Making the Impossible Possible: Leading Extraordinary Performance-the Rocky Flats Story

About the Book

The most contaminated nuclear weapons plant in the country, Rocky Flats was an environmental disaster and the site of rampant worker unrest. Although estimates projected that cleaning up and closing the facility would take 70 years and $36 billion, the project was completed 60 years ahead of schedule and $30 billion under budget, and most of the site is now on its way to becoming a wildlife refuge. Kim Cameron and Marc Lavine explain how this amazing feat was accomplished and how other organizations can apply the same methods to achieve breakthrough levels of performance. The authors discovered that the Rocky Flats leaders used a distinctive "abundance approach," identifying and building on sources of strength, resilience, and vitality rather than simply solving problems and overcoming difficulties. Drawing on numerous firsthand accounts and public records, they identify 21 specific leadership practices and key techniques that were fundamental to this innovative approach. This fascinating and thoroughly researched case study provides a complete guide for anyone wanting to better understand and apply the lessons of this remarkable, history-making achievement.

Table of Contents:
1.The Story of Achieving the Impossible

2.A Brief History of Rocky Flats

3.Caveats and Alternative Views of Rocky Flats Success

4. Leadership, Collaboration, and Competing Values

5.Adhocracy Quadrant Enablers

6.Hierarchy Quadrant Enablers

7.Clan Quadrant Enablers

8.Market Quadrant Enablers

9.A Summary of Key Enablers of Spectacular Performance

About the Author :
Kim Cameron is professor of management and organization at the University of Michigan Business School and professor of higher education in the School of Education at the University of Michigan. Professor Cameron has served as dean and Albert J. Weatherhead professor of management in the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, as associate dean and Ford Motor Co./Richard E. Cook professor in the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, and as a department chair and director of several executive education programs at the University of Michigan. He also has been on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ricks College. He organized and directed the Organizational Studies Division of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems in Boulder, Colorado. Marc H. Lavine is a doctoral student and instructor in the Department of Organization Studies at the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management at Boston College. His interests are in the domains of corporate social responsibility, ethics, leadership, and nonprofit and public management. His current research focuses on the role that an organization's social purpose plays in individual well-being and organizational peak performance. For more than a decade Lavine led and founded nonprofit, educational, and leadership development initiatives in the United States and abroad. He has consulted for multi- national firms, nonprofit organizations, and public schools on issues of social responsibility, organizational learning, and strategic growth. Lavine received his B.A. from Earlham College and his M.B.A. and M.A. in education from the University of Michigan.

Review :
“A brilliant book that will help readers discover and capitalize on the values of positive psychology, astute leadership, and culture. It’s a scintillating saga of how an organization can change using basic concepts from an outstanding research team.”
—John W. Slocum, Jr., O. Paul Corley Professor of Management, Southern Methodist University and coauthor of The Smarter Organization

“The cleanup and closure of Rocky Flats is a story of success that exceeded the expectations of virtually every knowledgeable observer.  You will learn the organizational practices and leadership lessons that explain how extraordinary performance was achieved in the face of great difficulty.  I highly recommend the book.”
— Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico and former U. S. Secretary of Energy

“Cameron and Lavine bring this leadership and organizational change epic alive with innumerable detailed illustrations in the words of the participants themselves, while simultaneously offering a comprehensive theory that can be applied to any organizational setting.
--Bill Torbert, author of Action Inquiry and Professor, Carroll School of Management, Boston College