Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Citation

(2003), "Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done", Work Study, Vol. 52 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2003.07952bae.005

Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan (with Charles Burck)Random House Business BooksISBN 0712625984£14.99

This book comes with an endorsement, via a quote on the cover, from no less a figure than Jack Welch. The quote? "A compelling business story of 'how to get it done"'.

The reason for the endorsement becomes clear when one realises that Bossidy is a veteran of GE, AlliedSignal and Honeywell. Charan, meanwhile, has been advising businesses around the world for many years. Together, they have put together a book which concentrates on what they know – and claims to deliver an essentially simple but important message.

Their big idea is that something they call "execution" lies at the heart of every winning company. They suggest that "countless companies are less than they could be because of poor execution, and the gap between promises and results is widespread and clear". This may be a little strong – but it does seem heartening to read a book that doesn't go for the grand vision, or another treatise on leadership. Execution, to the authors, is more than taking decisions …. "In its most fundamental sense, execution is a systematic way of exposing reality and acting on it. Most companies don't face reality very well, that's the basic reason they can't execute."

The authors quote an unnamed business leader approvingly: "We don't think ourselves into a new way of acting, we act ourselves into a new way of thinking."

They do believe in effective communication. "You cannot have an execution culture without robust dialogue, one that brings reality to the surface through openness, candour and informality. Robust dialogue makes an organisation effective in gathering information, understanding the information, and reshaping it to produce decisions. It fosters creativity – most innovations and inventions are incubated through robust dialogue." In fact, they go further, describing "robust dialogue" as the "live ammo" of the workplace. They believe that informality is critical to this robust dialogue, to candour, suggesting that formality suppresses dialogue whereas informality encourages it. Formal conversations and presentations leave little room for debate. Too often everything is scripted, prepared and predetermined. Informality invites questions, and is more likely to encourage spontaneous and critical thinking.

They go on to discuss the other essential components of an execution culture – hiring the right people, having candid and demanding appraisals, rewarding high achievement, developing a rigorous but highly reactive strategy – all stemming from the underlying principle of understanding the prevailing reality and trends.

I feel that this is a book born out of, and designed for, the American psyche. It is for "go-getters" and (perhaps because I'm not one) I found it interesting rather than illuminating.