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Peak Performance: How Denver's Peak Academy is saving millions of dollars, boosting morale and just maybe changing the world.
Peak Performance
How Denver’s Peak Academy is Saving Money, Boosting Morale and Just Maybe Changing the World. (And How You Can, Too!)
When Denver Mayor Michael Hancock took office in 2011, he inherited an $80 million budget shortfall and a government workforce that had been through multiple rounds of cuts and furloughs. Morale was low. He needed a way to drive greater efficiencies, cost savings and improved performance—and he had to do it in-house, on a shoe-string budget.
Enter Peak Academy, the coaching and innovation program Mayor Hancock created to teach frontline city employees how to tackle small problems and deliver big results. In four years, Peak Academy trained 5,000 government staff in the fundamentals of lean manufacturing and other process management techniques. More than 2,000 employee-driven innovations later, the program had saved Denver an estimated $15 million. Word got out and dozens of other governments sent their staffs to Denver or hired Peak Academy to bring the training to them.
In this fun, easy-to-read guide, Peak Academy director Brian Elms and Governing staff writer J.B. Wogan deliver the basics for the rest of us, with:
a surprisingly frank discussion about how hard it was to get the program off the ground
a thoughtful exploration of both the challenges faced and the reasons why Peak ultimately succeeded
a clear overview of Peak Academy training methods and tools (including yes, all those yellow stickies)
concrete examples of employee-driven innovations—many of which sound, in hind-sight, like $40,000 no-brainers, until you realize there are hundreds of similar and much-needed fixes in every workplace
Peak Performance is a book that will help public sector leaders replicate the Peak model. It’s a book for government managers to read and talk about with their teams. But most importantly, it’s a book for anyone working in government at any level—about the power of good ideas to improve the way government works.
How Denver’s Peak Academy is Saving Money, Boosting Morale and Just Maybe Changing the World. (And How You Can, Too!)
When Denver Mayor Michael Hancock took office in 2011, he inherited an $80 million budget shortfall and a government workforce that had been through multiple rounds of cuts and furloughs. Morale was low. He needed a way to drive greater efficiencies, cost savings and improved performance—and he had to do it in-house, on a shoe-string budget.
Enter Peak Academy, the coaching and innovation program Mayor Hancock created to teach frontline city employees how to tackle small problems and deliver big results. In four years, Peak Academy trained 5,000 government staff in the fundamentals of lean manufacturing and other process management techniques. More than 2,000 employee-driven innovations later, the program had saved Denver an estimated $15 million. Word got out and dozens of other governments sent their staffs to Denver or hired Peak Academy to bring the training to them.
In this fun, easy-to-read guide, Peak Academy director Brian Elms and Governing staff writer J.B. Wogan deliver the basics for the rest of us, with:
a surprisingly frank discussion about how hard it was to get the program off the ground
a thoughtful exploration of both the challenges faced and the reasons why Peak ultimately succeeded
a clear overview of Peak Academy training methods and tools (including yes, all those yellow stickies)
concrete examples of employee-driven innovations—many of which sound, in hind-sight, like $40,000 no-brainers, until you realize there are hundreds of similar and much-needed fixes in every workplace
Peak Performance is a book that will help public sector leaders replicate the Peak model. It’s a book for government managers to read and talk about with their teams. But most importantly, it’s a book for anyone working in government at any level—about the power of good ideas to improve the way government works.
- GenresNonfictionLeadership
106 pages, Paperback
Published June 14, 2016
5 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 13, 2024
This is a really quick read for anyone looking for ways to improve at work with no extra resources other than your team’s ideas. In other words, all government employees should give this a chance.
March 8, 2017
A very enjoyable, quick read full of tips, tricks, and Brian’s quips. Peak Academy was developed for local government, but the ideas and innovations are certainly applicable to organizations of all sizes and sectors.
October 23, 2020
3.5 stars. Easy to read and engaging book about an innovative program in Denver. Inspiring stories about how to make change without extra money and resources.
Noteworthy quotes:
There are two ways to respond to any innovation. You can roll your eyes and say, “Why didn’t you do that before?” Or you can support that innovation no matter how big or small, whether it succeeds or fails. The more celebrating, the better. The more you support innovations, the more you will see them happen.”
“When you’re looking for an opportunity to innovate, think small, and ask yourself this question: Is there anything you do just because it’s always been done that way? If it wasn’t done that way, if you could start from scratch, could you come up with something better?”
“The moral of the story is, if you think the reason you can’t innovate is because of all the assholes you work with, there’s a good chance you might be one too.”
“There’s a tricky dance between management and front-line employees. Focus too much on the supervisors in charge and you lose out on the subject matter expertise from the employees who actually engaged in the work day in and day out. Spend all your attention on frontline workers, though, and you can alienate their managers, who feel like they’re being shanghaied by innovation.”
“Focus on the valuable assets and ideas that your frontline employees bring to the table. But don’t neglect the managers, lest they feel ambushed by the process…. And you know, don’t be an asshole.”
“Innovation works when people can fail without worrying about the consequences. Innovation struggles when consequences end up in the paper or in a meeting with the mayor’s team, explaining whey things went wrong.”
Noteworthy quotes:
There are two ways to respond to any innovation. You can roll your eyes and say, “Why didn’t you do that before?” Or you can support that innovation no matter how big or small, whether it succeeds or fails. The more celebrating, the better. The more you support innovations, the more you will see them happen.”
“When you’re looking for an opportunity to innovate, think small, and ask yourself this question: Is there anything you do just because it’s always been done that way? If it wasn’t done that way, if you could start from scratch, could you come up with something better?”
“The moral of the story is, if you think the reason you can’t innovate is because of all the assholes you work with, there’s a good chance you might be one too.”
“There’s a tricky dance between management and front-line employees. Focus too much on the supervisors in charge and you lose out on the subject matter expertise from the employees who actually engaged in the work day in and day out. Spend all your attention on frontline workers, though, and you can alienate their managers, who feel like they’re being shanghaied by innovation.”
“Focus on the valuable assets and ideas that your frontline employees bring to the table. But don’t neglect the managers, lest they feel ambushed by the process…. And you know, don’t be an asshole.”
“Innovation works when people can fail without worrying about the consequences. Innovation struggles when consequences end up in the paper or in a meeting with the mayor’s team, explaining whey things went wrong.”
September 3, 2019
I had to read this for a training course I am taking for work. There are some interesting ideas put forth in this book. Seeing how the frontline workers are changing their work processes to be more efficient was inspiring. I am looking forward to the training course even more after reading this book.
October 16, 2018
Interesting read but repeated ideas throughout
August 31, 2019
I had to re-read this for an Innovation Academy class and I'm glad I did because it helped me gain some insight into my own work processes. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to cut waste out of their work life.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews