This book describes 40 innovations that helped one of IBM's software development labs (Saint Teresa) achieve major improvements in the quality of its software and development processes. While the lab is a large organization most of the innovations were developed originally by small teams of programmers and are well suited to small organizations. The authors have tried to make it easy for others to understand and apply. For each innovation they include implementation advice as well as a lot of figures and tables. Annotated selected readings are listed at the end of each chapter. The last chapter provides specific advice and a systematic approach that organizatons can use to select a set of innovations to match their needs. The appendix and computer disk included with the book offer three quick-and-easy ways to perform a Baldrige-style assessment of your own organization. From the preface, "There are lots of quality gurus out there who will give you advice. But they usually don't have to live with the results. We have had to live with our failures as well as our successes."