The document discusses strategic thinking in business, emphasizing the importance of defining a clear plan to achieve goals while being adaptable to unexpected challenges. It features case studies illustrating successful strategies, such as improving production efficiency without compromising profitability, and the impact of utilizing military principles like the OODA loop in decision-making. Additionally, it includes reviews of books related to strategy and organizational success.

1. Focus on Strategy:
Thriving in a
Complex World
by H. William Dettmer
Destroying Shareholder
Value
by Rizzo & Button
Case Study: “The Hog”
by R. Steven Schmidt
First Look:
Accidental Buspreneur
& Conductor
Book Reviews:
Certain to Win by Richards
Epiphanized by Sproull & Nelson
Open Source Leadership™
www.PurpleCurve.co
Purple CurveE L E V A T E Y O U R R E S U L T S™
Purple CurveE L E V A T E Y O U R R E S U L T S™E L E V A T E Y O U R R E S U LT SE L E V A T E Y O U R R E S U LT S
Volume 1 - Issue 3
November 2012

2. THE LOGICAL THINKING PROCESS
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3. Contents
9
Thriving in a
Complex World
Applying Systems
Thinking and
Principles of
Maneuver Warfare
to achieve Speed,
Agility and Flexibility
4 Editor’s Note
Strategy
8 Book Review: Certain To Win
25 Multitasking
is Destroying
Shareholder Value
Know the Link Between Executive
Policies and Financial Performance
5 “The Hog”: Case Study
21 Accidental Buspreneur
& Conductor
48 Book Review
Epiphanized: Integrating
Theory of Constarints

4. Editor’s Note
Without good strategy, the
unanticipated can defeat you. Without
good strategy, you can lose focus and
defeat yourself. But, what is strategy
and what makes a strategy good?
Some may tell you that strategy is
fluid and fundamentally about keen
awareness; the ability to recognize
obstacles and adapt quickly. Some
may tell you there’s no set formula
for developing strategy, and others
may insist that strategy is all about
identifying trends.
Simply stated, strategy is the planned
route you take to a goal. Arriving in a
timely fashion without incident is what
makes a strategy “good.”
Let’s say your goal is to drive to
Disney in Florida. What’s your strategy
to get there? Do you call your local AAA
and order a TripKit®? Do you consult
Yahoo maps online? Do you go to a
store and buy paper maps? Or, do you
just jump into the car and confidently
press the OnStar® button because you
trust that the satellite you need is not
experiencing technical difficulties and
that you won’t get an adviser in Canada
who tries to help you by stretching
what she can see from a different
satellite. Planning the planned route
just got complicated –what’s “simple”
isn’t necessarily easy.
Assuming your set goal is attainable
– we road-trip junkies would all like to
drive to Hawaii but there’s an ocean in
the way – you’ll first need to identify
your available options and weigh them.
You can let your gut dictate, or you can
choose a couple of options that attract
you and compare or combine them, or
you can explore all the possibilities and
base your decision on comprehensive
research. How well you identify the
possible strategic options – not some
of them or just the ones you like, but
all of them – and how well you weigh
them will determine the outcome of
your strategy. Remember that lurking
within an option you would typically
disregard, there just might be an
overlooked component that will fortify
your outcome.
Now it’s time to fill the toolbox with
what’smostlikelytohelpyouseamlessly
implement the strategy you’ve selected.
Readily available today is everything
from a simple can of flat tire fix to a
wide range of high technology to keep
us connected and safe and even help us
foresee bumps in the road ahead. What
else do you need? What could help
you respond quickly and accurately if
something absolutely unforeseen comes
at you from out of the blue?
Let’s look to the military for help.
The late Colonel John R. Boyd
(USAF retired) developed the OODA
(Observe, Orient, Decide and Act)
Loop to keep fighters winning in any
competitive situation by following
these steps:
1. See what’s happening.
2. Process that information against
what you believe should be
happening.
3. Decide what to do about it.
4. Act.
5. Repeat the process until the gap
between what is happening and
what should be happening narrows
and/or closes.
The OODA loop works as well for
business as it does for the military.
For a better understanding of Boyd’s
contribution to sound strategizing as
well as a host of other extremely useful
in-depth insights (the heavy duty
kind that you can apply with great
success in your business or industry),
be sure to read the article in this issue
by H. William Dettmer:Thriving in a
Complex World.
Enthusiastically,
Thayer Bennett, Executive Editor
editor@mymagapp.com
Strategy
Publisher Jeff‘SKI’ Kinsey
Executive Publisher Tom Montelione
Art Director Lana Lewis
Executive Editor Thayer Bennett
Operations Consultant R.Steve Schmidt
Community Liason Greg Loo
Contributors H.William Dettmer
R. Steve Schmidt
Tom Montelione
Anthony Rizzo
Scott Button
Kimberly Kinsey
Premier Issue:Volume 1 - Issue 3
November 2012
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TOCreview magazine ©2001 reprinted with permission.
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Purple Curve

5. The company involved is an
interior architectural wood products
company.
Its product lines are:
• Displaywall
• Plank
• Interior architectural doors
• Toilet partitions
• Custom products (high-
end stained veneer panels for
architectural uses)
• Machined FRP (Fiberglass
Reinforced Plastic)
The company had a few different
manufacturing departments under
one roof in a plant of approximately
500,000squarefeet.Thedepartments,
broken into process teams, were:
• Coating (coated board product
primarily for Displaywall and
Plank)
• Board Prep (Plank and
Displaywall)
• Custom Products
• Doors
MAINTENANCE
As Director of Manufacturing
my goals were two-fold: to make
money, now and in the future, and
help to develop my people. However,
I must admit that while I knew
about business methodology, I knew
nothing of woodworking materials
per se.
Because I was in charge of
manufacturing, I had cause to
attend a meeting with the owners,
all of whom were former Sales and
Marketing guys. The gist of the
meeting was about not wanting to
sell one of their most highly regarded
products, Displaywall, for anything
with less than a margin of 20%
including overhead expense even
though an overhead expense of 22%
of sales was already being covered by
all the other products. And although
overhead was unusually high as a
percentage and an actual expense, the
owners preferred to have it that way
because the company was structured
to have more salaried folks than
hourly workers. I listened intently
at the meeting, although I disagreed
with most of what was said.
Shortly after the meeting, I had a
hallway conversation with one of the
owners, and I told him that I was
confused. I asked him if their primary
goal was to make a profit or to ensure
a margin. He rapidly responded, “To
make a profit. Why?” I explained that
if I could show him how to sell below
“cost,” the company could make
more money. He listened. I zeroed in
on “The Hog,” as it was affectionately
called -- a machine that had 17 router
motors and could rout out enough
sawdust to fill a 40 yard container in
just one shift. One of the most highly
regarded products -- Displaywall --
was produced on “the Hog.”
Displaywall boards typically sold
for an average of $110 each including
models that were painted, models
with aluminum inserts or plastic
inserts, models that were laminated,
unpainted, paint grade, etc. I
discovered that one lone operator
could produce 60 boards per hour,
although with difficulty (the operator
had to really hustle at a pace that
was hard to maintain). At that rate
of production the total revenues
generate per hour by “The Hog”
averaged $6600 (60 times $110).
However, the Throughput generated
was less than half of that due to high
(more than 50%) material costs plus
tooling wear, electricity, and forklift
handling expense. Therefore, the
Case Study
“The Hog”By Steve Schmidt
5
Steve Schmidt
EMAIL
LINKEDIN

6. 6
total Throughput generated for each
hour was equal to only about $3000
(rounding for ease).
Several people on the team told
me that two operators could produce
90 boards an hour but that would
lower the efficiency measurement.
Two people producing, on average,
45 boards per hour per person
would lower efficiencies by 25%.
So, in order to produce a total of
30 additional boards per hour, we’d
not only lower our efficiency rate,
but have to add $15 per hour for
the additional operator. Typically,
suggesting this type of “stupid”
management initiative would be
something that could get me fired.
However, consider that we could sell
every board we produced!
For an additional $15 per hour,
we could produce 90 boards per
hour (albeit at 25% less efficiency)
and garner additional revenue
of $3300 (30 times $110). The
additional Throughput generated
would be approximately $1650 per
hour without additional overhead
expense.
I got the owner’s permission
to add the extra person and the
owners soon found that the tactic
worked in their favor. This new
program was called “Feed the Beast”
to the marketing and sales people.
It allowed the sales group to sell
Displaywall at a lower price to select
customers – thereby segmenting
the market without changing the
current pricing structure. Not every
customer would be treated to lower
pricing at first, but select customers
would be entitled to a discount
with proper authorization. I assume
commissions were not affected. Of
course, the sales people soon realized
that their livelihoods were dependent
upon their ability to increase gross
sales, so as the sales numbers grew,
they dropped pricing across the
board. Dr. Goldratt said, “Tell me
how you are going to measure me,
I’ll tell you how I will behave.”
Within a very short time we were
able to grow this product line to two
shifts with 3 additional operators
required for both shifts – at an
incurred operational expense of
about $45 per hour. But each hour,
thethroughputgeneratedwas$1650!
Every hour “The Hog” machine
operated, it generated around $1600
in cash! The Displaywall product
line became a star performer within
a few weeks, and the positive impact
to the Company was approximately
$7 million dollars -- net profit! And,
more people were employed. We
improved Throughput far exceeding
the additional operational expense
and total variable expense, lowered
inventories and, as a net result,
made incredible profits. The moral
of the story is that maximizing
efficiencies does not necessarily earn
the company more money. In fact,
it could have an opposite effect. PC
“The Displaywall
product line became a
star performer within
a few weeks, and the
positive impact to
the Company was
approximately $7
million dollars --
net profit!”

7. From The Publisher
“Do you think strategically or tactically”
Consider it a query along the lines
of “left or right brain thinker?” For
every study that proves this is no
longer a valid stereotype, there are
10 that prove it is valid. This month’s
issue is all about Strategy – with a
capital “S” – with a few tactical treats
thrown in for good measure.
Most mornings you will find me
at the nearest coffee shop, thinking –
just thinking stuff up – or thinking
about stuff that I should be thinking
up – or thinking about things that
couldeasilybecorrectedinbusinesses
around me, if only the owner knew what I know
about producing results. No, it’s not my ego or self-
centeredness talking, but simply my life in business. I
have a track record of more than 30 years of making
things happen; things such as this magazine – and just
like the startup that produced this magazine, often as
quickly as in just 90 days.
In our premier issue we reprinted my original Letter
from the Publisher from TOCreview magazine from
March 2001, so this is really my first chance to tell
you a little more about Purple Curve Magazine and
the team that pulled it off – from first the idea to “Go
Live” in the Apple iTunes Store in just 90 days. My
friend and business colleague Dan Hanlon, Founder,
CEO and visionary of the re-launch of the Excelsior-
Henderson motorcycle brand circa 1999, like Martha
Stewart, suggests that it is always best to “go with the
‘A’ team” when building anything. As Jim Collins
points out, it is also very, very important to get the
“right people on the bus” first, and then figure out the
seating assignments.
So it was with Purple Curve Magazine. Take a
sneak a peek at our masthead on page four (4) and
read the names. My business partners Thayer Bennett
(a colleague for more than 14 years including on
TOCreview and our book, Purple Curve Effect)
and Tom Montelione (who I met
over a year ago via Darryl Doane
and Rose Sloat by way of Greg Loo
because of his passion for Bob Burg
and David Mann’s book, The Go-
Giver) deserve metals. Thayer and
Tom have not only figured out how
to do the impossible, but also how
to do so mostly on my terms. They
have been deferring to my way even
though both have accomplished any
number of impressive feats on their
own. Consider, too, Lana Lewis who
owns her successful UX business
and threw in with us to make this
a reality. Steve Schmidt, a contributor this month,
was implementing Dr. Eli Goldratt’s Constraints
Management approach in my backyard (Dover/New
Phila, Ohio) while I was out traveling the country
preaching it. It was my pleasure to help him complete
his Jonah training earlier this year. Last but far from
least, are the contributors who put a lot of thought,
sweat and equity into this month’s articles. There will
be a test over this material, It is called Life.
Finally, let us know what you think. Let us know
which are the greatest strategic insights from the
Magazine, and which are the best tactical insights
you’ve gained and applied.
Jeff ‘SKI’ Kinsey
P.S. Did I mention that most of our contributors are
willing and able to come out to your place of business and
help implement these ideas? Guess I just did.
7

8. Book Review
Certain to Win
What a great title for a book, yet
little did I know of the content’s true
value. If you didn’t know, it came to
my attention highly recommended
by none other than H. William
Dettmer. What is it? Both a tribute
to an amazing “larger than life”
figure: Colonel John Boyd and,
a very methodical look at Boyd’s
unique brand of brilliance. But
first, there is a concern among some
in business community that the use
of military examples should not be
used in business. Me? I brought
some of that baggage with me when
I skimmed this book. Yes, as a
USMC veteran I have used military
examples for profit in my businesses
and those businesses of my clients.
Yet on more than one occasion I
have heard world renown business
educators share of their concern,
“that business is not war.” Perhaps
they seek to reserve the term
“war” for describing the death and
destruction that accompanies war.
Allow me to simply suggest that I
am sensitive to the issue. Regardless,
let’s jump into the book:
“Not only were their processes
quicker, but Honda knew or learned
how to exploit this advantage to
achieve a decisive result in the
marketplace” —Page 27, Certain to
WinThis passage was in regard to
Yamaha’s 1981 attempt to become
the world leader in motorcycle
manufacturing. As you may recall,
duringthisbattleforthemarketplace
(approximately 18 months), Honda
introduced over 110 new bikes to
Yamaha’s 37. In the first chapter,
Richards’ point that victory is not
always to the
strong is well
taken. His
introduction
of “time” as
a construct
throughout
the affairs of
all business
starts to take
shape. The highest praise that I
can bestow is simply that upon
a thorough reading of this book,
I began to read it afresh the next
morning. We owe Richards’ a big
thanks for taking the time to share
his unique insights with the world
through this book.
How unique? Here from the
Preface of the book:
“This book began in 1988 from
a briefing on maneuver warfare and
business. Boyd read, commented
on, and corrected every draft until
his death in 1997.”
As I read, I began to understand
how little I have understood the
power of Boyd’s work. Richards’
makes it come alive in ways that
might just change the world. If
enough people picked it up and
took a few hours to read it.
I know of no other book that has
the potential to reshape one’s very
thought processes so thoroughly
and profoundly [and correctly] as
Certain to Win. PC
8
By Chet Richards