Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book was recommended by a friend. I was very disappointed. Every chapter, I kept thinking, "Well, Duh!" Anybody who's been in business for more than two years already knows this stuff. I showed it to my boss, someone I consider a paragon of execution, and he basically said the same thing.I find books on coaching, communications and language, listening skills, psychology, teamwork, sales, NLP and the learning organization much more useful. One I particularly like is "Games Business Experts Play". "Execution" will tell you *that* you need to close the knowing-doing gap. "Games Business Experts Play" will teach you *how* to close it.
Rating: 
Summary: Execution is Critical
Review: Execution reminded me of the old maxim that common sense isn't. The best plan isn't worth more than the paper it's written on unless it's executed well, and this is something Execution's writers strive to keep in mind throughout the book. I found it well-written, constantly arguing that execution is vital. It's almost as good as Michael Levine's Guerilla PR: Wired, which deals with low-cost methods of highly successful public relations strategies.
Rating:
Summary: Common sense that many CEO's don't have!
Review: I thought this was a very well written book. While most of the book is common sense, I am always amazed at how often CEO's of large organizations miss these key elements. I would recommend this to anyone climbing the ladder. Employ this common sense and your career will go far. It is common to get caught up in the strategy and miss the boat on implementation! I would also recommend this to any CEO that sits in their office with the door closed. This book is a great reminder to get out there and implement the strategy you envisioned!
Rating: 
Summary: A different management book
Review: This was an atypical management book - rather than focus on "the idea that changes everything" or "the next revolution", it dives into the nuts and bolts of getting things done. In today's economy, this is what we need. The authors bring distinct viewpoints: Larry Bossidy has the hardnosed viewpoints of a product of the GE management machine. He lived through the GE execution culture and reapplied it at the Honeywell. Ram Charan displays the broader view of a business school professor with extensive senior level consulting. The book starts with a self evident description of why execution is needed. It moves into the types of behaviors a leader should exhibit, and how they set up the framework for change. It concludes with the three major processes an execution oriented leader should run: people, strategy and operations. Yes - the book is generic, but it has to be to reach a broad audience. The concept of focusing on all 3 areas: people, strategy and operations is obvious, but important. In the context of calling them processes - it becomes a discipline. The general management focus and need for ongoing persistance is valuable to people of all levels. There are some interesting ties to other management gurus. Tom Peters - as outlandish as he may be - is also big on getting things done. Deming's quality approach is ultimately about application. Collins in Built to Last focuses on execution - the steady and stable leader trumps the charistmatic showpiece. The ideas developed here have been building for some time. Their time to come to the front of every executive's thought is now. The book does have a few knocks:
- If Bossidy built such a great culture for success at Honeywell, why did it fall apart immediately after his exit?
- Is there any hard research behind this? (With a former Harvard and Kellogg alum, you'd expect some)
- There is much less focus on the customers than one would expect. Despite these small misgivings, this is most definitely a useful read for any manager or aspiring leader.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading!
Review: Bossidy is one of the best US CEOs and Charan is one of the best US professors. The combination is impeccable. Just like any management/leadership book, the subject is very dry. But the message is clearly delievered. All business students, managers and CEOs could benefit from this book. The "Execution" strategies such as Vivendi USA, Nissan Japan, and Bertlesmann USA were never discussed. The lack of global management execution is a major drawback of this book.
As a business professor and a business executive myself, I would use the book in my course and also recommend to all CEOs.
Rating: 
Summary: What a Disappointment!
Review: Let me start by saying that I really wanted to like this book. The subject matter is critically important and the quality of Larry Bossidy's career would give a reader every reason to believe that this book would be the real deal. The unfortunate reality, however, is that the writing is impenetrable and the book's organization is non-existent. One can only wonder about the extent of Bossidy's involvement; it's difficult to believe that it was more than cursory. I mean, how could someone so renowned for execution fail so spectacularly to execute the task of writing a coherent book? I won't catalog all of the book's faults since these reviews are limited to 1,000 words. A particularly irksome one, however, is the repeated, blatantly self-promotional references from and about the co-author that were bludgeoned into the manuscript. Almost as annoying is the abysmal quality of the writing. I've written a couple of business books myself, so I'm somewhat familiar with the process. It is amazing to me that this mush made it through any sort of editing process. Finally, let me just observe that it is unbelievable to me that anyone could be so humorless and/or clueless as to write a book titled "Execution" and not reference the classic quote on the subject from the late John McKay, former head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (If you've never heard it, email me and I'd be happy to share it with you.) Business readers are usually confronted with their own unique version of Hobbes' choice: You can choose an author who is knowledgeable but boring, or you can pick a buffoon like Tom Peters who is engaging and entertaining but has no idea what he's talking about. There's no question that Bossidy knows what he's talking about. Unfortunately, you'd be hard pressed to wade through the morass of this book's dense and unfocussed prose to find out what he has to say.
Rating:
Summary: Execution = success
Review: Execution is a great book! It is a must read for anyone serious about business. The authors define execution as follows "Execution is a systematic process of rigorously discussing the hows and whats, questioning, tenaciously following through and ensuring accountability." Execution provides a systematic framework for making sure strategy and execution go hand in hand to get results. The authors describe the three core processes that make up execution as the people process, the strategy process, and the operations process. Unless there is alignment in these processes there will not be effective execution. The book goes into a great level of detail on each of these processes and Larry Bossidy provides some great examples of how these processes work at GE and Honeywell. To prove their case the authors show a couple of very high profile execution success and failures. In light of many high level business failures recently it seems clear that these companies did not have a culture of execution nor were their top executives involved in how the company actually ran. The bottom line is that execution is a great book with great advice on getting things done and establishing accountability for results. Buy this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Very Misleading Title
Review: Much to my disappointment, this book was not a "how to" guide to efficient corporal punishment, but rather some new-agey twaddle about how to run your business. Don't be mislead by the title, there is almost no discussion of how to better conduct beheadings, firing squads, or hangings. Save your money!
Rating:
Summary: It's the real thing
Review: How many people can put Tom Peters, Jim Collins, Micheal Hammer, etc. in perspective? How many can say "a small industry of changemeisters has preached revolution, reinvention, quanum change, breakthrough thinking, audacious goals, learning organizations, and the like. We're not necessarily debunking this stuff. But unless you translate big thoughts into concrete steps for action, they're pointless."
I rated the book a four not on content but presentation. Beautiful concrete ideas that should be thought about and used.
Rating:
Summary: overstated in the WSJ
Review: This book could have been summarized in one chapter or less. Develop a strategy, translate to concrete action, engage people to execute the actions and follow up with them to see if they have done what you agreed to with them. Sounds simple and vague ? Indeed, in the end the book however does not get much more specific than that most of the time. The failures of some large businesses in complex market places, get boiled down to almost naive statements about a disconnect between the grand plan and the execution in the field.
The book has merit in the fact that it draws attention onto the mundane tasks of execution, as opposed to dealing with the too much talked about topic of strategy. That in and of itself is good in that it makes you pause and think.
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