IN A BUSINESS WORLD full of extraordinary pressures and complex processes, great managers never go it alone. To get the job done right they rely on collaboration. Collaboration is the key to fixing complicated problems, improving your organization, and achieving extraordinary results that are noticed and rewarded. It's the ability to get every employee on board, pooling their knowledge, skills, information, and creativity. And it's a specialized skill that rarely comes naturally. Managing Beyond the Ordinary supplies the hands-on, how-to guidance every manager needs to master the principles and process of collaboration. It offers fresh insights into how to collaborate, and concrete proof as to why this seemingly simple process yields such amazing results. Filled with dozens of instructive, real-life stories and how-to-do-it checklists, the book outlines 10 essential "tasks" that managers must undertake to achieve superior results. As an extraordinary manager, you'll learn how to: Set the context for resolution of the issue - is it strategic or operational in nature Understand the problem you're confronting before leaping into action. Clarify what you really hope to get done, and if there's a better way to do it. Figure out what you need to know and who has the best information. Investigate an issue from every angle and even/ perspective. Know without a doubt what's causing a problem. Identify every issue related to the problem, as well as the main problem itself. Gather the best ideas to cull from when drafting your action plan. Create a workable plan based on what you now know. Fine-tune your plan to make it as good as it can possibly be. Communicate your plan to others so that they accept it and support it. Managing Beyond the Ordinary takes the mystery out of collaboration. It shows you how to get others to address problems and solutions creatively, how to motivate them to want to help, how to lead them through the process successfully. Discover for yourself how "one person or group, collaborating and managing beyond the ordinary, can make a substantial difference." CHARLES H. KEPNER, PH.D., is president and chairman of Kepner Associates, Inc., a firm specializing in collaboration, productivity research, and consulting. Prior to founding this firm in 1983, Dr. Kepner was the Vice Chairman of Kepner-Tregoe, Inc., an internationally renowned management development firm he co-founded in 1958. He is the author of The Rational Manager and Analytic Trouble Shooting, and co-author of The NEW Rational Manager. Dr. Kepner lives in Kensington, California. HIROTSUGU IIKUBO is president and owner of Decision Systems, Inc. He previously held positions with several American corporations in Japan, and was managing director of Kepner-Tregoe (Japan) for 11 years. Mr. likubo is the author of six books in Japanese on management. He lives in Tokyo.