Organization Horsepower: Thinking Like a Motorcycle Racing Team - Softcover

Harrison Withers

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1605440329 ISBN 13: 9781605440323

Publisher: RockBench Publishing Corp., 2014

Synopsis

Business can be abstract and detached. By comparison, motorcycle racing is primal and visceral, and has an unmistakable goal. Harrison Withers, expert talent development consultant and amateur motorcycle racer, has cleverly brought those two worlds together, finding unique parallels between concepts of business and those of motorcycle racing. He views the relationship between the two through the lens of technology, people, and performance. It all starts with the motivation to engage why business practitioners and racers alike not only accept the risk, but embrace and ultimately love it. Analogies abound between business and racing: Where people fit on the team, how performance is measured, how it is improved, and how to put predictive models into practice; competitive class structures, organizational design, the role of simulation in testing and practice, and race-day execution. Harrison s thoughts bring to light some connections we ve never thought of before and in so doing given us a fresh perspective on business. Book foreword by Erik Buell, motorcycling legend and managing member of Erik Buell Racing.

About this title

About the Author

Harrison Withers has been searching for ways to help people perform better since 1993. He has a talent for figuring out what the true cause of a problem is and what barriers need to be overcome to get a person where they want to go. He's passionate about helping people make a measurable difference in their businesses. A graduate of Michigan Technological University, Harrison has almost 2 decades of experience in the learning, performance improvement, and human resources fields and is expert at technology implementations linked to performance improvement including social, collaborative, and mobile technologies. His writing and thought leadership extends through regular blogs on both business and guitar building. He has been a featured contributor for the Management Innovation eXchange with Adapting Business Metrics to Build Credibility and Trust. He was also the editor and curator for Quotes, Facts, Benchmarks, and Best Practices on People and Analytics. Harrison is a regular consultant to businesses that seek to significantly improve or transform their approach to talent development in the areas of onboarding, sales and leadership development. He is also a frequent speaker on talent development and the role of technology as part of a talent development strategy.

Review

Harrison Withers takes us on a fascinating, fun ride through the world of motorcycle racing, drawing parallels at every turn (get it?) to a holistic view of the performance improvement game. Seeing how performance improvement happens inside racing's ever-measured ecosystem offers excellent food for thought, and I'd argue it's more likely to engender change than the challenges of trying to copy a competing business's 'best practices'. This is a great resource for those seeking to improve the machine and the team. --Jane Bozarth, author of Show Your Work: The Payoffs and How-To's of Working Out Loud.

The concept behind Organization Horsepower and how the disciplines learned from racing can be applied to business is fascinating. Ingenuity, passion, organization, competitive drive, attention to detail, the will to win, and most importantly, to never give up is common DNA amongst winning race teams... and successful companies. Each and every day, speed is becoming the driving force in business. As quoted in this book, Hemingway said, There are only three sports in this world, bullfighting, motorsports, mountaineering, everything else is just a game. Maybe in the 21st century, business is becoming the 4th sport. --Michael Czysz, Founder, MotoCzysz

Performance is a sport - inside and outside of the workplace. We strive to thrive. Harrison Withers has written a compelling pitch for performance - using the sport of Motorcycle Racing as a powerful and useful metaphor. Talent, learning, and HR colleagues must read this - 'start your engines' now! --Elliott Masie, Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM

Edition details

• Publisher: RockBench Publishing Corp.
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1605440329
• ISBN 13: 9781605440323
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 152