The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Lasting Success -- Praise for The Soft Edge -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface: A Tale of Transformation- and Lasting Productivity Gains -- Chapter 1: A Wellspring of Enduring Innovation: The Soft Edge -- How a Simple Triangle Can Predict Long-Term Health -- The Triangle of Long-Term Company Success -- The Strategic Base-Fundamental -- The Hard Edge-Precise Execution -- The Soft Edge-Expression of Your Deepest Values -- The Prize Is Continual Innovation and Lasting Success -- Why the Soft Edge Now? -- Chapter 2: Hard Versus Soft: The Fight for Resources -- The Hard Edge Grew from Resource Scarcity -- "In the Future, the System Must Be First" -- Backlash Grows Against Lifeless Rationality -- How Edwards Deming Found the Magical Balance -- Hard-Edge Advantages Are Wonderful but Fleeting -- The Soft Edge Is the Key to Enduring Company Health -- Chapter 3: Trust: The Force Multiplier of All Things Good -- Trust Is Worth 25 Billion in Sales -- Trust Is the Foundation of Greatness -- Building Trust Is Strategic-and Rare -- Trust Is the Bedrock of Innovation -- Trouble in Paradise: NetApp -- Does Trust Still Work When Sales Rejection Is the Norm? -- How Trust Creates Grit (and Vice Versa) -- How to Build a Culture of Trust, Inside and Out -- Trustworthy Leadership -- Trust Begets Trust -- Find Your True North -- Make It Safe -- Use Data (Wisely) to Build Trust with Customers and Employees -- Data Visualization: A Catalyzer of Trust -- Gaining the Edge -- Chapter 4: Smarts: How Fast Can You and Your Company Adapt? -- What, Exactly, Are Smarts? -- Grit Accelerates Learning -- The Knowledge Explosion: Mayo Clinic -- Stretch Your Neuroplasticity -- Learn from the Best -- Learn Fast from Your Mistakes -- How a Great Coach Got His Best Idea -- Think Laterally -- Dr. Watson, I Presume.

Can Mayo Learn Fast Enough to Avoid Disruption? -- Gaining the Edge -- Chapter 5: Teams: Great Things Come to the Lean and Diverse -- Teams Are Old, Teamwork Is New -- The Mighty Power of the Two-Pizza Rule -- Getting Small and Fast: SAP -- If Sharing Is Good, Why Is It So Hard? -- Diversity Will Fail If It's Shallow and Legalistic -- Why Cognitive Diversity Works -- Seek Different Perspectives, Common Core Values -- Three Essentials: Chemistry, Passion, and Grit -- Cultivate the Gifts of High Expectations -- Create Space for Personal Autonomy (with Boundaries) -- How to Use Crowdsourcing to Magnify Your Team -- Sociometrics: The Hard Science of Teamwork -- Gaining the Edge -- Chapter 6: Taste: Beauty Made Practical, Magic Made Profitable -- What Is Taste and Why Is It So Valuable? -- The Big Three: Function, Form, Meaning -- Function -- Form -- Meaning -- Integration and Intelligence: Nest Labs -- How Specialized Lost Its Taste -- How to Reclaim Your Mojo -- Unlocking the Secrets of Taste -- Simple Geometry -- Beyond the Visual -- Familiarity Breeds . . . Love? -- Understand Your Customer, but Be Selfish -- Know Your Brand and Keep It Consistent -- Just Say No -- Where Taste Meets Data -- Finding the Sweet Spot -- Gaining the Edge -- Chapter 7: Story: The Power of Story, Ancient and New -- Story Is Narrative With Conflict -- Why Stories in Business? -- Story and the Importance of Purpose -- Story and Brand Building -- Story Gone Wrong: Dell -- Leadership and Storytelling -- Why Cirrus Pioneered the Whole-Airframe Parachute -- Good Stories and Storytelling -- Keep It Simple -- Know Your Audience -- Avoid Chicken Little -- Make It Real -- Don't Forget the Pain and Suffering -- Practice, Practice, Practice, Then Practice Some More -- When Your Customers Tell a Better Story Than You Can -- Technology Changes but Stories Endure -- Data Storytelling.

Gaining the Edge -- Conclusion: The Sweet Spot of High Performance -- Innovation at Two Hundred Miles Per Hour -- Afterword -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author -- Index -- Free Resources for Your Best Soft Edge.