Companies that rely solely on the CEO to navigate the uncharted waters of global competition are floundering.

According to The Big Shift, a worldwide study published by Deloitte University Press, “The success of the modern organization will depend upon its ability to create an environment that cultivates learning and accelerated performance improvement.”

In his best seller, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren provides a parallel conclusion: “The world needs contribution. We don’t just need communication, compassion, and consideration. We need people of action and a bias for achievement.”

An American Management Association survey of 800 executives concluded, “The emphasis over the past years has been on high tech skills like math and science, but what’s missing is the ability to collaborate and make key decisions at lower levels.”

Why CEOs Fail, a FORTUNE magazine cover story (June, 1999), investigated the firing of thirty-eight Fortune 500 top executives. All were smart and had great vision. A two-pronged weakness brought them down: failure to put the right people in the right jobs and not fixing people problems in time to prevent negative outcomes.

The validity of the above discoveries is supported by three best-selling business books each based upon the findings of a Stanford University research team headed by professor/author Jim Collins:

Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap (2001). Compared 1,400 companies once listed on the Fortune 500 to find only eleven that met the criteria necessary to qualify as “great.”

How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In (2009). Amidst the desolate landscape of fallen great companies, Jim Collins began to wonder: Can decline be detected early and avoided? How can companies reverse course?

Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck; Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (2011). A nine-year study analyzed 20,400 companies and identified only seven that have what it takes to succeed in tumultuous times.

These revealing findings provide ample evidence it is time to consider a new way of getting results that fully utilizes what Doers bring to the workplace. Positioning them as problem solvers, peer coaches, and change agents will ensure a prosperous future for the organization savvy enough to do so.

Doers are the driving force for innovation; those disruptive game-changers envied and feared by competitors. They supply the initiative for new ideas and the positive energy behind better outcomes. When provided with reasonable opportunities Doers will deliver amazing things.

The survivability of a competitive enterprise hinges upon its ability to harness the power of Doers. Deployed strategically Doers can halt decline and restore prosperity.