ZAP THE GAPS! Target Higher Performance and Achieve It!

Kenneth H. Blanchard; Dana Robinson; Jim Robinson

ISBN 10: 0060503491 ISBN 13: 9780060503499

Publisher: HarperAudio, 2002

Synopsis

With the business classics The One-Minute ManagerTM and Raving Fans, bestselling author Ken Blanchard has become a nationally recognized business guru. Now, Blanchard teams up with Dana and Jim Robinson to tackle the crucial issue of human performance in Zap the Gaps!, an entertaining business parable that combines Blanchard's story-telling talents with the Robinsons' pioneer problem-solving approach.

In Zap the Gaps!, Bill Ambers, the director of customer service in a high-tech firm, has a problem: his call center is not making its numbers. With the help of Michael St. Vincent, gardener and legendary head of Saint's Nurseries and Landscaping, he learns to dig to the root of the problem, discovering along the way both the GAPS approach to performance improvement and a tool called the Gap Zapper.

Zap the Gaps! is a must listen for anyone seeking to identify and correct the factors that negatively impact performance-so that the ultimate impact is both meaningful and measurable.

About this title

Review:

Brief, reality-based business fables are all the rage these days, as consultants, strategists, and other savvy professionals seek interesting, reader-friendly ways to present their latest ideas. Zap the Gaps! continues in this genre by weaving a highly practical and easily adaptable program for improving workplace performance into a solidly informative tale--this time about the trials and tribulations at a large computer firm's troubled customer service center--that most corporate denizens will quickly identify with. Ken "The One-Minute Manager" Blanchard teams here with problem-solving specialists Dana Robinson and Jim Robinson to present the enlightening story of Dyad Technology's discovery and implementation of their anachronism-based GAPS approach for finding and resolving the root causes of many common business problems: (G)o for the Shoulds, (A)nalyze the Is, (P)in Down the Causes, and (S)elect the Right Solutions. By demonstrating how an "actual" company might absorb and initiate their strategy, the authors clearly show how it can aggressively bridge the spaces "between what is and what should be" and realize the true meaning behind their emphatically punctuated title. --Howard Rothman

About the Author:

Ken Blanchard, PhD, is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world. He has co-authored 60 books, including Raving Fans and Gung Ho! (with Sheldon Bowles). His groundbreaking works have been translated into over 40 languages and their combined sales total more than 21 million copies. In 2005 he was inducted into Amazon's Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 bestselling authors of all time. The recipient of numerous leadership awards and honors, he is cofounder with his wife, Margie, of The Ken Blanchard Companies®, a leading international training and consulting firm.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0060503491
• ISBN 13: 9780060503499
• Binding: Audio CD