Simply Brilliant: How Great Organizations Do Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways

The cofounder of Fast Company shows that opportunities for breakaway performance may be closer than you think.

Why should game-changing innovations and high-powered success stories be the exclusive domain of a few technology-driven start-ups or a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires? Today, argues bestselling author William C. Taylor, the thrill of radical creativity can be summoned in all sorts of industries and all walks of life, if leaders can reimagine what’s possible in their fields. Taylor goes inside fifteen unique organizations that are doing extraordinary things in some pretty ordinary fields. For example:

• An award-winning hospital and healthcare system in Anchorage that has produced remarkable health outcomes among the long-troubled Alaska Native population. The secret is not advanced technology, but a renewed sense of humanity.
• Miami Beach’s 1111 Lincoln Road is a parking garage that also serves as a wedding venue, shopping center, and social hub. Its design turns something drab into something fab.
• USAA, the legendary financial-services brand for soldiers, teaches employees to relate to their customers by immersing them in military culture. It’s more than just a company, it’s a cause.
• Pal’s Sudden Service, a fast-food chain with a cult following, delivers such unprecedented order speed and accuracy that other companies pay to learn from its success.