They then draw up a new process map, along with a new and faster "time and motion" regime for the employees. Amazon even brings in veterans of lean production from Toyota itself, whom Onetto describes with some relish as "insultants," not consultants: "They are really not nice. . . . [T]hey’re samurais, the real last samurais, the guys from the Toyota plants."

Clear-eyed examination of the current state of a company can sting. It can also threaten established organizational culture and behavior. And, as professionals maintain, successful reengineering intentionally causes a cultural shift and may cause wounded egos.

As consultant Lipton says, "I've had a large bundle of papers thrown at me in a board room." (He also had an executive storm out of a meeting, yelling, "You're not a consultant. You're an insultant.")

Martin should be content. He will be paid a great deal of money for acting as Steinbrenner's chief consultant, instead of chief insultant, for the next three years.