Rating: 
Summary: Business Poetry
Review: Mr. Gerstner poetry lies in his direct, simple, and precise way to frame the challenges he faced at IBM, on the measures taken by him and his leadership team, as well on a selfless and honest assessment of their results.I'm a manager far away in the corporate ladder from the perch where Mr. Gerstner's perspectives comes from. Regardless, my copy is full of marks that I'm now trying to distill into lessons that I will use to assist me in my leadership challenges. One of the most salient points addressed by Mr. Gerstner is that of belonging. Can someone ever be an insider at a company like IBM? Can someone ever be an insider at a company like mine (less than 200 employees)? It seems to me that, according to Mr. Gerstner, it does not matter; what really matters is to have compentency, passion, commitment, and the wish to win.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Credible. (Computer) Science Fiction?
Review: The initial history as presented is interesting, but much of the rest seems to lack consistency with what one reads in the press. Lou Gerstner began his career at IBM with one of the biggest layoffs in history, and finished by moving out roughly equal numbers. In between the culture changed; the new "culture" lost more ground to Microsoft & Sun, gave up billions of $'s to upstart EMC, slipped Lotus' marketshare, gave away networking to Cisco, bailed out of the "unprofitable" PC business while Dell was growing like gangbusters, spun off "unprofitable" printers via Lexmark, sold off big segments of the business to competitors, etc. (And now want to get into highly competitive consulting practices.) I'd like to get an accuracy check of the book from some of the consultants who follow IBM for a living...
Rating: 
Summary: Read It!
Review: Two five - Durham, NC, an engineer Read it! I joined IBM two months before Gerstner and it needed a swift kick in the pants. I had a unique perspective coming out of graduate school because my dad work for Pan Am and we all know they went belly up. I was never going to depend on a company for my well being. Go to work do a great job and most of all save on your own and keep your skills current. I sensed a tremendous amount of entitlement amongst the employee ranks. I would have left in under a year if gerstner hadn't planted his foot in the rear end of this company. He made some decisions that many employees feel were unfair and unjust but if you look at our benefits package and perk system compared to many of our peers in industry it is still one of the best. We have more employees at IBM now then when he joined. Even after the big layoff. He was good for IBM. Is he a god of business? No... but all in all he was good for IBM..... Every CEO makes too much money. No one person is worth as much as many of our elite CEO's are being paid.
Rating:
Summary: Win, Execute, Team - He did it, He Tells It
Review: A previous reader review suggested that Mr. Gerstner's was out of touch and if readers want the real story they should read Soldier of Fortune 500. Who better than Mr. Gerstner, the man responsible for turning IBM around to write about it? Who Say's Elephants Can Dance is wonderfully candid and well written (and by Mr. Gerstner himself, without the assistance of a ghost writer). I particularly liked the passages on "inspect versus expect," managing by principles vs. process, focus on core competency and impact of culture and how to change it. These can be applied to any company. I am author of Soldier of Fortune 500. In fact, my book is very positive about Mr. Gerstner and what he did for IBM. I think the Gerstner book is brilliant and would recommend it to all. Rather than contradicting, my book echoes similar themes, albeit the employee view vs. CEO. Steve Romaine
Author, Soldier of Fortune 500
Rating:
Summary: I Dont Think That Elephant was "Dancing"
Review: Of course elephants dont dance - they drop stuff on the floor and everyone walks around it pretending not to notice the stink. The problem with Lou Gerstner is that he didnt realize everyone was pretending not to notice his smell. I go with the reviewers who will not buy this book - I looked at it and it made me sick. Why? Because it honors he who did not honor his employees. This book is about a self-centered megalomaniac who thinks in this most aggrandizing way that change comes from the top. First there was no change here. IBM grew during a period where anyone in the computer business would grow. Secondly, anyone who knows anything about leadership knows that real business change and innovation does not cascade down through the organization from the top, any more than change cascades through all of society. If you look closely at successful change efforts in American organizations, you will see that the innovation started from the middle and spread outward. I just wonder how well IBM would have done had Gerstner actually been being a real leader? Don't buy this book thinking you will learn how to manage an organization for the benefit of anyone but yourself. If you plan to get rich at the expense of your employers and stockholders, if you plan to reduce the size and morale of your organization, if you intend to create fear or doubt in your employees, or if you just like to stay out of touch with your employees and pass down non-sensical management edicts to hear yourself talk and impress yourself - hey this book and this mentor is for you. Good luck.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been so much better
Review: I wasn't surprised by the admission that IBM consisted of multiple fiefdoms with little communication between segments. I respect the man for what he accomplished, but there was so much more insight that could've been added. He should've used a ghost writer.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been much better
Review: Considering the career path that Lou Gerstner has followed this book doesnt come close to its potential.
That being said it is an interesting book about the turnaround for IBM and a few key insights of a high level CEO is shared with the reader. The book never comes really under the skin of neither IBM or Lou Gerstner, but ofcourse thats an opening for a sequal.
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Summary: Gerstner¿s Three IBM Lessons
Review: The most interesting part of Louis Gerstner's book is the three fundamentals that define a successful enterprise and executive. • They focus.
• They execute.
• They lead. First, companies and their executives that lack focus tend to be mediocre, Gerstner says. When they encounter tough times in their base businesses; they decide to enter new ones. Too many refuse met the challenge to resurrect, resuscitate, strengthen their base businesses and head off into uncharted waters. Second, getting things done, he says, is the most underappreciated skill of an effective business executive. Third, they lead by creating high performance cultures. They are visible, set goals, measure results and hold people accountable. This is a well-written book that Gerstner claims was compiled without the aid of a ghostwriter. So, not only can the former McKinsey & Co. executive focus, execute and lead, he can also write. IBM was a disaster when he was recruited to revive it. Few thought it could be done without breaking it into smaller pieces. The man who saw things differently has something to offer IBMers, former IBMers and investors.
Rating:
Summary: Who Says Elephants Can't Dance-??
Review: During the 1990's every computer company did well. I believe that Gerstner did a good thing when he expanded into the Global Services Unit. But I would not go as far as saying that he "saved" IBM corp from going bankrupt! He failed to mention how selfish and cruel he is in his book. He forgot to talk about the jet that he took as a going away gift from IBM corp upon retirement...In addition, he took an apartment in Manhatten, a large bonus, stock options just to mention a few. While he took from the corporation others had major salary cuts and layoffs. People have committed suicide because they lost their jobs. I didn't see any of that in his book about saving a company...at what cost!! He is the most hated and most selfish CEO. IBM employees all over the world cringe at his "good business" practices. I would recommend that you read this book at the bookstore. Don't buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Winner takes all!
Review: Great story telling on the Mainframe decision, selling unproductive assets, creating a new board, a global service enterprise, resetting the corporate compensation, acquiring Lotus, unstacking the stack, emergence of E-business, leading by principles, execution strategy, and elephants can dance. Much praise on Larry Ellison, Scott McNealy, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Andy Grove.... For the thousands of ex IBMers that lost jobs under his watch, one can read all the negative reviews here at Amazon.com. If these people work for one of them (Ellison, McNealy, ....), they will lose their jobs in a week.
This is 2003. Wake up, your guys. There is only one winner in any end game. Having said that, I would like to see a book on the inside take of IBM, about some of the missed opportunities.
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