In recent weeks both J.C. Penney and Procter & Gamble replaced a sitting CEO with his predecessor. This back-to-the-future approach to succession isn’t common — and surely most company boards aren’t seeking to make it so. After all, returning the reins to a former leader smacks of desperation and failed succession planning. But that doesn’t make it the wrong move. In fact, sometimes it works spectacularly well — consider the triumphant returns of Steve Jobs to Apple and Howard Schultz to Starbucks. While both Jobs and Schultz were founders of the companies they came back to save and both A.G. Lafley and Myron Ullman were not, the rationale for their returns are not entirely dissimilar.