Execution
The Discipline of Getting Things Done
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4.1 • 8 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than two million copies in print! The premier resource for how to deliver results in an uncertain world, whether you’re running an entire company or in your first management job.
“A must-read for anyone who cares about business.”—The New York Times
When Execution was first published, it changed the way we did our jobs by focusing on the critical importance of “the discipline of execution”: the ability to make the final leap to success by actually getting things done. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan now reframe their empowering message for a world in which the old rules have been shattered, radical change is becoming routine, and the ability to execute is more important than ever. Now and for the foreseeable future:
• Growth will be slower. But the company that executes well will have the confidence, speed, and resources to move fast as new opportunities emerge.
• Competition will be fiercer, with companies searching for any possible advantage in every area from products and technologies to location and management.
• Governments will take on new roles in their national economies, some as partners to business, others imposing constraints. Companies that execute well will be more attractive to government entities as partners and suppliers and better prepared to adapt to a new wave of regulation.
• Risk management will become a top priority for every leader. Execution gives you an edge in detecting new internal and external threats and in weathering crises that can never be fully predicted.
Execution shows 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.
With paradigmatic case histories from the real world—including examples like the diverging paths taken by Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase and Charles Prince at Citigroup—Execution provides the realistic and hard-nosed approach to business success that could come only from authors as accomplished and insightful as Bossidy and Charan.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
How do you turn a company's strategy into reality? As the failure to execute that has plagued firms from Aetna to Xerox shows, this is no small question. In fact, Honeywell International chairman Bossidy and consultant Charan (What the CEO Wants You to Know) argue convincingly that the inability to turn goals into reality what they call "execution" is the biggest problem organizations face. They begin by placing the blame squarely at the feet of senior managers who incorrectly believe that all aspects of execution can be delegated. In systematic fashion, they present "building blocks" that leaders can use to make successful execution an inherent part of a company's culture. Managers need to set clear, realistic goals; help workers reach those goals by supplying sufficient resources and coaching; and hold employees accountable if they fail while rewarding them handsomely if they succeed. Leaders must know their employees and their business, the authors say, because being "detached and removed and absent" will only alienate them from employees. Citing examples from Lucent, GE, AT&T and other organizations, Bossidy and Charan offer dead-on assessments of executions gone right and wrong. The book clearly delineates which author is speaking when, and while Charan's ideas are interesting, Bossidy's are persuasive. As the Honeywell veteran says, "You can't just say ma ana. You've got to have a plan that both plants seeds and harvests." This is a terrific book that will make smart managers rethink how business gets done within every level of their organization or department.
