Acknowledgments

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The road from resolving to write a book to seeing that book in print held more twists and turns than we expected. Fortunately, many fine people were there to help us along the way.

Our families and friends supported us from start to finish. Their ongoing encouragement was uplifting as well as sustaining. Special thanks to The Langmuirs for inviting us to use their lovely place on Martha’s Vineyard.

Steven Piersanti and the rest of the Berrett-Koehler team worked tirelessly to help this pair of first-time authors shape and focus their ideas into a book that would best serve readers. Tom Varian joined those efforts at a crucial juncture. His writing skills and experience in developing books proved indispensable to the task.

Our firm, The Forum Corporation, placed its faith in our mission. It also kept fuel in our tanks. Thank you, John Humphrey and John Harris, for your counsel and steadfast support.

Others who played a major role in shaping this book include Diane Hessan, Robert Wood, Annie Post, Anne Palmer, Jennifer Potter-Brotman, Mary Maloney, Allen Roberts, Mahbod Seraji, Ed Boswell, and Ellen Foley.

Judy Panichi, Bronwen Barnett, Kim Smith, Gene Cox, Chris Allen, Susan Quinn, Anne Lockhart, Debbie Ansary, Richard Harris, David and Erik Leifer, and Dave Alhadeff also made timely and important contributions.

In addition, we’d like to thank Forum’s Danielle Busack, Susan Marsh, Kathleen Gilroy, Gregg Johnson, Sarene Byrne, David Blount, Jane Carroll, Richard Whiteley, Harland Hunter, Melissa Thomas, Dick Comer, J. Miguez, Robin Martin, and Joe Wheeler for their advice and efforts.

Our sincere appreciation goes out, as well, to the half-dozen individuals recruited by Berrett-Koehler to comment on our draft manuscript. Their insights and suggestions were well-considered, constructive, and thoroughly helpful.

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Last, and perhaps most important, we would like to acknowledge the essential contributions of these customers and partners, many of whom are cited in these pages:

Ty Alexander

Chris Bottomley

George Brennan

Ken Broker

Susan Christie

Bill Cullom

Paul Earley

Madeline Fassler

Elizabeth Knobloch

David McAndrews

Dennis McGurer

Nigel Pettinger

Irene Shadoan

Michael Spurling

Jackie Stephens

Ian Tomlinson-Roe

Rolf Woldt