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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.
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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.
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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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Summary: Lou Meets The "Bolsheviks"
Review: I got what I was looking for in this book - Mr. Gerstner's personal view on the challenges he met at IBM and what he did to protect its new life from what he called IBM's Bolsheviks. He is very forward about the fact this is from his view point. He even wondered up front if anyone would want to read about his day at the office! In particular, the section on culture should be required reading in any graduate level class. His practical and experienced view supports what the theorists have been telling us for some time - culture is the driving force to the organization. As a book, it's a short read since a significant portion of it are the appendixes. While his prose comes across as personable, his own description of himself does make him come across as someone who may have been a very cool cookie having to take the hard stand. What's most interesting is the history he reveals of a company which became arrogant and distant from its customers - that "history" is being played out right now by Microsoft. When you read about how IBM managed its pricing with its contribution to poor sales prior to Gerstner's arrival, you can't help but wonder if Bill Gates is paying attention since he's doing close to the same thing with his new licensing policies. Yes, we repeat history if it's not studied, and for a direct, to the point account of near death experience IBM had, this is a good read. I gave it one star less than five because towards the end (the last 40 pages or so) it began to get a bit repetitive with themes he already had in the earlier part.
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Summary: Honest and Impressive
Review: It is interesting to see the difference in reviews between those who stayed at IBM and have benefitted and those who didn't. This book is not self-aggrandizing or disengenuous. Sure, he is taking credit, but he is also sharing credit with his fellow IBMers. By any objective standard or measure, what Gerstner accomplished during his tenure at IBM is of historic and lasting importance. His clear and direct style both as a leader and author are refreshing and the lessons in this book are sorely needed in a business world that has been poisoned by snake-oil artists, reckless financial management, moral lapses, and just plain sick leadership. Bravo Louis Gerstner, and long live your legacy at IBM!
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Summary: ABUSING THE ELEPHANT
Review: I have not and will not buy this book. Gerstner's approach was pure abuse, such as the way some animal trainers get wild animals to perform. Gerstner was able to rid IBM of company loyalty, sacrifice investment in future products for immediate profitability, and bloat the salaries of a select few while making "the most important resource" totaly expendable. He is a perfect example of the greedy CEO's who only understand how to pad their personal assets at the sacrifice of the corporation and its employees.
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Summary: For the REAL IBM story, read "Soldier of Fortune 500"
Review: Sorry, but the CEO of any company is always so totally out of touch with the guys on the street it isn't funny. Compare IBM of 20 years ago with what it is today. Years ago you got a job with Big Blue and you were set for life. Not today. I'm always amazed at the books written by CEO's of companies that are anything but success stories. Read "Soldier" and find out what really happened.
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Summary: Not what I hoped for
Review: I was eager to read this book since my career at IBM spanned the Gerstner era. I liked the first three parts describing what problems he had when he started at IBM and what he did about them. The later parts I found less interesting and the copies of internal memos at the back put me to sleep just like they did when I worked at IBM. I think a real history would be a lot more interesting.
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Summary: A must-read for all of IBM's competitors
Review: IBM is still in awe of Gerstner. In the 1990s, the board voted to award him ridiculously excessive retirement benefits -- such as the use of a company jet whenever he wants -- so you can bet that his words will continue to be treated like tablets of stone for years to come, much as those of the two Thomas Watsons used to be. The joy for all of IBM's competitors, and perhaps dismay for IBM's partners and employees, to be found here are threefold: 1. That IBM will continue to run its entire operation as a portfolio, getting in and out of businesses as soon as they seem unattractive, which in IBM-speak means one, or at most two years of declining sales. This is almost the exact opposite of Microsoft's approach. To succeed in the IT industry, you need to show exceptional commitment to your customers and partners -- to demonstrate that they can safely invest in your products because you're still going to be in that business for five, if not many more, years. 2. That IBM will continue to believe that open is good and proprietary is bad. Before Gerstner, IBM believed in open, standard interfaces between products; now in Gerstner's world, it says it believes in open standards within products. One wonders how long it will take IBM to realise that if it pursues this belief to its logical conclusion, everything proprietary will be stripped out -- in other words, there will be no added value in IBM products that you can't get anywhere else. 3. That IBM continues to believe its best strategy is as an integrator of other firm's piece-parts rather than as a creator of the best piece-parts itself. More than once in the book, Gerstner says this is where he believes the IT industry is headed. He needs to look back at IBM's history. IBM kicked off the desktop PC industry by being the integrator that brought together the piece-part suppliers Intel and Microsoft. What is happening now? The original integrator, IBM, is slowly withdrawing from the desktop market, while Intel and Microsoft increasingly dominate the processor and operating system markets. I strongly disapprove of much of what Gerstner has left IBM with. However, unlike one reviewer here, I cannot criticise him for avoiding the topic of IBM's WWII involvement with the Nazis. There is a common feeling among the IBMers I talk to that, though the involvement was awful and reprehensible, it cannot be blamed on today's IBMers, none of whom worked for the company during 1939-1945, and none of whom have gained from that terrible episode.
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Summary: A light read with not a lot of depth
Review: As an IBMer who joined in the mid-1990s, I enjoyed the book as a light read and an accurate account of the cultural transformation which has touched all of us insiders in some fashion or other. I found particularly entertaining a short "IBM lingo" section, with many sayings that I had assumed were part of the everyday business vocabulary. However, I would have liked more depth and detail throughout Mr. Gerstner's account. Overall the book feels a bit light in many areas, with few references to anecdotes, actual examples, and names of actual people (other than the few who are praised). As a result, the narrative does feel a bit detached and fails to grab the reader emotionally... You can't really feel the "passion" and the "struggle" that must have permeated Mr. Gerstner's day-to-day life as he was moving to transform the company. I would recommend the book, particularly since it can be easily digested over a couple of weekends and makes for an interesting and entertaining read.
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