Get a copy:
Drawing from real stories of how companies relentlessly improved quality, delivery, service, and cost structure, Creating Value: Empowering People for Sustainable Success that Benefits Employees, Customers, and Owners offers simple, powerful ways to think and act to unlock the nascent value of any enterprise.
In his book, John draws from 30 years of leading successful business transformations in a wide range of industries.
This book shares a dynamic business system that, when practiced authentically, taps into a more focused and productive organization to deliver superior value to customers in a way that improves consistently over time. Author John Rizzo draws from 30 years of leading successful business transformations in a wide range of industries. His approach, which creates sustainable success by empowering people to improve processes continuously, features the following principles:
- Apply a Holistic Business System: Develop a complete framework that integrates strategy deployment, value stream analysis, workshops, and management systems
- Prioritize People Development: Employ techniques that tap the wisdom of those who do the work―the true source of sustainable improvement
- Learning as the Foundation: Discover how hands-on improvement creates deeper understanding and represents the most fundamental type of continuous improvement
- Produce Quality at the Source: Build excellence into processes rather than inspecting for it afterward
- Leverage the Compounding Power of Improvement: Realize the power of small improvements accumulating into breakthrough performance
Creating Value reveals how pursuing excellence leads to outstanding results that endure over years. It is an essential resource for business leaders to dramatically boost employee participation and agency, while steadily increasing profits and boosting enterprise value leading to widely shared creation of value.
Endorsements
“John Rizzo is a masterful practitioner of a management strategy that is by now well known but frequently misunderstood. Over many years, I have observed firsthand the careful and deliberate implementation of lean principles by Rizzo and the dozens of managers that he has trained. The results have been extraordinary. In ‘Creating Value,’ Rizzo offers an experience-based blueprint for sustainable business transformation based on his proven track record. What sets this book apart is Rizzo’s focus on respecting people while improving processes—illustrating that operational excellence and human development are inseparable. Every leader wanting to build an organization capable of driving value through continuous improvement should make this their essential guide.”
John B. Fitzgibbons, Chairperson Basin Holdings
“Finally, a business book that recognizes the untapped wisdom on the front lines! ‘Creating Value‘ brilliantly illustrates how being present, observing real work, and truly listening transforms both operations and culture. Rizzo’s approach has created billions in value across industries by honoring a simple truth: the people closest to the work know it best. Required reading for leaders ready to unleash the full potential of their organizations.”
Art Byrne, author of Lean Turnaround and former CEO of Wiremold Company
“In a business landscape dominated mainly by short-term thinking, ‘Creating Value‘ stands apart in helping build organizations that benefit employees, customers, and owners alike. Rizzo’s book isn’t about quick fixes or management fads. Instead, it’s about fundamental shifts in how we view work itself. These ideas work. I have seen many of the best companies throughout New York State use these ideas successfully. The book’s documented case studies and practical guidance make this a definitive playbook for leaders seeking performance and purpose. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.”
Randy Wolken, President and CEO, MACNY – The Manufactures Association & The Manufactures Alliance of New York
“The business system in ‘Creating Value‘ is the closest thing to magic I have ever seen in business. And John Rizzo is about the closest person to a LEAN magician, or Sensei, I have ever met. It still amazes me that with all the emphasis economists put on productivity they harp on expensive Capex, AI, etc. with scarcely a mention of the system that propelled Toyota from a pile of rubble in 1945 to the world’s most successful car company a century or so later. With the ‘Creating Value’ system your company can be transformed into a wealth creating juggernaut.”
John W. Childs, CEO and Founder of J.W. Childs Associates
“As an M&A professional, the biggest challenge in my work isn’t finding the right business or closing the deal — it’s what comes next: integrating cultures, operations, and processes across multiple, often disparate, entities. This is the most critical phase in the M&A lifecycle, and yet it is frequently overlooked. John Rizzo’s ‘Creating Value’ provides the operational roadmap that’s missing from so many post-acquisition playbooks. Through well-documented case studies and practical, experience-backed guidance, Rizzo delivers a definitive resource for leaders focused on both performance and cultural alignment. Whether you’re a CEO, investor, or plant manager, I recommend it wholeheartedly.”
Tom Killian, Jr. Managing Director Talus Holdings