Approached in the right spirit and under the right circumstances, core process redesign is a powerful tool. Yet achieving performance breakthroughs is never easy, and expectations can often outstrip results. Indeed, a badly executed redesign can actually impair performance. So what can top management do to create the optimum conditions for CPR? First, choose the right targets—both for performance and for process. Second, ensure that the need for change is widely understood and accepted—which means investing substantial and visible effort to demonstrate real commitment. And third, look out for the "red flags"—the tell-tale signs that something is going wrong. Identified and corrected quickly enough, these red flags can help an alert CEO keep a CPR effort on track.

No one is secure any more. One of the most striking legacies of the 1990s will be the degree to which so many companies—even the ones that used to evoke a sense of security and stability—will fall victim to the performance imperative. Not only is the threshold of acceptable performance rising at an unnerving pace; markets and shareholders are becoming much less forgiving of performance shortfalls. Companies that can’t close the gap are at risk. There is little sympathy left for...