Someone is killing the entrepreneurial spirit of American businesses. Perpetually searching for The Next Big Thing, workers have overlooked the Value Effect, which can provide the alignment and energy needed to create and sustain change. John Guaspari ingeniously lays out the problem as a murder mystery. Part I describes the ailing Lodestar, Inc. and its executives who meet to plan new strategies. When the consultant who introduced last year's successful Next Big Thing -- the Value Effect -- suddenly turns up dead, detective Leonard Gatling investigates. Part II analyzes the evidence of the Value Effect. The mystery is solved when everyone finally understands that the Value Effect is not really a Next Big Thing at all but a surprisingly straightforward solution to a persistent problem.