As many of you know, I started to scale down the firm’s operations in the summer of 2002 so that I could have more time for research and return to Pepperdine University for a doctorate in Organization Change. Now, with my course work completed and my research revealing how to achieve much greater levels of human work effectiveness, I have decided to make a career change and fully retire from Pepitone Worldwide . . . turning off the lights as I leave. We have been able to assist all of our employees with finding promising roles in other firms, so this closure displaces no one.

Though the next chapter of my career remains to be defined, it will likely include opportunities to share and apply what I’ve learned during my 9 years in industry and 25 years of operations improvement research and consulting. I may venture back into corporate management, build a new and different professional services firm, consult on select projects, do some teaching, and/or write another book or two. I have been developing options for a while, but it is still hard to say just yet.

What is clear is that the High-Definition Work System Design® framework that has emerged from my research deserves sharing. Briefly, I’ve been able to identify and integrate all relevant science-based variables into a single heuristic framework for the design and management of human work for maximum performance (goal achievement), productivity (value created per unit of labor), predictability (precision and certainty), and sustainability (employee satisfaction, engagement and retention). Work roles redesigned using this framework are yielding 40 to 70 percent measurable improvement within days, and much greater improvement within a few months, and that’s without capital investment or the replacement of people.

Until I decide what direction my career will take I will be available to consult independently, assembling project teams of colleagues as needed. In particular, I will be interested in helping the best operations get even better, and mediocre operations beat the best. My recent research findings make this challenge much easier, quicker, and cheaper to achieve, and create new potential to build organizational capability, predictability, capacity, and agility for creating competitive advantage. As well, I will continue to speak, instruct, and write about how management can improve dramatically any operation that is dependent on people (i.e., has people touching the value-creation process).

Many thanks to my clients for providing my colleagues and me with experiences that have further extended our skills and knowledge far beyond the principles, theories and concepts we applied. I truly believe that the real heroes in every successful consulting assignment are the executives, managers, and other organization members who make the improvements happen.

You can continue to reach me with email – jimpepitone@pepitone.com – and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Jim Pepitone
Dallas, Texas
June 30, 2005

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