Execution

03/02

Execution (Bossidy, Charan) is a straight shooting, candid read. Of course. These authors worked with Jack Welch. Definitely, refreshingly to the point and it is all about the business succeeding as big as it can. (go Jack) Although seemingly a bit tough minded on the people side they are actually rather effective by getting into the bulls eye quickly. People (not all people) could truly grow in this environment.

A very readable format, theory interspersed with examples from their own experiences. Some step by step sections and some anecdotal pieces to complement. The three legged stool model of people, strategy and operations are intuitively sensible and well explained.

The silver bullet in this read is the idea of robust conversations and talking with one another using ‘live ammo’. Simple honesty wins out over harmony hands down, in the opinion of the authors. I tend to agree, to a point. After all, I am a Canadian and do have my limits on bluntness. The root of this idea is the foundation of relationship, truth and the trust bank account. Execution tells us that true honesty, unvarnished feedback, simple statements of reality, are the foundation of success in the people arena. Many other books agree, but with a softer slant. This is not an excuse to start using a baseball bat with your staff. That is not the author’s intention.

The authors demonstrate their style of asking questions to elicit learning in the other person. As a Coach I found many of the examples of what they call Coaching were more a set up to show the Coachee what the Coach knew and they didn’t, rather than honoring the Coachee as capable. The examples often simply made the Coachee wrong, the antithesis of professional Coaching.

Applicability is high for bigger companies and with some adjustments, for smaller companies too. I liked most of it.