Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done | 
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
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.
Amazon.com Review
Disciplines like strategy, leadership development, and innovation are the sexier aspects of being at the helm of a successful business; actually getting things done never seems quite as glamorous. But as Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan demonstrate in Execution, the ultimate difference between a company and its competitor is, in fact, the ability to execute. Execution is "the missing link between aspirations and results," and as such, making it happen is the business leader's most important job. While failure in today's business environment is often attributed to other causes, Bossidy and Charan argue that the biggest obstacle to success is the absence of execution. They point out that without execution, breakthrough thinking on managing change breaks down, and they emphasize the fact that execution is a discipline to learn, not merely the tactical side of business. Supporting this with stories of the "execution difference" being won (EDS) and lost (Xerox and Lucent), the authors describe the building blocks--leaders with the right behaviors, a culture that rewards execution, and a reliable system for having the right people in the right jobs--that need to be in place to manage the three core business processes of people, strategy, and operations. Both Bossidy, CEO of Honeywell International, Inc., and Charan, advisor to corporate executives and author of such books as What the CEO Wants You to Know and Boards That Work, present experience-tested insight into how the smooth linking of these three processes can differentiate one company from the rest. Developing the discipline of execution isn't made out to be simple, nor is this book a quick, easy read. Bossidy and Charan do, however, offer good advice on a neglected topic, making Execution a smart business leader's guide to enacting success rather than permitting demise. --S. Ketchum
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Customer Reviews:
• Management Take Notice 16 June, 2008
Execution is a must read for all Executives. So many in management have trouble making decisions for fear of the Old Boy Network politics. Larry Bossidy would have none of that, and changed out his Executive staff until he had one's who would EXECUTE!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1IKUHJX7CA5BY
• Developing Strategies That Work 11 August, 2008
The title "execution" may make you think this book is about executing decisions after they have been made. This is not at all the case. This book describes everything you have to do to develop strategies that are likely to succeed. It describes three processes, the strategic process, the people process and the operational process. The book describes in the most detail the people process. If you do not have the right people in the right positions the strategic process and operational processes will fail. These three processes are interdependent. The interdependence and the processes are described very clearly. That enables you to test if you are operating the right way.
The book describes "operationalizing" culture. The book describes operationalizing culture, where culture is defined as the sum of its shared values, beliefs and norms of behaviour. It is a very good chapter with an example of the wrong culture and right culture. The book from Louis Gerstner "Who says elephants can't dance is very helpful as is "From Good To Great" by Jim Collins. culture is defined as the sum of its shared values, beliefs and norms of behaviour. It is a very good chapter with an example of the wrong culture and right culture. It is a major challenge to figure out what the culture should be. The book from Louis Gerstner "Who says elephants can't dance" is very helpful as is "From Good To Great" by Jim Collins on this point.
Dialogue is also described as an essential part of operationalising culture. It is a very important goal requiring a great deal of skill and effort you should not underestimate. The book "On dialogue" from David Bohm is worth reading as it explains very lucidly all the obstacles you have to be overcome.
The "execution" book presents an excellent framework of processes that include establishing the right culture, using, what are referred to as "robust" and "candid"dialogues
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3691TJTBXJ7J7
• Obviously If You're Going To Get Things Done, You Gotta "execute" Them... 07 October, 2008
This (audio) book has some good examples of bad execution that lead to recent high-profile corporate troubles, and then gives some suggestions on how to do things. A lot of it is common sense and discipline, though, but there are a few helpful items - especially if you didn't pay the new-item proce and got it used :)
- Reviewed by customer ID: AWL90XNRYOU6V
• Muy Buen Libro 03 October, 2008
Un libro muy ameno que muestra cĂłmo una organizaciĂłn puede alinearse en post de un objetivo comĂşn, hacer las cosas bien, sin lugar a dudas, un libro que hay que leer
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2AWNB857TX76G
• Get It Done = What + How = Execution 07 July, 2008
My former boss presented this book to me in Audio-book format. The Audio book is read by the authors themselves. Not only do the authors provide valuable insights, but they deliver the message very well.
This book explains Execution is a specific set of behaviors and techniques that companies need to master in order to have competitive advantage. It is targeted to CEO's and executive managers and a definite must-read for CEO's and their coaches and advisers. For the rest of us mortals, it makes an excellent read, especially the real world examples that they provided. I wish they had provided more such examples. It is about following through as a leader providing different thought processes on how to lead and more importantly, how to make sure you get the job done!
The main message is that in order to execute the strategies that they develop, companies have to integrate their people, strategy and processes. Without proper execution, even the best strategies fail. The hardware (strategy and structure) is inert without the software (beliefs and behaviors).
The point which hit a home run with me was: A job no Leader should delegate which is having the Right People in the Right Roles. This is so true and so common sense and yet it is most often delegated to other departments or heavily focused on certifications, quantity (number of years) vs quality of experience. An organization's human beings are by far its most reliable resource for generating excellent results year after year. Their judgments, experiences, and capabilities make the difference between success and failure. The quality of their people is the best competitive differentiator. While okay to use assessment scores and certifications to validate capabilities, an organization must also identify weaknesses for improvement, streamline training and create career milestones. Then measure progress toward attaining and exceeding corporate goals.
Recommended for anyone in a Leadership role, especially if you're managing people in your organization.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AVTJAMI9D6IB9
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