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The Art of Making Honey · The Field Guide — front cover
The Art of Making Honey — front cover

Eighty20 Publishing · Business / Leadership

The Art of Making Honey

A Fable About Turning a Business Around

AvailableFirst out on the shelf

A fable about the gap between the day the clock starts and the day you have a plan — and the method behind the story.

Buy direct · delivered by BookFunnel

Prices in USD; tax calculated at checkout. BookFunnel emails access to the edition or bundle you buy after checkout. Audiobook orders include a downloadable visual companion PDF. Listen in the BookFunnel app or your browser. The complete fillable Field Guide is sold separately unless included in your bundle. All sales are final.

About the book

The clock started before she arrived. When Bea is chosen to lead the colony, the beetles have been in the comb for forty-four days and the Keepers have given the hive one hundred. She has fifty-six. No plan. A board that speaks in four words. A competitor with a sweet name and a killer's habits. And a workforce that has made honey the old way for as long as anyone can remember.

The Art of Making Honey is a fable about turning a business around — about the gap between the day the clock starts and the day you have a plan, which is where most leaders live longer than they know. Day by day, the countdown runs: Bea and her team have to find the number, agree the plan, say the hard things briefly and well, and move a colony before the old comb comes down.

Part Two takes the story apart and hands you the method behind it — the same operating system Bill Canady uses to turn companies around, from the first hundred days to the thousandth. Five questions at the back are for reading it with your team.

Readers on Bill’s books

What readers say about Bill’s books.

Selected Amazon reviews of The 80/20 CEO, From Panic to Profit and The Rule of Three.

  • “What Mr. Canady has done here is curate a business system of complementary processes that make a material impact on business performance. If you are looking for a way to pull your business together and get your teams focused on the few things that truly matter, start here.”

    MJMVerified Amazon purchase · The 80/20 CEO

    Read the full review

  • “This book is part of the few business books that have changed my life. Even though the 80/20 principles are simple, implementing 80/20 can be challenging, but Bill shares how he did it multiple times, the obstacles he faced, and how to make the changes stick.”

    Denis Ethier (ThriveMate)Verified Amazon purchase · From Panic to Profit

    Read the full review

  • “Bill Canady does not treat leadership as a collection of motivational slogans. Instead, he presents a practical framework for understanding why some organizations execute well while others struggle.”

    EstebanAmazon review · The Rule of Three

    See it on Amazon

Amazon reviews, shown with each reviewer’s Amazon name.

Before you choose

Is this the right starting point?

Start with the fable when your team needs a shared way to talk about a turnaround. Follow Bea’s countdown, then turn to the operating method behind the story.

Who is it for?

Anyone with a job bigger than themselves: a new CEO, a plant manager, a founder.

What can you work on?

  • Recognize the gap between the day a turnaround starts and the day the team agrees a plan.
  • Connect the choices in Bea’s story to the operating method explained in Part Two.
  • Use the five discussion questions to examine the story with your leadership team.

How can you use it?

  1. Read the fable first. Compare how Bea and her team find the number, agree the plan and communicate the hard decisions.
  2. Work through Part Two and the questions together. Use the companion Field Guide when you want instruments you can fill in.

Which option should you choose?

Choose the book for the story and its method. The separate Field Guide turns Day Zero, Day One and the hundred days into a workbook. The 80/20 masterclass adds recorded instruction; buying a book alone does not enroll you in training.

Making Honey · The team kit

One room, one order, one date on the wall.

The team kit is everything a leadership team needs to work through this book together, without a consultant. Start with the team read: four weeks, one session a week. If the answers call for it, run the hundred days and find the money already in your building.

12
people, the leader included, in the organization that buys it
$41
a person for a team of twelve
4 weeks
for the team read. About six and a half hours in the room
14 weeks
for the hundred days, if you go on. About 22 hours in the room

What’s in the kit · Ten files

Everything the room needs, and a copy for everyone in it.

BookFunnel emails the kit to the buyer after checkout, ten files in all. The guides, the sheets and the Toolkit are for whoever runs the room. The book, the audiobook, the Field Guide and the Reading Guide go to everyone on the team.

For whoever runs the room

  • The Facilitator Guide

    97 pages · fillable PDF, ready to print

    Both ways to run it, session by session. Why each session matters, a running order to the minute, what to say, what to watch for and the checklist before you move on. Six templates to copy, from the Team Check to the Day 100 Report.

  • Session sheets

    The team read, 37 pages · The hundred days, 82 pages

    Every session on large pages: why, the running order, what to say, the checklist and the homework. Print them for your folder and the wall.

  • The Facilitator Toolkit

    9 pages

    Seven emails ready to send, from the invitation to Day Zero. Four posters for the room. The whole team read on a one-page checklist.

  • Start Here

    1 page

    What is in the kit, the two ways to run it, your first three steps and the license.

For everyone on the team, up to twelve

  • The Art of Making Honey

    Ebook and audiobook

    The fable the program is built on, and Part Two, the method behind it. Read it, or listen in the BookFunnel app or a browser.

  • The Field Guide

    Fillable PDF

    The workbook the sessions run from. Day Zero, Day One, the hundred days and the instruments, ready to fill in.

  • The Reading Guide

    7 pages · fillable PDF

    What to read each week, three questions to think about alone before you come, and room for notes.

See inside · Real pages from the kit

Look before you buy.

Ten pages, exactly as they come in the kit. Select a page to read it full size.

  • Facilitator Guide, page 19. The Week 1 running order from 0:00 to 1:27, two things to say word for word, and three things to watch for.
    Facilitator Guide · page 19Week 1, minute by minute. The running order, what to say and what to watch for.
  • Facilitator Guide, page 6. Seven readiness questions with what to do if the answer is no, and the sponsor’s six promises.
    Facilitator Guide · page 6Is the team ready? Seven questions to answer before the first session, and the sponsor’s six promises.
  • Facilitator Guide, page 80. The Team Check template: ten statements, each scored 1 for yes or 0 for no.
    Facilitator Guide · page 80The Team Check. Ten statements, scored alone, in silence, in pen.
  • Session sheet for Week 1, Day Zero: find out how far apart the team is before anybody says what it thinks. Ninety minutes.
    Session sheets · The team readWeek 1 on a large page, for the folder and the wall.
  • Session sheet, Week 1, What to say: the words for sealing the envelope and for putting the clock on the wall.
    Session sheets · The team readWhat to say, word for word, when the envelope is sealed and when the clock goes on the wall.
  • Session sheet, The hundred days at a glance: each stage, week, session and length, from Day Zero to Day 100.
    Session sheets · The hundred daysThe hundred days at a glance. Ten sessions over fourteen weeks.
  • Facilitator Toolkit, page 2. The invitation email from the sponsor, with the four session dates, and the facilitator’s note before Week 1.
    Facilitator Toolkit · page 2The invitation from the sponsor, ready to send. Change the words in brackets.
  • Poster: the rules of the room. One copy each. Everyone writes before anybody speaks. The person who scored lowest speaks first. Nobody presents. Write the decision down in the room.
    Facilitator Toolkit · posterThe rules of the room, as a poster for the wall. These are the method.
  • Facilitator Toolkit, page 9. The facilitator’s checklist for every session, from booking the four dates to the decision about the hundred days.
    Facilitator Toolkit · page 9The facilitator’s checklist. The whole team read on one page.
  • Reading Guide, Week 1. What to read and bring, three questions to think about before the session, and room for notes.
    Reading Guide · Week 1Everyone gets one. What to read and three questions to think about before Week 1.

Open full size

How it works · From checkout to the decision

Buy it once. Run it yourselves.

No consultant and no slides. The team does the work, and the guide keeps it in order.

  1. Buy the kit

    BookFunnel emails the ten files to you after checkout.

  2. Choose who runs the room

    Anybody the team trusts, except the leader who owns the result. They read the first two parts of the Facilitator Guide, pages 1 to 29.

  3. Book four dates

    One week apart, before anybody starts reading. The sponsor sends the invitation, the first email in the Toolkit.

  4. Share the reading

    The book, the audiobook, the Field Guide and the Reading Guide go to everyone on the team, up to twelve people.

  5. Print for Week 1

    The Team Check, one per person, and the Week 1 session sheets. Bring an envelope.

  6. Run the four weeks, then decide

    Ninety minutes a week, two hours in Week 4. The team ends with a decision about the hundred days: now, later or not at all.

Who is in the room

  • The sponsor

    The leader who owns the result

    Reads two promises in Week 1. Speaks last. Decides about the hundred days, out loud, in Week 4.

  • The team

    Up to twelve people, the sponsor included

    Reads the week’s chapters before each session. Writes before speaking.

  • The facilitator

    Anybody the team trusts, except the sponsor

    Runs the time, the order and the rules. Keeps the wall and the envelope. Can be a member of the team.

What you need

  • The book and the Field Guide for every person. The kit covers twelve.
  • The Team Check, printed, one per person, and an envelope.
  • A room with a wall to write on, a door that closes and no screen.
  • Four dates in the calendar, one week apart, that do not move.

An example · Week 1, Day Zero

Ninety minutes, minute by minute.

The first session of the team read, as the Facilitator Guide runs it. Every session has a running order like this one.

TimeMinWhat happens
0:005Open. The facilitator reads the rules of the room. The sponsor reads the two promises and sits down.
0:0515The Team Check, alone, in silence. Part B goes into an envelope, unread, and is sealed until Week 4.
0:2015Every Part A total read aloud and written on the wall, with the average and the spread. Where the room split, the person who scored zero speaks first.
0:3520The clock. When did our clock start, what date is actually coming for us and how many of our days are already spent? Every date goes on the wall, even the ones that disagree.
0:5525The twenty. How many of our customers make half our volume, and which of them make us money?
1:207The homework. Each person writes their own top twenty customers by profit, from memory, before Week 2.
1:273Close. The three questions.

From the Facilitator Guide, page 19.

The team read · Four weeks

Read it together.

One session a week, about six and a half hours in all. Nothing to pull from your systems. The gap between what the team believes and what it can prove is the finding.

  1. Week 1 · Day Zero

    90 minutes · Read Before You Start and Chapters 1 to 5

    Everyone takes the Team Check alone, on paper. The team sees how far apart it is and puts its own clock on the wall.

  2. Week 2 · The people who know

    90 minutes · Read Chapters 6 to 12

    Each person’s top twenty customers by profit, from memory. The customer who has gone quiet. The people who know what your customers want. The role the team is short of.

  3. Week 3 · The decision

    90 minutes · Read Chapters 13 to 20

    What the company throws away that somebody would buy. How the team decides, and who makes the case against. What the owners need to hear first.

  4. Week 4 · The five questions

    2 hours · Read Part Two

    The book’s five questions, answered as a team, with an owner and a date on each first step. Then the decision about the hundred days.

The team leaves with

  • The five answers. One page, with an owner and a date on the first step of each.
  • The Team Check. Every score on the wall, with the average and the spread.
  • A decision. The hundred days now, later or not at all, made out loud by the sponsor.

The hundred days · Fourteen weeks

Then find the money.

Ten sessions, three town halls and one meeting a week. About 22 hours in the room. Your finance lead pulls the numbers and ties them out to the books.

  1. Week 0 · Day Zero

    Start the clock

    The Team Check, the spread and the plan in one sentence.

  2. Weeks 1–2 · The Three Roles · The Cadence

    Set the room

    Who is in the room, what each person is for, and how often the team meets.

  3. Weeks 3–9 · Segment · Telling the Truth · Simplify · Zero-Up

    Find the money

    The top twenty by profit, the cost to serve, the stop list and the costs nobody chose. Town halls 1 and 2.

  4. Weeks 10–13 · Grow, part one · Grow, part two

    Earn the growth

    Growth only now, and only what passes the gate. Town hall 3.

  5. Week 14 · The Plan

    Day 100

    The number, the stop list and a one-page plan, signed by the team.

On Day 100 the team has

  • The number. The profit found, in dollars, tied out to the books by your own finance lead.
  • The stop list. Every customer, product and task the company will stop or change, with one owner and one date on each line.
  • The plan. One page, signed by the team.

Before you buy

Is it right for your team?

The Facilitator Guide opens with seven questions to answer before the first session. This is the short version.

It fits when

  • Something has changed, or is about to. A new owner, a new chief executive, a merger, a covenant or a number that will not be hit.
  • One leader owns the result and will be in every session.
  • A leadership team of up to twelve can meet in person, once a week, for four weeks.
  • You want the team to find out where it stands before anybody commits to a plan.

Look elsewhere when

  • You want somebody to present to the team. There are no slides in Making Honey, and nobody presents.
  • The team can only meet on video. Every session is in person, and nobody dials in.
  • You need cover for a decision already made. Making Honey is never run that way.
  • It is just you. Start with the book or the Title Set.

Which option?

  • The book, for one reader

    $10 an edition · $25 for all three

    • The ebook, the Field Guide and the audiobook, for one person

    Best when You want to read it before you bring it to the team.

    See the editions

  • The Title Set, for each person

    $25 a person · $300 for 12

    • The ebook, the Field Guide and the audiobook, for each person
    • No Facilitator Guide, session sheets, Toolkit or Reading Guide

    Best when The team will read it and talk it over without a facilitator.

    Buy a Title Set

  • The team kit

    $497 for up to 12

    • The ebook, the Field Guide and the audiobook, for up to twelve people
    • The Reading Guide, for each of them
    • The Facilitator Guide, both ways to run it
    • Session sheets for every session
    • The Toolkit: seven emails, four posters and a checklist
    • The hundred days, if the team goes on

    Best when The team will run the sessions and decide at the end.

    Buy the team kit

For $197 more than twelve Title Sets, the team kit adds the Facilitator Guide, the session sheets, the Toolkit and a Reading Guide for everyone.

Each kit covers up to twelve people in the organization that buys it. For a bigger group, another team or a license to run Making Honey for clients, write to bill@the8020institute.com.

Making Honey · Questions

Questions before you buy

Who runs it?

Anybody the team trusts, except the leader who owns the result. A chief of staff, the people lead or a member of the team. The Facilitator Guide is written for them.

How big is the team?

Up to twelve people, the leader included. The kit covers the book, the audiobook, the Field Guide and the Reading Guide for each of them.

Can we run it on video calls?

No. Every session is in person, with phones away, and nobody dials in. The method rests on everyone writing on paper before anybody speaks.

How much preparation does the facilitator need?

Before Week 1, read the first two parts of the Facilitator Guide, pages 1 to 29. After each session, write up the wall within a day, on one page, with no commentary.

What do we need to print?

The Team Check, one per person, for Week 1, and the session sheets for your folder and the wall. The posters and the five questions are in the Toolkit. Then you need a room with a wall to write on or tape paper to, a door that closes and no screen.

Do we need data?

Not for the team read. The hundred days needs twelve months of revenue and gross margin by customer and by product, pulled by your own finance lead.

What happens after the four weeks?

The sponsor decides about the hundred days: now, later or not at all. If now, Day Zero is booked within thirty days, and the same kit runs it. Ten sessions, three town halls and a weekly meeting over fourteen weeks.

Is this a cost-cutting exercise?

No. Making Honey does not decide headcount and is never run as cover for a cut. It moves customers, products and work toward what pays.

How do the files reach the team?

BookFunnel emails the ten files to the buyer after checkout. Share the book, the audiobook, the Field Guide and the Reading Guide with up to twelve people in your organization. The license is on the Start Here page.

What about more than twelve people, or another team?

The kit covers up to twelve people in the organization that buys it, and the books and guides are for those twelve. For a bigger group, another team or a license to run Making Honey for clients, write to bill@the8020institute.com.

Can we have the Facilitator Guide in Word?

Yes. Write to bill@the8020institute.com and ask for it.

Can we get printed books?

The kit is digital. The paperback and the hardcover are on Amazon, and bulk print orders are on the trade page. Bulk orders

Can we get a refund?

All sales are final. Look through the pages above, and write with any question before you buy.

$497 for a team of up to twelve

Buy the team kit · $497

Questions before you buy? Write to bill@the8020institute.com. I read it myself.

Book → Workbook → Audiobook → Video course

Build your learning, one step at a time.

Already have the book? Start with the workbook or explore the related training. Choose only what you need; unfinished editions are marked Coming soon.

  1. 01 / READ

    Book

    Read the method.

    The complete ebook for your reading app.

    $10 USD

    Available now

    Buy the ebook
    Read a sample

    Chapter 1: A Queen Is Chosen

  2. 02 / APPLY

    Workbook

    Put it to work.

    The fillable Field Guide, with exercises and tools to apply the book.

    $10 USD

    Available now

    Buy the workbook
    Preview workbook (PDF)

    Day Zero

  3. 03 / LISTEN

    Audiobook

    Listen on the move.

    The audio edition for listening in the BookFunnel app or your browser.

    $10 USD

    Available now

    Buy the audiobook
    Listen to sample (5:00)

    Five-minute sample · Bill Canady’s digitally recreated voice.

  4. 04 / WATCH

    Video course

    Learn it step by step.

    Explore the related self-paced training. Each course lists its lessons and included materials.

    From $297 per course, one time

    Available now

    Watch the 80/20 preview Watch the FORGE preview

Title Set · buy together and save

Ebook + workbook + audiobook

$25 instead of $30 individually.

Buy the Title Set · $25

All four formats · one checkout

Everything

The 80/20 video course, with the ebook, fillable Field Guide and audiobook included.

  • The Art of Making Honey — ebook
  • The Art of Making Honey — fillable Field Guide
  • The Art of Making Honey — audiobook
  • 80/20 video course

$297 USD, one time

Get everything · $297 ↗

Own this book already? It counts: from $272 with your reader credit →

What the course covers →

Bought this book from Eighty20 Publishing? It counts toward the 80/20 course: $10 off for one edition, $25 with its Title Set, within 30 days. Reader credit and terms →

Available digital books, workbooks and audio are delivered through BookFunnel after purchase. Title Set savings do not include video courses. Each course lists the reading included with it. Prices are in USD; applicable tax is calculated at checkout. All sales are final.

Choose across the library and save

Ebook reviews

Bought it? Review it.

Tell other owners and executives what worked. Choose Write a review, pick your stars and share your experience of The Art of Making Honey (Ebook).

Bought another edition? Review the Field Guide, Audiobook or Title Set.

Where it fits · PGOS

00 Start here

The whole system, told as a story — the front door to all seven parts of PGOS.

How to use it

Read it in an evening. Give a copy to every member of your leadership team before you start. Then work the Field Guide for Day Zero, Day One and the first hundred days.

See the books by PGOS

Editions

Formats and ISBNs

  • PaperbackRetail list: US $19.99 · CA $26.99ISBN 979-8-953021-00-5
  • EbookDirect download: US $10 · Retail list: CA $16.99ISBN 979-8-953021-03-6
  • Hardcover, caseboundRetail list: US $30.00 · CA $39.99ISBN 979-8-953021-01-2
  • Hardcover, dust jacketRetail list: US $30.00 · CA $39.99ISBN 979-8-953021-02-9
  • AudiobookDirect download: US $10ISBN 979-8-953021-04-3

Available to the trade through IngramSpark and to readers through Amazon and your bookseller when published. Wholesale and bulk terms.

The companion

The Field Guide

The Art of Making Honey · The Field Guide — front cover

The Art of Making Honey · The Field Guide

Fillable PDF available

The companion workbook to the fable — Day Zero, Day One, the hundred days, and the instruments, ready to fill in.

  • Paperback, letterRetail list: US $29.99 · CA $39.99ISBN 979-8-953021-05-0
  • Coil-bound, letterRetail list: US $39.99 · CA $52.99ISBN 979-8-953021-06-7
  • Fillable PDFDirect download: US $10 · Retail list: CA $26.99ISBN 979-8-953021-07-4
Field Guide paperback on Amazon · $29.99
Buy the Field Guide PDF · $10

Letter-size, built to be written in. Print and fillable PDF. The book keeps the narrative; the guide holds the working paper.

See the Field Guide

The author

Bill Canady

Bill Canady runs two billion-dollar-plus companies — one at $1.1 billion and one at $1.5 billion — as Chairman and CEO of Arrowhead Engineered Products and Chairman of OTC Industrial Technologies. Across global industrial markets he has delivered over $3 billion in shareholder value. A U.S. Navy veteran with an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, he created the Profitable Growth Operating System (PGOS). He is the author of The 80/20 CEO, The Rule of Three, and other books in the Eighty20 library.

More about BillAll the books
Bill Canady

Founding readers · Nos. 0001–1000

The First 1,000

of The First 1,000 Days

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