Rating: 
Summary: The secret rules of the game
Review: In an era of demanding pressures to become more efficient and highly productive in order to keep one's job, this book is the bible for anyone who wants to succeed in the new corporate environment. It brings out the truth behind the scenes of the management ranks and allows anyone from the bottom to the top to understand the rules of success. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan did a fantastic job breaking down in easily understandable sections the discipline of execution, with numerous examples that make it clear how to incorporate it into our own behaviours. From the begining of the book I was able to quickly understand how to refocus in my job to execute rather than just work. What this book gives you is the ability to enjoy your work and succeed in it while gaining the respect of your peers and the appreciation of your management.
Rating: 
Summary: School Report - Promising, but must work harder?
Review: As some of the other reviewers have stated this seems little light on the real "how to get things done" part. I cannot disagree with anything that is said here and if you are new to the idea of dealing with fact, tactics, and action, then this is a good primer to soften you up before getting into action. But it still left me feeling that so much has been left out. This is like the presentation you get that is followed by three times as long on the Q&A session as we all ask loads of questions. I think the guys know their stuff but I doubt they have put much time into this and the poor old ghost writer has been burning the midnight oil to shape this one up. I could have been like Gary Hamel's "Leading the Revolution" with so much more check-lists and key question templates. I think the authors would be dissapointed with how this one worked out if they were not already making shed-loads of money at the day-jobs. Still I guess it kept Charles Burck busy and gainfully employed
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Summary: Glossy version of getting things done.
Review: I though the book was a good quick read. As you will see in other reviews, the book tended towards generalities. It's key ideas are excellent, but not new. The linkage bewteen vision, strategy, and operational plans is well done. There are a lot of annecdotes, and some numbers and examples. The book tends to stay in the rarified air of CEO strategy. The book draws heavily from the GE experience and on information in Welch's books.I also saw strong parallels to the topics discussed in the Malcolm Baldrige criteria (linkage, strategy, plans, resources) and systems thinking (Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline). I think this is good as an introductory book and in providing context, then move on to other books for the meat of the subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new or original
Review: I did not find anything new or original in this book. The authors start off talking about "The Gap Nobody Knows" (by Gap they mean Execution) and go on to say that "countless companies are less than they could be because of poor execution, and the gap between promises and results is widespread and clear ... as if no one has ever heard about the words strategy and implementation and execution before. I don't know of a single manager worth his/her salt who hasn't heard and doesn't know about the importance of execution. The authors try to grab attention by coining and explaining terms like asset velocity which is just another name for asset turnover ... a metric that has been in existence almost as long as accounting itself. They spend an inordinate amount of time explaining how and why Dell Computer Corporation has a low cost structure and efficient operations - as if we hadn't already heard this from numerous sources over all the decades that Dell has been in business. They pontificate that "unless you translate big thoughts into concrete steps for action, they're pointless," and use negativisms like "if you don't know how to execute, the whole of your effort as a leader will always be less than the sum of its parts." All these are age old ideas already beaten to death in business literature. I couldn't find anything new or original. This book might be worth spending your time on if you have never read another management book and don't know how to search for a really good one either.
Rating: 
Summary: An OK Business Book
Review: "Execution" is an OK book for those who want to read about business. The authors point out that many CEOs are very intelligent, great at strategy, and come from top business schools, but they fail to implement their plans, often because the people they manage don't do anything to execute the plans. Bossidy and Charan write: "... unless you translate big thoughts into concrete steps for action, they're pointless." And, good CEOs say "unless I can make this happen, it's not going to matter." The authors see execution as the missing link between aspirations and results. In particular, strategy must be broken down into doable initiatives. For example, anyone can say his goal is to grow profits by 10%. But, where is that 10% going to come from? Which products to which customers? What steps are you going to take to market the products? The authors argue that you should focus upon three or four priorities. The authors say that if you have ten priorities you don't know what priorities are. Of course, the same logic can be used to say you really only have one priority. But, I fundamentally agree. Once you've got six or more priorities, it's easy to only do the ones you really want to do while the really important ones don't get finished. If you write the top three, you might find none is particularly fun, but they're all really important. Selecting the right people for the right job is crucial, as is following thorough to see that your goals are implemented. A good chunk of a CEO's time should be spent hiring and developing people. Technical people sometimes don't make great leaders because developing people really doesn't interest them. This said, if you're well-read about business, and, especially, if you've read "Good To Great," "Primal Leadership," and "First Break All The Rules," you might find little that's truly new in this book. Peter Hupalo
Author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur"
Rating: 
Summary: Good idea but flawed EXECUTION
Review: This book really fills a gap.
However, the authors attention to detail (e.g. inventory turns of Dell compared to compeditors) or hip-fire conclusions (355% return on equity is great - ok. we forgot to check the debt to equity ratio) diminishes its value much.
Try again and bring us a updated, carefully edited and checked version of a text much needed.
Still worth a read for its overall idea if you are versed enough in finance etc. to see the parts that are just no proof for the statements made by the authors.
rs
Rating:
Summary: An important, easy read for all managers
Review: Yes. This book is filled with common sense ideas and information. It's simple stuff that I have never seen implemented well in any corporate environment I've worked in. A simple thing like accountability is all too rare in my experience. I've never had a lot of influence over the inner workings of my employers. But I can incorporate the important, simple ideas in my small sphere of influence. "Execution" is worth the few hours to read it. Then spend an hour deciding how to implement a few of the simple ideas well-presented here.
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Summary: What is Execution?
Review: As the authors point out, many people say or think "of course you need to execute" without a clear understanding of how to make that happen. The authors here do a great job illustrating how a leader can execute. This is the first book I have read that clearly shows what interdependence should exist among strategy, operations, and the people process. And, in fact, these relationships are the key to execution. I highly recommend this book to people who can and want to make their organizations execute better and to people who are in executing organizations who want to better understand why their organizations execute.
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Summary: This one is written for a Fortune 500 CEO.... Only!
Review: I love to read business leadership books like these. I'm not a CEO, rather a middle manager. Usually, I can find something valuable to a person in my position when I read books like Execution. This book was a big exception! The ideas in this book are fuzzy, big picture type recommendations. I cannot say that I got anything really from reading this book. If you're like me, in a leadership position much closer to the front lines, you'll get more execution information from the book "Getting Things Done", by David Allen. I put that stuff to use right away and haven't stopped.
Rating:
Summary: The one book that gave me results
Review: I've read a lot of business books. Usually they all say the same thing. Execution was different. It completely changed my thinking. I run a small-medium size software business. Like everyone these days our profits have been way down in the last 2 years. Morale was suffering. We had meeting after meeting trying to think up the next great product, how to improve our marketing. When I read Execution it all started to gel. We had lost our focus. We were still thinking all that New Economy hype. What we really needed to do is what Bossidy calls "creating a culture of execution" at the office. I made everyone in our office read the book. I even gave one to our secretary. I followed the book's advice and called a meeting outlining changes we had to make. Within weeks I could see a difference in our productivity and morale. We're all getting more engaged in goal-setting and focusing on achieving those goals. I really owe it to this book. Who knows, maybe some day we'll match Bossidy's golden numbers!"
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