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About
Afterburner Incorporated was founded in 1996 by James D. Murphy, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, who realized the applicability and value to business of the tools he learned in the zero tolerance for error world of military aviation. Since then, Afterburner has trained over 1.5 million managers and executives in the simple, scalable, continuous improvement processes of Flawless Execution℠. This model was developed by Afterburner from both their business experiences and in strategic and tactical military execution. Afterburner’s client list includes over 23% of the U.S. Fortune 500, as well as many clients in the Global Fortune 1000.
Afterburner has landed on Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 500 List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies” twice and has been featured regularly in publications that include the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Inc. Magazine, Financial Times, Newsweek, and Meetings and Conventions Magazine. Afterburner has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg News and Murphy has been named one of Atlanta’s top 50 entrepreneurs by Catalyst Magazine. He is also the author of Business Is Combat, now in its third printing, and his latest book Flawless Execution. Afterburner has spoken at the world’s most notable business schools including Harvard, Wharton, Cornell, Emory and Duke.
Afterburner delivers Flawless Execution℠ to clients through its Three E’s – Empower, Equip and Embed. Empower includes keynote speeches and the legendary “Afterburner Day” team-building experience. Equip, however, provides training, consulting, and software services through a variety of methods. In addition to individual consulting, we provide train-the-trainer style multi-day courses through our Flawless Execution University (FLEX U) and on-site workshops. Embed is a strategic human capital placement service for elite military professionals transitioning from military to civilian careers. Once our candidates complete our training and are certified to leverage the Flawless Execution Model℠, we then place our candidates with our leaning forward partners.
History
For James D. Murphy, Flawless Execution℠ struck him as an epiphany as he walked to the flight line at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona to climb into his $30 million F-15 Eagle for the first time. Only 18 months before that day in 1989, Murphy was selling copiers door to door to small companies in central Kentucky. Before joining the Air Force, he was literally living on his family's small farm, going from farm boy to fighter pilot in less than 18 months! How did this happen? What was the process that he went through that the Air Force created which produced a ready to fly Fighter Pilot in just 18 months? And, furthermore, what were the principles behind the flawlessly executed mission plans he and pilots like him flew every day? Murphy realized that these principles could be used in corporations as well as in the military. From that point on, Flawless Execution℠ became his life's work.
After leaving active duty, Murphy drove the sales of a small paint company from $5 to $52 million in less than three years by utilizing Flawless Execution℠ principles. Having proven its value, Murphy formed his own company, Afterburner Inc., and made the front page of the Marketplace section of the Wall Street Journal in 1997. Murphy and an elite, tight knit team of fighter pilots continued to create cutting edge keynote speeches and day-long team-building seminars in which the Afterburner team dressed in olive-drab flight suits and delivered the Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief cycle to major corporations all over the world. By 2003, Afterburner Inc. had been listed on Inc. 500's List of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies twice and Murphy had authored his first book, Business is Combat (Harper Collins 2000).
Also in 2003 Afterburner began its global expansion by opening up offices in Canada, Australia and soon to follow, Europe. Afterburner launches its Corporate Wingman Program℠ and certifies a team of Afterburner coaches which leads the way to Afterburner's consulting services. This follows on the heels of a successful two year coaching and consulting engagement with Pfizer's infomatics division.
By 2005, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel John A. Warden III trained Murphy and key Afterburner personnel in his Prometheus Process. Detailed in Winning in Fast Time (Venturist Publishing 2002) Warden and his co-author Leland A. Russell describe in detail how Warden utilized open planning to rapidly develop the phenomenally successful air campaign against Saddam Hussein in 1990, Instant Thunder. Warden, hailed by General Colin Powell as having created the heart of the Desert Storm air war, went on to serve as the Deputy Director of Strategy, Doctrine and Warfighting for the U.S. Air Force, then to serve as Special Assistant to the Vice President of the United States and finally to serve as The Commandant of the Air Command and Staff College before retiring in 1995. Murphy, realizing the perfect synergy between the Flawless Execution℠ Engine and the Prometheus Process, adapted it, with Warden's assistance, into the complete strategic and tactical model that it has become. In 2005, Murphy launched his second book, Flawless Execution (Harper Collins 2005), that described its principles in detail.
In 2008, Afterburner successfully launches and deploys Flawless Execution University (FLEX U) and will train and certify over 300 managers in its first year. Also, late in 2008 Afterburner launched its strategic placement division. Today Afterburner is considered the world's leading authority on organizational execution and boasts 23% of the U.S. Fortune 500 as a client in addition to many global 1000 companies. Afterburner has executed its services in over 34 countries and has offices in Europe and Australia and is currently opening operations in Asia.