The Myers-Smith partnership is "probably one of the marriages between a CEO and a CIO that works best in America today," says John Ogrizovich, Waste Management's vice president of IT services, who has known Smith since the two worked together at United Telecom, now Sprint Corp., a quarter of a century ago. "Maury knows where they need to go, and Tom is able to steer in that direction."

Myers and Smith met when Myers joined the bankrupt Tempe, Ariz.-based America West Airlines as president and COO in 1994. Smith had been at the helm of the airline's IT department since 1989. "The company was in a state of chaos, and the only department that was functioning well and whose leader was respected was IT," Myers recalls. "I thought, Jeez, this guy must know what he's doing."

Myers would eventually leave America West Airlines but not before seeing the airline that lost US$222 million in 1991, when it declared bankruptcy, announce a record profit of US$53.8 million in 1995. Myers was so impressed with Smith that when Myers left in 1996 to work his turnaround magic at Yellow Corp., he hired Smith as president of Yellow Technologies. The trucking company, which lost a total of US$38 million in 1994 and 1995, recorded profits of US$52.7 million in 1997 after about a year of the Myers-Smith magic. Today, the company is seeing its best results in 76 years (US$69.3 million in profits in 2000). According to current Yellow Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Bill Zollars, that's largely due to strategy and systems put in place by Myers and Smith.

They attribute their success less to hocus-pocus than to repetition. "It's funny. The same issues crop up everywhere we go," Myers says. Specifically at America West Airlines, Yellow and Waste Management, the duo found companies with a lack of reliable information with which to set goals and measure progress. This led to Myers' first rule of turnaround management: "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."

While at the three companies, Myers and Smith developed their Tao of the Turnaround, and it's based on what they believe to be a fundamental business truth and the corollary to Myers' first rule: "He who has the best information always wins."

It's easy to see why they complement each other so well. Myers is a strategist with a deeply rooted respect for technology. Smith is a technologist with a deep understanding of business strategy. Here's how they are applying their protocols to what is the duo's biggest turnaround challenge to date.