Companies are in business to create value for their stakeholders, and that pursuit occupies countless hours in boardrooms and executive suites around the world. Certain companies are singularly adept at adapting their business to create and sustain value over time, but most are not. It’s here that the example of top-tier private equity (PE) firms can be illuminating and useful. The best of these firms are able to create economic value over and over again, and they do so not only through a tight regimen of cost reduction but also by creating real and sustainable operating and productivity improvements at their portfolio companies.