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BRENT JANG - Globe and Mail Update

In his four years at the throttle, Hunter Harrison has revolutionized how CN Rail does business, driving productivity, boosting the stock price by 150 per cent and making $56-million in 2005 for himself in his pursuit of a “precision railroad.”

Two years ago, Mr. Harrison published the term in a glossy book titled How We Work and Why, intended to be a Bible for Canadian National Railway Co. employees to follow and the source of inspiration at his so-called Hunter Camps.

At the two-day, motivational retreats for groups of managers and union leaders, the CN chief executive officer often opens the event by stressing the need to challenge conventional wisdom and being on alert to become more efficient.

Mr. Harrison, 62, can speak at the Hunter Camps for two hours without any text, personally preaching the importance of doggedly seeking to be more competitive and constantly looking for improvements.

But the two-week strike the railway has endured is rooted in employee complaints that the efficiency drive — now in its 12th year — may have gone too far.

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