Heads up - Kenneth G. McGee

"Heads Up" offers a new set of metrics for identifying, analyzing, and responding to the right information at the right time - helping companies to avoid disasters and seize opportunities. Managers have a wealth of information at their fingertips today - yet managers and their companies consistently make bad decisions about everything from new product launches to earnings projections. While most executives blame the uncertainty of a volatile business environment for disasters big and small - Kenneth W. McGee argues that even the worst business surprises rarely happen without warning. In fact, his research revealed that just a few vital pieces of information can make all the difference in whether an event spells disaster, or opportunity - if a manager knows which ones to focus on. Based on exclusive research into recent business catastrophes - and drawing parallels to a range of nonbusiness disasters from 9/11 to the Challenger disaster - "Heads Up" outlines a four-step approach managers can use to identify which pieces of information merit real-time delivery, and as importantly, which do not.;McGee then provides a practical methodology - real time opportunity detection - for monitoring, analyzing, and responding to that critical information in time to ward off negative surprises and jump on potential opportunities ahead of competitors. Driving uncertainty out of the decision-making process, "Heads Up" will help managers make truly informed, real-time decisions that improve productivity, performance, and profitability.