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Summary: Book Worm
Review: I feel that everyone has something to gain from reading this book. It's concise, to the point and a quick read. The four disciplines are demonstrated with an easy to follow story. It looks great on paper, I can't wait until I get to put what I have learnt fron this book to practise. At this point in time, I am a bit sceptical, that these 4 extremely simple disciplines when practised consistently and diligently, can really work. I almost believe it. I want to believe it. Experience, will tel you that great things can be ahceived by teams that are aligned to the same purpose and goals.
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Summary: Even Better than the Five Temptations
Review: I got an early copy of this book -- and read it in two hours. It was a fun and enlightening but also really useful. The focus on the key "obsessions" every executive needs to pay attention to struck me as very true (like his other book>) I thought the slightly sinister quality of the story also reflected some of the "dark" side of business in an accurate way. (I especially enjoyed the machiavellian use of the 360 feedback -- I never trusted that instrument !) Overall,I loved this book and highly recommend it.
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Summary: Lencioni does it again
Review: In his follow up to The Five Temptations of a CEO, Lencioni once again captures the essence of what corporations, big and small, need to focus on in order to unleash their greatest potential. The disciplines outlined in this book are not a collection of individual habits from a hundred thousand executives, they represent, in my mind, the synthisis of what our great leaders today practice in everyday life. As an executive in Silicon Valley, I find myself incorporating these management disciplines not only with my company, but with the vendors, suppliers and partners we deal with on a regular basis. Lastly, ask yourself this question: "How important is it really that I be involved in the hiring process of my company's resources?"...read the book and get an eye-opener.Scott Sorochak
President, CEO
Jarna, Inc.
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Summary: Neglected, Vital Focuses of Executives
Review: Lencioni communicates through storytelling. Here, he unravels his four focuses of extraordinary executives by comparing two competitive CEO in consulting. By reducing the difference in the two enterprises to the two differing, contrasting focus styles, the author makes a strong case for spending more time on the "organizational health." This is where most will blow this vital area off. There ego and temperament is drawn to other areas, technology, strategy, etc. These four of a healthy organization: cohesive leadership team, organizational clarity, communicate this clarity and reinforce such clarity through human systems. Much to chew on, digest and see if it's worth trying.
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Summary: Neglected, Vital Focuses of Executives
Review: Lencioni communicates through storytelling. Here, he unravels his four focuses of extraordinary executives by comparing two competitive CEO in consulting. By reducing the difference in the two enterprises to the two differing, contrasting focus styles, the author makes a strong case for spending more time on the "organizational health." This is where most will blow this vital area off. There ego and temperament is drawn to other areas, technology, strategy, etc. These four of a healthy organization: cohesive leadership team, organizational clarity, communicate this clarity and reinforce such clarity through human systems. Much to chew on, digest and see if it's worth trying.
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Summary: Lencioni excels in clarity
Review: Lencioni's book extols the benefits of organizational clarity and is, in fact, written as a very clear and interesting tale of two competing organizations. "Obsessions.." stimulates thought and will motivate action for anyone responsible for the well being of their organization. Lencioni relays new insigts in each chapter. This book is a good read.
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Summary: Fable on Creating and Maintaining Organizational Clarity
Review: Like The Five Temptations of the CEO, Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive is a leadership fable. The key lessons are summarized in the end of the book along with directions for self-assessment. Mr. Lencioni tells us, 'If everthing is important, then nothing is.' He expands on that point by saying, 'The key to managing this challenge, of course, is to identify a reasonable number of issues that will have the greatest possible impact on the success of your organization and then spend most of your time thinking about, talking about, and working on those issues.' What, then, are these issues? Mr. Lencioni feels that they mostly fall into making the organization smarter and healthier. He points out that most leaders focus on the 'smarter' part, and generally ignore the 'healthier' subject. He also asserts that the 'healthier' issues are more important than the 'smarter' ones. He defines a healthy organization as one that eliminates politics and confusion. You can tell if this has been accomplished by watching to see if morale rises, employee turnover drops, and productivity growth accelerates. The key obsessions are: 1. Build and maintain a cohesive leadership team 2. Create organizational clarity 3. Over communicate organizational clarity 4. Reinforce organizational clarity through human systems. The book details the key elements of each obsession. The fable contains all of the key elements in the story. The fable is built around two competitive companies in the technology consulting business from the perspective of their CEOs. These men started their companies at around the same time after graduating from the same school. The more successful one obsesses on the four principles while the less successful one uses traditional focus areas. The tale builds when the more successful one makes a hiring mistake, and that mistake starts to undermine the organizational health of the company. In reading this book, you get the viewpoints of the CEO who doesn't get it, the new hire who doesn't get it, and the team members who do get it. These multiple perspectives make it easier to understand the lessons, and give texture to the discussion in the summary. I thought the book was quite successful in its focus, but whether these will be the key areas for all companies or not is less clear to me. The faster growing your business is and the greater the service component, the more relevant these lessons will be. You will have to decide for yourself whether you should focus primarily on these areas or not if you are CEO. My own experience is that a company should develop a perspective that encompasses a mission, vision, values, direction, strategy, tactics, and stakeholder commitments that are easy for everyone to grasp, are mutually supportive and consistent, are very motivating internally and externally, are easy to understand and explain, and create competitive advantages. I agree that most companies are beset with the communications stall, which is what this book addresses well. After you finish this book, I suggest you think about where you have a muddled understanding of what others are thinking, or they may be muddled about understanding your thinking. Then, decide how you can reduce those miscommunications in simple, effective ways.
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Summary: My favorite books
Review: My favorite kind of books are the kind that keep me page-turning. And I'm pleasantly surprised to find that feature in a business book. 'Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive' isn't a typical business tome, full of sleepy terminology. Instead it engaged me and kept me wondering what the characters would do next--and what they would learn from it!
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Summary: Only four things should keep leaders awake at night.
Review: Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive is a story that brings to life the four principles which lie at the foundation of my consulting practice. It is the result of years of work as a management consultant and executive within many different organizations.
I originally decided to write this book because I have seen too many organizations develop great products and strategies, and then fail to capitalize on them because of a lack of something I call "organizational health." A healthy organization, according to my definition, is one that is relatively free of politics, confusion and wasted energy. It is generally marked by high morale, low turnover and high productivity. The purpose of this book is to help leaders of all kinds, whether they head multi-national companies, departments within companies, or small entrepreneurial ventures, make their organizations healthier. The reason I chose to write the book as a fable is because I believe that people learn best when they are engrossed in something that is compelling on its own merits. There are so many wonderful business books out there that, for one reason or another, are rather long and dryly written. Because of my own struggles in trying to digest the valuable information in those books, I decided that I would crystallize my thinking into relatively short, fictional stories which present my ideas in a realistic yet compelling way. Based on the reaction to my first book, The Five Temptations of a CEO, I am very glad that I chose to do so. I hope you are, too.
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Summary: Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive
Review: Once again the fable format of Pat Lencioni serves as an idea delivery method for some profound executive learning points. The story was engaging and memorable. Consequently, the four disciplines model was easily recounted by my management team in conversation weeks after reading the book. I recommend Lencioni's latest work as well as his initial book, The Five Temptations of a CEO, for fostering meaningful discussions on leadership and corporate values among any management or supervisory team.
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