New Book, Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times, Unveiled
by Stephen Covey During FranklinCovey Webinar
SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2009--
FranklinCovey
Co. (NYSE:FC) announced today the release of
a new book from Stephen
Covey, author of The
7 Habits of Highly Effective People,
co-authored by the CEO of FranklinCovey, Bob
Whitman, with Breck England, Solutions Architect,
FranklinCovey.
The new book, Predictable
Results in Unpredictable Times, is published by
FranklinCovey Publishing and is the first of several books to be
released over the next year by various FranklinCovey subject matter
experts as part of the FranklinCovey Insight Series. It is available
wherever fine books are sold as well as from FranklinCovey.
A simultaneous e-book
edition is also available exclusively from Kindle
(ISBN-13 976-0-000-00000-0, hardcover: $14.99, e-book, $9.99).
The book was unveiled by Stephen Covey in his first webinar in The
Stephen Covey Professional Development Webinar Series. Stephen
Covey's two remaining webinars will be held on August 14 and 25 and
include the topics of Personal Resilience and Leveraging Your Strengths. Webinar
Details: www.franklincovey.com/stephen-covey-webinars
Stephen Covey and Bob Whitman collaborated to write Predictable
Results in Unpredictable Times because of the current economic
conditions, which are having a negative effect on so many people and
organizations all over the world.
Stephen Covey said, “If there’s one thing that’s certain in
business, it’s uncertainty. Most organizations can get predictable
results in an environment that is predictable. But, there are great
organizations that consistently perform with excellence, even in the
most unpredictable times, which we are now experiencing. These
organizations not only survive the tough times, but they thrive and set
themselves ahead of their competitors.”
Stephen Covey and Bob Whitman suggest in the book that four
hazards raise havoc within organizations in unpredictable times:
-
Failure to execute: You’ve thought through
the crisis. You have your strategy. Now the question is, can the team
execute? Will they? Some people in your organization understand it,
and they are getting it done. Some aren’t and probably never will.
Then there’s the great middle population– how much more could they
contribute if they only knew how?
-
Crisis of trust: Levels of trust are at an
all-time low. Securities markets plunge due to a huge crisis of
confidence. Too many people see betrayal wherever they look. On an
uncertain road full of pitfalls, everyone decelerates: It’s
not called a “slow-down” for nothing.
-
Loss of focus: You have fewer resources,
fewer people and more confusion. People try to do two or three jobs at
once. A person doing two jobs has half the focus of a person doing one
job, and half the likelihood of doing either job well.
-
Pervasive fear: Economic recession causes
psychological recession. People fear losing jobs, retirement savings,
even their homes. It’s “piling on.” And it costs you; just when you
need people to focus and engage, they lose focus and disengage.
Bob Whitman, FranklinCovey CEO, said, “Long experience with
thousands of private and public entities around the globe has taught us
some of what it takes to achieve extraordinary performance, not just in
this current economy, but always. After studying the team disciplines of
more than 300,000 people in 17,000 work units in 1,100 organizations,
which provided the foundational research for this book, we gleaned some
critical insights about the factors that truly differentiate top
performers from lesser performers.”
Stephen Covey and Bob Whitman also suggest four key principles for
getting predictable results in unpredictable times:
-
Execute Priorities with Excellence: Winning
companies have “simple goals” repeatedly revisited, together with
clear targets and strong follow-through, including the measurement of
results. As with any team, all team members know the goals and their
roles in carrying them out. And, they execute precisely.
-
Move with the Speed of Trust: Low trust
slows everything down and raises costs. That’s why the economy, your
clients and your cash flow slow down in times of turmoil. But, when
trust levels rise, everything speeds up and costs go down. The winning
companies are capable of quick action “with the agility to respond
ahead of, or at least stay even with, rapid changes in the new
economic environment.”
-
Achieve More with Less: Of course, everyone
is trying to do more with less, but the real question is, “More of
what?” Shouldn’t it be more of what customers truly value and less of
what they don’t want? The winning companies focus totally on value –
they are not just cutting back, they are simplifying, reducing
complexities that customers don’t value. Instead of having everyone do
two or three jobs, they focus on doing the job the customer really
wants done.
-
Transform Fear into Engagement: The root of
psychological recession is the sense that people have no control over
what happens to them. Winning organizations help people break through
that hopelessness and focus on what they can do. Much of the fear is
caused by unclear direction, by a less-than-compelling purpose.
Entrusted with a mission they can believe in, they channel their
anxious energy into results.
“No leader can compute all the uncertainties of the future into a
set of certainties,” said England. “But there are certain changeless
principles that leaders and managers can rely on to thrive in volatile
times.”
To coincide with the launch of Predictable Results in
Unpredictable Times, FranklinCovey is also offering a free
audio download of Stephen Covey’s Habit 1: Be
Proactive – The Habit of Choice (retail value: $15). The
63-minute audio teaches an individual how to be a highly effective
person by refusing to let one’s current circumstances determine one’s
choices and his or her future. To download the audio,
visit: www.franklincovey.com/stephen-covey-webinars/audio.php.
RESOURCES: For more information about Predictable
Results in Unpredictable Times, including a preview of the book,
videos and downloadable tools, visit: www.franklincovey.com/tc/solutions/books-and-audio.
About the Authors:
Dr. Stephen R. Covey (www.stephencovey.com)
is an internationally respected leadership authority, teacher, writer,
organizational consultant and co-founder and vice chairman of
FranklinCovey Co. He is author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People, which Chief Executive magazine has called the most
influential business book of the last 100 years. The book has sold
nearly 20 million copies, and after 20 years still holds a place on most
best-seller lists.
Stephen Covey earned an MBA from Harvard and a doctorate from BYU,
where he was a professor of organizational behavior. For more than 40
years Stephen Covey has taught millions of people—including presidents
of nations and corporations—the transforming power of the principles
that govern individual and organizational effectiveness. Stephen
Covey and his wife live in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.
Robert A. Whitman is chairman of the board and CEO of
FranklinCovey. A Harvard MBA, Whitman was one of four managing partners,
CFO, and a board member of Trammell Crow Group. Later, as
president and Co-CEO of the private equity firm Hampstead Group, he
acquired significant equity in and helped a number of companies in the
hospitality, retirement housing, restaurant, and theme park industries
achieve significant growth. He has served on the board of Wyndham Hotels
and Resorts, and as chairman and CEO of Forum Group Inc., now part of
Marriott International.
Fascinated by FranklinCovey’s mission to help build great and
enduring organizations, and already serving on its board, Whitman joined
the company as chairman and CEO in January 2000. Since then, he has
immersed himself in the inner workings of hundreds of FranklinCovey
client organizations to understand what it takes to produce the outcomes
of greatness.
An avid mountaineer, rock and ice climber, Whitman enjoys climbing
in the Rocky Mountains and the Alps. He has finished the Hawaii Ironman
World Triathlon Championship race nine times.
Bob and his wife are the parents of two children and grandparents
of three and make their home in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Breck England calls himself an “intellectual property
architect” who helps create world-class effectiveness solutions for
FranklinCovey clients. In his two decades of consulting experience, he
has helped some of the world’s largest corporations become more
effective in their leadership and communication processes. He has
directed such projects for the Fortune 50, and from Switzerland to Saudi
Arabia.
Before joining FranklinCovey, Dr. England served as vice president
of intellectual property for FranklinQuest and director of consulting
for Shipley Associates, an international communication-training firm. A
Ph.D. in communication, he taught organizational leadership and strategy
for seven years in the Marriott School of Management at BYU. He and his
wife live on a mountainside in northern Utah.
About FranklinCovey Co.
FranklinCovey Co. (NYSE: FC) (www.franklincovey.com),
is a global provider of training and consulting services in the areas of
leadership, productivity, strategy execution, customer loyalty, trust,
sales performance, government, education and individual effectiveness.
Clients include 90 percent of the Fortune 100, more than 75 percent of
the Fortune 500, thousands of small- and mid-sized businesses, as well
as numerous government entities and educational institutions.
FranklinCovey Co. has 40 direct and licensee offices providing
professional services in 147 countries.
Source: FranklinCovey
FranklinCovey Co.
Debra Lund, 801-244-4474
Debra.Lund@FranklinCovey.com
