PEAK PERFORMANCE CULTURE
THE FIVE METRICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE
DAVE MITCHELL
Copyright © 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Mitchell, Dave, 1961‐ author.
Title: Peak performance culture : the five metrics of organizational
excellence / Dave Mitchell.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2020] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020025504 (print) | LCCN 2020025505 (ebook) | ISBN
9781119581499 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119581512 (adobe pdf) | ISBN
9781119581505 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Organizational effectiveness. | Organizational behavior. |
Corporate culture. | Performance.
Classification: LCC HD58.9 .M567 2020 (print) | LCC HD58.9 (ebook) | DDC
658.3/14—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025504
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025505
Cover design: Wiley
Preface
I didn't see that coming.
It was January 2012. Verona, Italy. My 16‐plus years (at that time) as an international speaker on organizational development did not prepare me for what I was about to experience. The 12 years I'd worked in corporate human resources development before that also failed me. Nothing about the chain of events leading up to this moment foretold the incredible reveal that would happen at an auditorium within a vibrant pharmaceutical research and manufacturing facility.
The day had started as normal as a day can start when you grew up in a small town in southern Illinois and find yourself in an incredible Italian city surrounded by the architecture, culture, and lore that Verona offers. Only a few blocks from my hotel was “Juliet's House” – Verona was the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
The day before, my lovely bride and I had toured the city on our own. Particularly memorable was the arena. It wasn't hard to imagine gladiators competing within this incredible amphitheater, the third largest in all of Italy. One of my favorite photos is a shot that Lori took of me on the “playing field” of the arena, having just sculpted “Maximus Dave” in the sand with my feet. We walked around several piazzas, visited museums, and essentially maintained an unsurpassed sense of awe all day.
Me at the arena in Verona, Italy.
But this day had started normally. It was training day. Whether the event is in Verona or Detroit, my preparation is the same. There was the usual breakfast at the hotel, laptop to be packed up, and a car to transport me to the site exactly as expected. We traversed Verona, leaving the history of the city center for the modernity of the industrial district.
Gaining access to a pharmaceutical facility – especially one that both conducts cutting‐edge research and produces large volumes of drugs – is not simple. Having done an event in Langley, Virginia, for the CIA, I am no stranger to security protocols. Suffice it to say, this site was more secure than our icon of the intelligence community. After providing ample evidence of my identity and receiving my badge clearly labeling me as VISITOR (a wholly unnecessary label given my obvious confusion and distinct American pronunciation when struggling through Italian greetings), I made my way through the labyrinth of gates, doors, and hallways necessary to access the learning center.
Today my audience would be scientists – 400 highly educated experts in the field of chemistry. Most of the attendees would be Italian, but there were representatives from all over the world. I was focused on the delivery of my content. I describe my public speaking style as “enter‐train‐ment,” and humor plays a large role in my presentations. I have been described as the unlikely pitch cross of a college psychology teacher who moonlights as a stand‐up comic. My seminar that day was