High Performance Management System
  • Understand the methodology behind building an effective coalition of in-house ambassadors that will champion your management values and ideals
  • Ascertain the significance of “the first follower”
  • Define and direct your company culture within the framework of your larger HPMS
  • Discover the power of the subtraction, elimination and simplification
  • Understand how some of the world’s leading companies like Ford, Medtronic, Ritz Carlton, IBM, Amazon and many others implemented their own HPMS
  • Learn how to pinpoint the Vital Few while incorporating the remainder into a unified, cohesive system
  • Achieve world-class customer, employee and financial results
Cutting Through is the comprehensive answer to the question: Why is my business underperforming, and more importantly, what can I do about it?
Eliminate, simplify and optimize your internal processes to achieve breakthrough business results! Grab your copy of Cutting Through today!
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  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
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  4. Publication date
    September 7, 2021
  5. File size
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Having a process makes a difference. No matter how effective your personality and ability to motivate people may be, it's not enough. HPMS enabled me to combine effective communication/motivation with a process that keeps an organization focused on the right things. With focus and organizational alignment productivity soars!!!"
Tom Frinzi|Bausch + Lomb, President of WaveTec Vision, President of Johnson & Johnson Vision

"Our team first deployed the HPMS system with Bernie's guidance in 2011 at Spectranetics. The clarity and alignment that the process drove yielded world class WTR from teammates and customers, and shareholder value went from ~$170m to $2.2b in six years. I strongly recommend Bernie and HPMS!"
Scott Drake|President & CEO of Spectranetics, President & CEO of ViewRay

"Why are some executives, coaches, leaders successful time after time? Why do some leaders seem to come out on top time after time? Why do some leaders seem to come out on top regardless of personnel, market or environmental factors beyond their control? Bernie Haffey unlocks the complexity of high performance by teaching what these great leaders know. I strongly encourage any leader of any organization to invest the time to learn more about Haffey's High Performance Management System."
J Andy Corley|President of Bausch + Lomb, Flying L Partners

"If you want to personally perform at a higher level, or lead your team to do the same, read Cutting Through! Whether to refresh your own performance, or to instill HPMS in your business, Cutting Through is a practical, relevant and action packed read that inspires ideas with every chapter and example".
Stacy Enxing Seng | President of ev3, President of Covidien, Venture Partner of Lightstone Ventures

"The HPMS process outlined in Cutting Through worked for me in both the private equity and public company setting. There is no better way to align the board, employees, customers, and shareholders on the mission, vision, and strategy for a company. I experienced dramatic shifts in culture enabling breakthrough achievements. Employees come away with greater problem solving capacity, and the ability to shift and modify strategy at the pace required in today's business environment."
Joe Woody|Global President of Covidien, President and CEO of Acelity, CEO of Avanos

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The High Performance Management System

Are you a newly appointed leader of an organization in need of transformational change, a leader of an organization at a growth inflection point, or a leader of an early stage company in need of a solid foundation? If so, this book is for you. This book is also useful for aspiring leaders and managers of any organization. Once you learn the principles in this book and apply them through our management system, you will be well on your way to a dramatically different business.

I know this because I have participated as an executive and a consultant in numerous successful business turnarounds. The material in this book came from decades of experience—the teachers, mentors, and leaders that came before me; and the countless practitioners who have helped advance our management science and system.



My Introduction to the High Performance Management System (HPMS)

In September 1997, I joined the turnaround management team at Summit Technology, Inc. led by CEO Robert “Bob” Palmisano. Prior to Summit, I earned an MBA from a top school then worked my way up from a Product Manager role at Hewlett-Packard Co. to Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Mentor Corp.’s ophthalmic surgical business. So, by the time I arrived at Summit, I felt I knew something about leadership and management. Palmisano and a former Xerox executive named Richard “Dick” Palermo, completely and permanently changed this perspective.

Summit Technology was a Boston-area developer, manufacturer, and marketer of excimer laser systems initially targeted at cardiovascular disease. Under the brilliant technical leadership of founder and CEO David Muller, PhD, the company pivoted from cardiovascular to ophthalmic application of excimer and, in 1995, was first to receive FDA approval for photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) to correct myopia (nearsightedness). With a US market of 110 million (220 million eyes), the market was enormous. Summit was also successful in executing a unique and potentially profitable business model where users would purchase the laser for $500,000 and pay a $250 per-eye patent license fee. The large potential market, attractive business model, and charismatic CEO allowed for a successful initial public offering (IPO) in 1996, raising over $100 million in additional capital.



The Summit Apex Excimer Laser

With the IPO came high expectations, as much as 4 million procedures per year, for the highly lucrative procedure fees. Due to typical market adoption factors, however, procedures in the first year fell well short of expectations with a modest fifty-five thousand eyes treated in 1996. Summit responded to the pressures of the public market expectations by pointing to their customers, largely solo ophthalmic surgeon practices, for the shortfall. This in turn led the company to open nineteen company-owned Centers of Excellence in direct competition with their initial customers. The initial customers responded with vitriol and anger. Instead of helping their customers grow their businesses, Summit had put itself into direct competition with them. To further compound the problem, Summit had taken its “eye off the ball” and allowed VISX, Inc., its West Coast rival, to surpass them in technology, FDA approvals, and market share. The combination of disappointed shareholders and angry customers led Summit’s Board of Directors to replace Dr. Muller in 1997 with Robert Palmisano, formerly President of Bausch and Lomb’s Eyewear Division.

Palmisano quickly initiated a turnaround plan, which included divestiture of the company-owned centers; new executive leadership in marketing and sales, finance, manufacturing operations, regulatory and clinical affairs, and legal; and a mantra to “mean more to our customers.” I was fortunate to have been part of this team, starting in 1997 as Vice President of Marketing and Sales.

Palmisano also brought in Dick Palermo as our primary management consultant to assist us in adopting and implementing HPMS. Through this system, and a lot of hard work, we transformed Summit from a company with highly dissatisfied customers, unmotivated employees, and dissatisfied shareholders to a world-class entity in less than four years—culminating in a $972-million-dollar sale to Alcon Laboratories in 2000. This exit represented a nearly $900 million dollar increase in shareholder value—a result, I believe, which would not have been possible absent the choreography and discipline provided by HPMS.

I still recall Dick’s introduction of the HPMS to our executive team at an offsite meeting in December 1997. He spoke about the teachings of W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran, about the importance of culture and employee engagement, the need to see your business as a system of connected processes, and about the importance of process and leading indicators over the management of results.

At the first intermission, I went up to Dick and said, “I don’t know what the other functions are going to do, but effective today, this is how we are going to run Marketing and Sales.” In Deming terms, I had been “transformed” as an individual, and it was discontinuous! Over the next few years, we transformed Summit and I never looked back.

The system also transformed me as a manager and leader. Since 2000, I’ve implemented HPMS as a manager and primary consultant in over forty organizations—from large multinational corporations to small start-ups—often witnessing the same transformational results we enjoyed at Summit. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0998WQMQ4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Leaders Press (September 7, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 7, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4957 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 215 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 33 ratings

About the author

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Bernie Haffey

Bernie Haffey

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Bernie Haffey started his professional career as a physics teacher and ice hockey coach at Delbarton School in Morristown, NJ. This early experience in teaching, science and team sports shaped much of his approach to business. Upon graduation from business school, he worked as a product manager in Hewlett-Packard’s Medical Products Group in Waltham, MA. He then moved to Mentor Corp., ascending from New England sales representative to Vice President of Sales and Marketing. From Mentor he moved to Summit Technology, Inc. where he assumed the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer through its $1 billion sale to Alcon Labs. Bernie held the same role, EVP and CCO, at Intralase Corp. through its $800 million sale to Advanced Medical Optics (now Johnson&Johnson). From there he successfully served as President and CEO of two venture-backed start-ups: NDO Surgical, Inc. and Nexis Vision. Bernie also previously served as a founding board member at WaveTec Vision, Inc. (acquired by Alcon Labs) and at Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCUL) and currently serves on the board of On Target Laboratories, Inc. Bernie now runs Haffey&Co., a management consulting firm that has supported more than fifty organizations. Bernie earned a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from Cornell University.

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
33 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Darwin Shurig
5.0 out of 5 stars HPQMS- leadership’s responsibility to company success
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book is fantastic! If you want to understand how to create a QMS within your company that leads from the top, empowers your teams to work together while driving successful change, this is what you should mirror your company QMS after.

Focus on customers, create an empowering company culture and profits will follow.
Helpful
 Report
Eric Weinberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read for Business Leaders
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
“Had the great fortune to learn the High Performance Management System (HPMS) process at ILSE under the tutelage of Bob Palmisano and Bernie Haffey. An individual transformation truly happened and subsequently fueled multiple business successes over the following 18 years. I could not envision a life without the guidance, clarity and confidence that HPMS provides as a business leader. Thank you Bob, Bernie and of course Dick Palermo.”
Eric Weinberg | Chief Commercial Officer of RxSight, IntraLase, LenSx
One person found this helpful
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Greg
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Any Manager!
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2021
Verified Purchase
Kudos to Mr. Haffey for an outstanding effort. This book should be in the hands of every manager from the top of any organization on down. Haffey's experience with some of the world's premier business leaders allows him to take complex management topics and deliver them to the reader in an easy to understand narrative. The book ensures alignment with all stakeholders which ultimately leads to better performance and outcomes.
Helpful
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TB
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for managers and leaders at all levels.
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2021
Verified Purchase
I especially like how the management system (HPMS) is grounded in proven quality principles and practices -- understood and applied by few outside of manufacturing. Follow these principles to achieve world-class customer, employee and shareholder results!
Helpful
 Report
Alex Haffey | Food Love Life
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for leaders
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
I can’t imagine running a business without HPMS. This book is a must read for achieving breakthrough growth, customer satisfaction, and retaining top talent.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
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Earl H. Slee
5.0 out of 5 stars This process delivers results!
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2021
I have been an HPMS advocate since Bernie trained us on the process back in 2008. Since then, with Bernie’s coaching, we have trained businesses that are now cumulatively doing more than $8B combined annually. While it looks deceptively easy (and much of it is), the real challenges (and extreme rewards) are in: insisting on breakthrough change, on prioritizing and choosing the vital few (and truly defunding the lower priorities allowing the vital few to flourish), and staffing the vital few with your “A” team. These tasks can be much harder than they seem - but this book can continue to remind you, guide you, and steel your resolve through this transformation. It is worth it!
Earl Slee | ev3, Covidien, VP of Strategy, Technology and Business Development Medtronic (retired)
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Joe W.
5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to transform your organization...
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2021
“If you want to transform your organization and get the very best out of the resources you have, then pay attention to Cutting Through. This is not an academic exercise. So many books these days are written too far from where the work is really done. Cutting Through provides you the practical tools and systems you need to consistently deliver. Don’t make it more complicated that it is. Pick up the book and implement it right away. And just when it starts to get hard, keep going… that’s when you know you’re starting to change your business forever.”
Joe Wishon | Business Process Program Director of Medtronic
Helpful
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Joe Woody
5.0 out of 5 stars There is no better way to align all on mission, vision and strategy
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2021
The HPMS process outlined in Cutting Through worked for me in both the private equity and public company setting. There is no better way to align the board, employees, customers, and shareholders on the mission, vision, and strategy for a company. I experienced dramatic shifts in culture enabling breakthrough achievements. Employees come away with greater problem solving capacity, and the ability to shift and modify strategy at the pace required in today’s business environment.

Joe Woody | Global President of Covidien, President and CEO of Acelity, CEO of Avanos
Helpful
 Report
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