TIME-PROVEN TECHNIQUES FOR REDUCING RISK AND IMPROVING PERFORMANCE IN MISSION-CRITICAL BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Proven in high-stakes, high-risk environments–from defense to healthcare For business functions ranging from marketing to HR, R&D to M&A Indispensable for all executives, entrepreneurs, strategists, and product managers This guide brings together simple, risk-free, and low-cost ways to break cycles of business failure and underperformance. These techniques aren’t new or trendy: they’ve repeatedly proven themselves in mission-critical disciplines ranging from manufacturing to space exploration, with lives and billions of dollars on the line. They work. And they’ll work for you, too. First, you’ll learn how to use well-proven Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) techniques to anticipate potential failure points before you introduce products, implement strategy, or launch marketing campaigns. Next, utilizing Root Cause Analysis (RCA), you’ll learn to uncover the root cause of business problems, so you can solve them once and for all. Third, you’ll discover how to use an Early Warning System (EWS) to identify “driver” variables in your business, gaining timely and actionable insights without complex predictive modeling. Whatever your role in decision-making, leadership, strategy, or product management, Breaking Failure will help you mitigate risk more effectively, achieve better results–and move forward in your career When lives are on the line, when billions of dollars are at risk, failure is not an option. That’s why industries such as aerospace, chemical engineering, and healthcare have pioneered world-class methods for identifying, anticipating, and mitigating failure. In Breaking Failure, Alexander D. Edsel helps you adapt these proven techniques to the realities of your business. You’ll discover how to plan more effectively for contingencies, and how to uncover and address the root causes of poor performance in business functions ranging from marketing to hiring. Equally valuable, you’ll learn how to systematically improve your situational awareness, so you can uncover problems before they damage relationships, brand reputation, or business performance. Adapted to be 100% practical and actionable, these techniques will help companies of all sizes, in all markets. As you move towards greater speed and agility, they will become even more indispensable. A practical, systematic approach to “Breaking Failure” in your company Use Problem Framing to overcome the human bias towards thoughtless action Use Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA) to anticipate problems, prioritize risks,and plan corrective actions Use Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to identify true causes of failure in any process, product, or project Use an Early Warning System (EWS) to quickly recognize signs of underperformance Use Pre-Planned Exit Strategies and Exit Triggers to end failure and underperformance issues you can’t fix

Fourteen Authors share their experiences with failure! Divorce, Bankruptcy both personal and businesses, Lost Jobs, and Personal Dignity are discussed candidly with insights to illustrate that these life changing events were not fatal even though they were not fun. Their stories show that failures can be used as steps along the way to a better, more fulfilling future if you can open yourself to the learn the lessons that they teach.

Presents more than 120 expert failure analysis case histories from industries including automotive, aerospace, utilities, oil and gas, petrochemical, biomedical, ground transportation, off-highway vehicles, and more. Volume 2 builds on the tremendous acceptance of Volume 1 by the failure analysis community. The two volumes can also be purchased as a set for a special discounted price. Learn how others have investigated and solved failures in various industries involving a wide range of failure modes, materials, and analysis techniques.

In Failure by Design, the Economic Policy Institute’s Josh Bivens takes a step back from the acclaimed State of Working America series, building on its wealth of data to relate a compelling narrative of the U.S. economy’s struggle to emerge from the Great Recession of 2008. Bivens explains the causes and impact on working Americans of the most catastrophic economic policy failure since the 1920s. As outlined clearly here, economic growth since the late 1970s has been slow and inequitably distributed, largely as a result of poor policy choices. These choices only got worse in the 2000s, leading to an anemic economic expansion. What growth we did see in the economy was fueled by staggering increases in private-sector debt and a housing bubble that artificially inflated wealth by trillions of dollars. As had been predicted, the bursting of the housing bubble had disastrous consequences for the broader economy, spurring a financial crisis and a rise in joblessness that dwarfed those resulting from any recession since the Great Depression. The fallout from the Great Recession makes it near certain that there will be yet another lost decade of income growth for typical families, whose incomes had not been boosted by the previous decade’s sluggish and localized economic expansion. In its broad narrative of how the economy has failed to deliver for most Americans over much of the past three decades, Failure by Design also offers compelling graphic evidence on jobs, incomes, wages, and other measures of economic well-being most relevant to low- and middle-income workers. Josh Bivens tracks these trends carefully, giving a lesson in economic history that is readable yet rigorous in its analysis. Intended as both a stand-alone volume and a companion to the new State of Working America website that presents all of the data underlying this cogent analysis, Failure by Design will become required reading as a road map to the economic problems that confront working Americans.

As leaders, we fail more times than we'd like to admit. However, failure doesn't define who you are as a person--unless you let it.In this profound book, author Lloyd Brown shares his 10 Rules of Business along with painfully personal stories that give insight into the real-life application of those rules, as well as the real-world consequences of breaking them. A 30-year veteran of the oil and gas industry and former CEO and founder of Smart Chemical Services, Lloyd shares his failures and regrets, trusting you to take the lessons that he learned-the hard way-and apply them in your own life. Before you get burned.

Failures are a common phenomena in civilization. Things fail and society responds, often very slowly, sometimes inappropriately. What kinds of things go wrong? Why do they go wrong? How do people and organizations react to failures, and what are the best ways to react? William B. Rouse takes an analytic approach to these questions and addresses eighteen well-known cases of high-consequence failures. He employs a multi-level framework to integrate findings across the case studies, and in turn uses these to outline a conceptual approach to integrated failure management. Though diverse in their causes and outcomes, his analysis shows that the conceptual design of an integrated approach to failure management can encompass each of the case studies, all of which would have benefitted from the same conceptual decision support architecture. This enables cross-cutting system design principles and practices, assuring that failure management in every new domain and context need not start with a blank slate.

Learning the proper steps for organizing a failure investigation ensures success. Failure investigations cross company functional boundaries and are an integral component of any design or manufacturing business operation. Well-organized and professionally conducted investigations are essential for solving manufacturing problems and assisting in redesigns. This book outlines a proven systematic approach to failure investigation. It explains the relationship between various failure sources (corrosion, for example) and the organization and conduct of the investigation. It provides a learning platform for engineers from all disciplines: materials, design, manufacturing, quality, and management. The examples in this book focus on the definition of and requirements for a professionally performed failure analysis of a physical object or structure. However, many of the concepts have much greater utility than for investigating the failure of physical objects. For example, the book provides guidance in areas such as learning how to define objectives, negotiating the scope of investigation, examining the physical evidence, and applying general problem-solving techniques.

This is a practical guide for those who do the work of maintaining and improving the reliability of mechanical machinery. It is for engineers and skilled trades personnel who want to understand how failures happen and how the physical causes of the great majority can be readily diagnosed in the field. It explains the four major failure mechanisms, wear, corrosion, overload, and fatigue and, using easy-to-read charts, how they can be diagnosed at the site of the failure. Then, knowing the physical failure mechanics involved, the reader can accurately solve the human causes. To improve the reader’s understanding, all the diagrams and most of the tables have been redrawn. The number of actual failure examples has been increased, plus the last chapter on miscellaneous machine elements includes new material on couplings, universal joints, and plain bearings. Features A practical field guide showing how to recognize how failures occur that can be used to solve more than 85% of mechanical machinery failures Incorporates multiple easy-to-follow logic trees to help the reader diagnose the physical causes of the failure without needing detailed laboratory analysis Explains how the mechanics, corrosion, materials science, and tribology of components can fit together to improve machinery reliability Includes more than 150 completely redrawn charts and tables, plus almost 250 actual failure photographs to help guide the reader to an accurate analysis Contains clear and detailed explanations of how lubricants function and the critical roles of corrosion and lubrication play in causing mechanical failures