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Summary: A Nice Departure from the Standard Corporate History
Review: WHO SAYS ELEPHANTS CAN'T DANCE? INSIDE IBM'S HISTORIC TURNAROUND by Louis V. Gerstner Jr. is one of those unique corporate biographies that transcends the genre. It is, and this is its most attractive feature, instead a history of IBM and its internal workings at what has probably been the most important transition period in its recent history. Mr. Gerstner sets the story of the transition of IBM's once staid-white starched corporate culture within the context of the then emerging PC industry. To change the IBM corporate mantra of small computers as a threat, rather than the opportunity that it was (and is), is a major focus of the book. The author chronicles his initial arrival at the company and provides the details of his campaign to remake the company's culture that was, by turns, responsible for its magnificent success over the years while at the same time, a hindrance to its continued growth and success in a drastically changing marketplace.Unlike other corporate biographies where the dominant theme has been "me.... me...... me..... me...... look what I did.....look what I said..........", Mr. Gerstner places himself within the overall context (albeit at the pinnacle) of the company, as well as the industry and the overall economic climate. Changing the focus of the company's dominant culture of "we're IBM, we know what you need," to a customer-solution based culture illuminates the benefits of highly principled, innovative leadership that allowed the company to return to the market prominence in a rapidly changing business. The prose is clear, to the point, and engaging, capturing reader interest from beginning to end. The book is well worth the time and effort and provides additional insight as to successful leadership principles in any field.
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Summary: Must reading for IT professionals and business strategists
Review: Lou Gerstner has succeeded in writing a book which both provides valuable insights into the computer industry and the situation and success of IBM, as well as providing a roadmap for leaders seeking to effect strategic change in any industry. He reveals that IBM was close to running out of cash in 1993 before he stepped in and kicked out the investment bankers (later pilloried as greedy suppliers of the "hooch for all of the wild speculative periods in our economic history") who were preparing to sell of IBM, a national treasure, in pieces. The book is easy to read, non-technical, and laced with interesting anecdotes. Turning around IBM was one of the greatest business achievements of our time. I have worked much of my career in companies that competed against IBM and have known many ex-IBMers. All continue to have great respect for the people and the organization. There is no question that IBM had, and has, some of the best people in the world. Yet, they became unable to execute appropriate strategies quickly, losing much of their market share in the process. Lou Gerstner rejuvenated the company, a task which is rarely permanently successful in the high technology world. Today, IBM still sells mainframes (much less expensive now, but an extension of the basic architecture introduced in 1964). And, that technology is still at the center of the IT organizations of many of our largest companies. Introduced later, but now long gone, are the Digital VAX, the Intel 8080, the Zilog Z80 and various computer architectures from the likes of Prime, Wang, Data General, etc. Most have been replaced by Unix or Windows. We have Lou Gerstner to thank for saving IBM. As the book describes, he did it by focusing on the customer, eliminating useless bureaucratic processes, and, as a non-engineer, understanding the business implications of technology change better than most within IBM. But, it was execution, focus on cash flow and profits over revenues, and constant attention to detail in strategic planning and monitoring, together with communications and leadership which saved the day for IBM. The title is interesting. Elizabeth Moss Kanter, a Harvard Business School Professor, wrote Teaching Elephants to Dance in 1989. Gerstner refers to some of her other works late in the book, but not this one, which appears to have provided the inspiration for the title of his book.
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Summary: Lou's no Jack Welch...a huge plus!
Review: a no nonsense account of one of the most remarkable corporate turn arounds in the history of American business. A great interview...a charming, self effacing, not really all that fat, corporate icon. Don't look for Lou to be led off in handcuffs by either the authortities or some bimbo from the Harvard Business Review.
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Summary: A big case study on renovation
Review: The first part of the book is full of satire and is amusing. The rest four parts lack this satire and are a little bit boring. The book not presents a case study of a company innovation but describes the history of IBM in nineties. For example, the author explains in detail why OS/2 was cancelled and why did they buy Lotus and didn't buy other companies. It's very exciting to read how the CEO has diagnosed the problems of the company and which solutions did he find. I would also recommend "Leading the Revolution" by Gary Hamel. It is a very serious examination on how companies innovate and why should they do it, with lots of remarkable examples. Gary Hamel uses plain friendly language. The books of Chris Argyris about organizational learning are also about innovation. Although the language style is "academical", the books are interesting and somewhat unique.
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Summary: Worth your time and then some...
Review: Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround by Louis V. Gerstner Jr. is insightful, entertaining, and full of valuable historical perspectives into the computer revolution. There are also many management approaches throughout the book that may seem like common sense to some of us, but clearly need to be re-evaluated by many mid and top-level executives. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and light-hearted details of the first part of the book; and found the second part of the book that detailed the major steps taken in restructuring to be equally compelling. I definetly recommend this to anyone in the computer industry, anyone at an executive level of any company, and to those who just enjoy reading!
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Summary: Memoirs of An Arrogant Genius
Review: Gerstner is arrogant but with good reason. He knew what to do and did it, however unpopular it was. He was brought in to save this company (and protect its shareholders) from the foibles of the career IBMers who, without malice, were destroying what the Watsons had created. He wasn't there to protect jobs or careers. Gerstner rightly saw that IBM should not be a welfare program for "loyal" employees; it had to be a productive and profitable enterprise and he did what was necessary. Good for him. Genius is always hard to pin down but I have no doubt that this man is a genius and "Elephants" gives great insight into his thinking and actions. (But it also makes clear that, as Shakespeare might say of Lou, "The milk of human kindness does not flow through his veins.)
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Summary: Right leader at the right time for the right corporation
Review: Gerstner arrived at IBM at the right time with all the right leadership qualities required for an ailing company like IBM. His story is an illustration of how leaders can serve as change agents. Morale of the story - inspite of the recession and the ailing economy, corporate America still has leaders like Gerstner, Fiorina, Gates, Dell and many others who can steer the economy in the right direction during tough times.
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Summary: Compelling First Person Account of Change Management
Review: Lou Gerstner has written an interesting first person study of how organizations can become plagued by inertia, and fall out of step with their industry. As an outsider, Gertsner was immediately able to spot troubling cultural behavior and ask questions about IBM's products, strategy, and way of conducting business that insiders did not. Some of the most interesting material deals with trying to change both strategy and behaviors once he recognized that they were leading IBM towards potential ruin.
The turnaround at IBM has been quite a success story, and Gerstner definitely deserves his share of the credit. In the information technology business, becoming set in your ways can be the a kiss of death, and he explains in an easily readable style how he helped wake up big blue, while others would have preferred to fly it into the ground rather than change.
Still, I wondered if as an outsider, he 'missed something' regarding the cultural at IBM. Clearly tying results to compensation, and removing power and status as key elements of the rewards system created a more market and profit focused company. But while 'Built to Last' outlines the importance of loyalty and continuity in first class companies, this trait seems to be looked down upon in the tech sector (not just at the pre-Gerstner IBM, but also more recently at HP and PeopleSoft.)
In this regard, I enjoyed Andy Grove's book "Only the Paranoid Survive" a bit more, as he discusses fostering a winning culture at Intel that has kept them on top for quite a while, despite competing in an industry that requires constant innovation. You get the feeling that Gerstner was more of a Mr. Fixit...focused on the short-term turn-around. It would have been interesting to hear him talk more about the long-term strategies for IBM to remain competitive, and particularly how to use IBM's size as an asset rather than liability.
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Summary: I wish the author had time to make those "connections".....
Review: One should start reading this book from chapter 27 "IBM- a farewell".
Here the author muses how he wished he had more time to make the connections from the old to the new.
I worked at IBM from 1992 through 2000 and I felt that this above failing of CEO had repercussions throughout the whole organization. IBM indeed became very successful company under his leadership but I often felt that while going after quarterly numbers we were missing the long term, big picture. We also were getting little soulless.
Was Lou's tenure good for IBM? In the short term: yes, but in the long run, we have to resort to famous words of Zhou Enlai which he used assessing French Revolution.."It is too soon to say."
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Summary: Valuable for the lessons
Review: Gerstner's tale of how IBM turned its behemoth-self around and is, today, still riding high, is a lesson for all students of enterprise. The valuable parts of the book are the processes Gerstner lists in the efforts to harness good parts of corporate culture (respect for individuals, devotion to excellence) and to minimize the harmful aspects of a hothouse atmosphere where stagnation is the inevitable result. The proof is in the pudding; companies that didn't follow these steps are stilled mired in their own tracks; IBM is flying. The author has a section on "knowing and loving your business." This is a fundamental that seems obvious, but it's forgotten so often with tragic consequences. IBM faced the brink of disaster and came back stronger than ever.
My favorite take-away phrase from this book was "Measure and Reward the Future--Not the Past." Powerful stuff. You may have heard all this before, but it bears repeating. Recommended.
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