Getting Back on Track: The Innovators

Every company gets off track. When this happens it is essential to figure out what the problems are and get back on track quickly. A number of companies including Chrysler, Dollar Thrifty Automotive(DTG Quote), Sbarro, Blockbuster(BBI Quote) and Trump Entertainment Resort(TRMPQ.PK Quote) are seriously off track, and it remains to be seen whether they'll be able fix their problems.

The most important thing a leader can do to get his or her company back on track is to reaffirm the organization's top priorities and put the right people in the right jobs, with clear objectives and measurements for tracking performance. Assign ownership to people and require them to focus on achieving the top priorities. Don't lose focus by taking on too many responsibilities. Apple's(AAPL Quote) high-end iPhone strategy is a great example.

Be clear about what you're asking people to do so that you eliminate false starts. Give them objectives derived from deep thinking, not from half-baked ideas. When you communicate clearly and get commitments, you will make progress.

Have a measurement system to track progress on all of your top objectives. Measurements act as an early-warning system that allows you to reprioritize and take corrective action when things change.

Find the root causes of problems so that you don't waste resources resolving the same problems. This approach reduces costs and allows you to focus on what's most important: sustained profitability. In fact, sustained profitability was the basis for ranking the top 50 companies in 2009. Gilead Sciences(GILD Quote) was No. 1.

Following are the actual steps I used to turnaround many companies that got off track.