Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done | Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, ...

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done | Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, ... | The Best

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Execution: The Dis...

	Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan, ... Crown Business, 2002 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 221 reviews view larger image
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The book that shows how to get the job done and deliver results . . . whether you?re running an entire company or in your first management job

Larry Bossidy is one of the world?s most acclaimed CEOs, a man with few peers who has a track record for delivering results. Ram Charan is a legendary advisor to senior executives and boards of directors, a man with unparalleled insight into why some companies are successful and others are not. Together they?ve pooled their knowledge and experience into the one book on how to close the gap between results promised and results delivered that people in business need today.

After a long, stellar career with General Electric, Larry Bossidy transformed AlliedSignal into one of the world?s most admired companies and was named CEO of the year in 1998 by Chief Executive magazine. Accomplishments such as 31 consecutive quarters of earnings-per-share growth of 13 percent or more didn?t just happen; they resulted from the consistent practice of the discipline of execution: understanding how to link together people, strategy, and operations, the three core processes of every business.

Leading these processes is the real job of running a business, not formulating a ?vision? and leaving the work of carrying it out to others. Bossidy and Charan show the importance of being deeply and passionately engaged in an organization and why robust dialogues about people, strategy, and operations result in a business based on intellectual honesty and realism.

The leader?s most important job?selecting and appraising people?is one that should never be delegated. As a CEO, Larry Bossidy personally makes the calls to check references for key hires. Why? With the right people in the right jobs, there?s a leadership gene pool that conceives and selects strategies that can be executed. People then work together to create a strategy building block by building block, a strategy in sync with the realities of the marketplace, the economy, and the competition. Once the right people and strategy are in place, they are then linked to an operating process that results in the implementation of specific programs and actions and that assigns accountability. This kind of effective operating process goes way beyond the typical budget exercise that looks into a rearview mirror to set its goals. It puts reality behind the numbers and is where the rubber meets the road.

Putting an execution culture in place is hard, but losing it is easy. In July 2001 Larry Bossidy was asked by the board of directors of Honeywell International (it had merged with AlliedSignal) to return and get the company back on track. He?s been putting the ideas he writes about in Execution to work in real time.

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Outstanding

I have shared this book with dozens of co-workers and employees at work. This is an outstanding roadmap for those who want to achieve greater results at work.

The Best

Literally one of the best business books ever written. The style is tight and clean, and the advice practical and accomplishment oriented.

Execution is not just tactics

Execution is about linking people, strategy, and operations. "Execution is not just tactics - it is a discipline and a system. It has to be built into a company's strategy, its goals, and its culture. And the leader of the organization must be deeply engaged in it." A significant portion of this book deals with managing people, including recognizing and developing future leaders.

This book is neither an ego trip nor an abstract vision. It contains well-grounded perspectives and observations. Here are some tidbits:

"Realism is the heart of execution, but many organizations are full of people who are trying to avoid or shade reality."

"You need robust dialogue to surface the realties of the business."

"An astonishing number of strategies fail because leaders don't make a realistic assessment of whether the organization can execute the plan."

"Only authenticity builds trust, because sooner of later people spot the fakers."

"Some leaders drain energy from people and others create it."

"You should strive for simplicity in general. One thing you'll notice about leaders who execute is that they speak simply and directly."

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Execute, Execute, Execute

As the title suggests, the book focuses on execution. Bossidy states that there are oodles of books on strategy, but there are precious few on Execution - thus his reason for writing the book, along with the advisor to CEOs, Ram Charan. After all, the best strategy in the world isn't worth a dime unless it is actually put in place.

The format of the book is simple and direct. First Bossidy defines execution. One definition he uses is great - the systematic way of exposing reality and acting on it. So many organizations come up with grand strategies that are based on unrealistic assumptions and/or they completely gloss over how the strategies are to be accomplished.

The book then discusses the three building blocks of execution to include Seven Essential Leadership Behaviors, Creating a framework for changing the culture of an organization, and having the right people in the right place.

The authors go on to describe the 3 essential processes required for execution: People, Strategy, and Operations. They describe how to set up each process in detail.

Several themes are echoed throughout the book to include...

* The need for robust dialogue, not only to get to the truth, but to be used as a teaching/learning tool.
* The intimate involvement of the executive in all facets of execution, to include follow up.
* The importance of linking the people, strategy, and operations processes together.

One of the flaws of the book, which is similar with many others that seek real world examples, is that no sooner does the book go to print than one of the exalted companies tanks.

With that said, there is a lot to be learned from this one. Bossidy is a pupil of Jack Welch, and that no-nonsense style is apparent. Many of the themes are the same, but some are indeed different or enhanced.

If your company is struggling, this book can help point you in the right direction. There is no miracle cure. You will need to take the medicine, but you will be better off for doing so.

-- Nick McCormick, Author, Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager

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Thought provoking if nothing else.

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan are clearly sharp guys. I do agree with some of the other reviewers in that, at times, this book can be dry - and even redundant. But it's also full of straight talk and examples of strategies used by prominent and not-so-prominent leaders. Overall, very interesting stuff that will make you think twice about your actions.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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