From "unexpected" earnings results to missed market opportunities to product launch disasters, we've come to accept uncertainty as an unavoidable fact of business life. But Kenneth G. McGee argues that even the worst business surprises rarely happen without warning-and that a few vital pieces of information can make all the difference in whether an event spells disaster, or opportunity.

In Heads Up, McGee explains that success is not about predicting the future, but about obtaining the right information at the right time to effectively understand the present. Based on exclusive research into recent business catastrophes-and drawing parallels to a range of nonbusiness disasters from 9/11 to the Challenger disaster-Heads Up outlines a four-step approach managers can use to identify which pieces of information merit real-time delivery, and, as important, which do not.

McGee provides a practical methodology-real-time opportunity detection-for monitoring, analyzing, and responding to that critical information in time to ward off negative surprises and jump on potential opportunities ahead of competitors.

Putting the power of informed decision-making in every manager’s hands, Heads Up shows how a little knowledge can go a long way toward building a profitable real-time enterprise.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction

Section One: Ending Business Surprises
Chapter OneTurning Business Disasters Into Opportunities
Chapter Two Identifying and Justifying the Right Real Time Information

Section Two: Real Time in the Real World
Chapter Three Surprise Event: Missing the Warning
Chapter Four Suspected Event: Reporting Too Late
Chapter Five Surmounted Events: Getting it Right

Section Three: From Real Time Opportunity Detection to the Real Time Enterprise
Chapter Six Deploying Real Time Opportunity Detection Across the Enterprise
Chapter Seven Solving the Challenges of Deploying Real Time Opportunity
Chapter Eight The Future in a Real Time World

Conclusion: The Time is Now