Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Glossy version of getting things done.
I though the book was a good quick read. As you will see in other reviews, the book tended towards generalities. It's key ideas are excellent, but not new. The linkage bewteen vision, strategy, and operational plans is well done. There are a lot of annecdotes, and some numbers and examples. The book tends to stay in the rarified air of CEO strategy. The book draws heavily from the GE experience and on information in Welch's books.I also saw strong parallels to the topics discussed in the Malcolm Baldrige criteria (linkage, strategy, plans, resources) and systems thinking (Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline). I think this is good as an introductory book and in providing context, then move on to other books for the meat of the subject.
Rating:  - What a Disappointment!
Let me start by saying that I really wanted to like this book. The subject matter is critically important and the quality of Larry Bossidy's career would give a reader every reason to believe that this book would be the real deal. The unfortunate reality, however, is that the writing is impenetrable and the book's organization is non-existent. One can only wonder about the extent of Bossidy's involvement; it's difficult to believe that it was more than cursory. I mean, how could someone so renowned for execution fail so spectacularly to execute the task of writing a coherent book?I won't catalog all of the book's faults since these reviews are limited to 1,000 words. A particularly irksome one, however, is the repeated, blatantly self-promotional references from and about the co-author that were bludgeoned into the manuscript. Almost as annoying is the abysmal quality of the writing. I've written a couple of business books myself, so I'm somewhat familiar with the process. It is amazing to me that this mush made it through any sort of editing process. Finally, let me just observe that it is unbelievable to me that anyone could be so humorless and/or clueless as to write a book titled "Execution" and not reference the classic quote on the subject from the late John McKay, former head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (If you've never heard it, email me and I'd be happy to share it with you.) Business readers are usually confronted with their own unique version of Hobbes' choice: You can choose an author who is knowledgeable but boring, or you can pick a buffoon like Tom Peters who is engaging and entertaining but has no idea what he's talking about. There's no question that Bossidy knows what he's talking about. Unfortunately, you'd be hard pressed to wade through the morass of this book's dense and unfocussed prose to find out what he has to say.
Rating:  - An OK Business Book
"Execution" is an OK book for those who want to read about business. The authors point out that many CEOs are very intelligent, great at strategy, and come from top business schools, but they fail to implement their plans, often because the people they manage don't do anything to execute the plans.Bossidy and Charan write: "... unless you translate big thoughts into concrete steps for action, they're pointless." And, good CEOs say "unless I can make this happen, it's not going to matter." The authors see execution as the missing link between aspirations and results. In particular, strategy must be broken down into doable initiatives. For example, anyone can say his goal is to grow profits by 10%. But, where is that 10% going to come from? Which products to which customers? What steps are you going to take to market the products? The authors argue that you should focus upon three or four priorities. The authors say that if you have ten priorities you don't know what priorities are. Of course, the same logic can be used to say you really only have one priority. But, I fundamentally agree. Once you've got six or more priorities, it's easy to only do the ones you really want to do while the really important ones don't get finished. If you write the top three, you might find none is particularly fun, but they're all really important. Selecting the right people for the right job is crucial, as is following thorough to see that your goals are implemented. A good chunk of a CEO's time should be spent hiring and developing people. Technical people sometimes don't make great leaders because developing people really doesn't interest them. This said, if you're well-read about business, and, especially, if you've read "Good To Great," "Primal Leadership," and "First Break All The Rules," you might find little that's truly new in this book. Peter Hupalo
Author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur"
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