(McGraw-Hill) Amid bankruptcies, layoffs, and acquisitions, companies are under increasing pressure to maintain, and increase, performance. The author argues that discovery and self-improvement are the two most valuable assets a business can have. Based on his time spent working within Toyota learning its processes and dissecting its success, Spear provides lessons that other companies can follow to achieve a “high velocity” position and improve their structure and operations. Spear is a senior lecturer at MIT, senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and has won the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing Research four times.