Execution

The Discipline of Getting Things Done

By: Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan

Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The audio 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, with a track record for delivering results. Ram Charan is a legendary adviser 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 one guide on how to close the gap between results promised and results delivered.

The discipline of execution means 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.

©2002 Crown Business
(P)2002 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A terrific book that will make smart managers rethink how business gets done within every level of their organization or department." (Publishers Weekly)
"A great practitioner and an insightful theorist join forces to write a compelling business story of 'how to get it done.'" (Jack Welch)

One of my favorite business books

Sound principles that have endured the test of time. It would be nice, however, if some of the examples in the book could be updated to more recent business cases.

Time To Digest

Could be me but this doesn't necessarily stand out as a classic, but I'll read it again.

Makes sense out of nebulous subjects

"Execution" moves subjects such as performance management, strategy development, and operational execution into a form that logically links them and is easily understood. It makes sense. Too often, authors spout their theories or push their particular methodology for doing things that wind up being next to impossible to implement. The authors explain things in a way, using real world examples, that make me shake my head and wonder why managers make things so hard. The authors switch off with the narrator, which breaks things up, and makes the book much easier to listen and concentrate on the content for long periods of time. This is one of the best books I have encountered.

a mixed bag

geared for large companies with many layers. a few nuggets for small business owners. narrator uses a fair amount of consulteze blather but Bossidy's voice balances it out with straightforward delivery of ideas.

An essential for every professional

If you could sum up Execution in three words, what would they be?

visions are worthless without implementation

What was one of the most memorable moments of Execution?

In culture change chapter, book discusses various factors of not addressing change.

What does John Bedford Lloyd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Clarity in speech made things stick in mind.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Worthless Vision, unless..

Great!

Great content! Just had some trouble understanding Ram Charan, he has a heavy Indian accent.

Good for big business... not for small

I am a small business owner and I didn’t find everything in this book applicable to me. The topics on how to manage executive teams, complete budgets quickly and effectively, etc didn’t apply to me. The ideas on how to hire the right people was a better take away.

Also, you might be better off listening to a Jack Welch biography since so much of this book used his growth of GE as an example. In hindsight, the GE example appears to be a poor one since Mr. Welch wasn’t the most successful at growing and assigning a great successor, which is a key part of the book.

Some good ideas in here, but just an OK book unless you are an executive in a manufacturing or supply chain heavy organization.

Very "corporate" sound

This audiobook has a very "corporate" sound. I have listened to many books through Audible and other services and this one borders on unlistenable. It just sounds way too overdone. I do like the book, but find myself shutting this one off after a short listen; I find the delivery distracting. I'm already sold on the concepts in the book and I don't need some sort of sales job with the delivery.

the book covered a lot of information

great read for those who want to succeed. I would listen again and again

Dated, but essential

Solid narration and fundamental ideas, but I see why it's so highly recommended. The references refer to upcoming and recent events which occurred while I was a toddler, but the underlying thought is inimitable.