Rating: 
Summary: The biggest pile, both man and book.
Review: "Gerstner quarterbacked one of history's most dramatic corporate turnarounds." This is nothing but a load of . . . . The fact is IBM turned around as the economy turned around, and did it slower than most companies. To make people believe he was doing something, Neutron Lou got rid of bodies, and that is all he did. "When I said in August of 1993 that the last thing IBM needed right now was a vision..." This was an appropriate statement because as far as turning the company around was concerned, (little) Lou did not have any vision. The only vision he had was how to get rich by using inflated earnings to inflate the stock price. This was Lou's only reason for being at IBM, a golden opportunity to make millions at the expense of laid off employees and stockholders who are still holding stock. ""Lou Gerstner saved IBM, period," the Times wrote." An example of one corporate giant scratching another corporate giant's back. This kind of hogwash is what resulted in the accounting scandals that have recently been publicized. No one had the . . . to say what really happened. "Gerstner said his retirement from IBM will not be affected by shareholder concerns about executive compensation. In recent months, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch has come under fire as details of his retirement package were made public during divorce proceedings. Welch later gave up some of his perks, such as a New York apartment. When asked whether he was worried about his own package, Gerstner replied, "Not a bit. Not a bit."" Do you really thing someone who fleeced a company for 500 million dollars has any concern for what anyone thinks? How can this type of person capitalize even more on the hype that was his career? Why not write a book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Turnaround of the Century
Review: While at IBM Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. developed a reputation for arrogance and for being aloof. One would never suspect this from reading his book, in which the author gives generous credit to the many thousands of people who created the IBM Corporation and to many others, by name, who helped to save and resurrect it. As a former IBM executive who took early retirement twenty years ago, just as the company's bureaucracy was starting to strangle the organization, I was fascinated to learn how that bureaucracy spread and the extremes to which it went, creating a culture that
led to committee decisions, tacit compromise, and actions taken to protect oneself. Even more interesting is the rapidity with which Louis Gerstner disgnosed the sickness of the company and administered tough medicine. Despite IBM's condition, Gerstner saw it correctly not only as a business enterprise but as a "national treasure" well worth restoring. Unlike Jack Welch's adolescent "Jack: Straight From the Gut", this book focuses on the processes of leadership and management, the elements of strategic choice, and the decision process. But it speaks also to the issue of corporate culture, at IBM a culture based on values rather than just on being first. As a recovering IBMer I salute Mr. Gerstner for his achievements,
and as a reader I applaud him for this exceptional contribution to the business book genre.
Rating:
Summary: an entertaining read
Review: i'm currently reading "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?" by lou gerstner... so far it's an excellent and insightful read, especially from the standpoint of someone who's worked w/ and competed against ibm for the last two decades... having been a customer, a var, a fierce competitor (dell online) and a partner (numerous times both w/ the old and new ibm) i can comfortably state that they are much better today then they've ever been, and from an i.t. perspective they are strategically a very safe bet to partner w/ as a customer today then they ever have been... their strategy regarding web services (walking the line between j2ee and .net) is brilliant and their turnaround, technological improvement and marketing campaign regarding webshere vs. bea is amazing, especially considering that webshere in the early days of the web was a complete and utter waste of time... reading lou's "story" regarding the last decade is very entertaining as well as educational for anyone interested in the i.t. and computer industries...
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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!
Rating: 
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.)
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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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