Finding the low-hanging fruit not only improves performance, but also gives everyone involved confidence and hope. Because these situations are so charged with emotion, hope and confidence are desperately needed.

At this point, I should have good performance data available, some user hope and confidence, the objectives clearly defined, and the performance baselines established. Now, I very methodically perform my analysis, implement the solutions, give the system time to stabilize, gather more data, and repeat until it's time to stop.

Students and clients frequently ask me how I know when to stop improving performance. The answer, while not providing the warm, fuzzy feeling people may want, is straightforward. I keep working on improving performance until there is no time remaining, no budget remaining, or performance is acceptable. This is a very simple statement, but obviously there is much more to it.