You've Got To Be Kidding
I tried to read this book. I value books that speak to the importance of operational excellence (re "Out of the Crisis" by Deming) but this book is vague, verbose, and simplistic. I found myself getting frustrated in chapter 1 and by chapter 3 I could not read another word.
Not much here
A few years ago, the reading club at my company proposed this book. Immediately I yelled "Boring!" When asked why, I said, "Execution is what we do every day. I question that this will stretch us." Now I finally have read the book, and stand by my initial comment.
There is some value here, to be clear. Some interesting anecdotes. Some fascinating preening by Bossidy, who clearly sees himself, Jack Welch, and one or two others as smarter than anyone else in the corporate world. And some healthy focus on the how of moving from strategy to action, and on the importance of developing leaders.
But the book's fundamental premise, that companies fail (unless run by him, Jack or a few friends) because they don't execute, only stands because the authors subordinate strategy to execution. In other words, execution means strategy, plus moving from strategy to action. Well, I guess. I just don't see much value in that definition.
Let's keep the issues separate. Strategy matters. If you agree with that, then read Jim Collins and a host of others to figure out what matters most. How strategy is built matters. If you agree with that, this book has some useful ideas, but nothing I haven't seen in several companies. And moving strategy into action to achieve results matter. Again, this book has useful ideas, but nothing that rocks my world.
Bottom line, the book over reaches. Worth a quick scan. Definitely some good ideas. But it reads like a vanity piece. I found no intellectual rigor here, no "ah ha!" insights, no frameworks I could add to my management toolkit.
Net, as I suspected years ago: Boring!
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
This is a superb book. It's well written and one of the best you can read.
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