I have not read the other book(s) by Jack Welch so cannot comment on how this fares wrt to the others but as far as "Winning" by Jack Welch is concerned , the book is an easy read. It is very simple , conversational almost. It imparts business wisdom without usage of big terms and complex chapters.It covers a gamut of topics relevant to employees, employers , leaders , managers and businesses/organizations.
The ideas are not new mostly common sense ( which is uncommon ! ) inputs yet delivered/accompanied with anecdotes which drive home the key points he makes. It may seem like the book glosses over a lot of ground and I think it does. In depth coverage is definitely not the goal here. Instead it covers a broad range of topics which include personal values in business, company practices , handling competition and career related questions. Being a book by Jack Welch I did expect more on the Six Sigma success but he gives a 30,000 foot level view which was disappointing. The frank inputs on work-life balance are refreshing although not satisfying.
The book's front cover line "No other management book will ever be needed," by Warren Buffet is surprising and not deserved.
Some learning's from the book
1. About values and mission - Mission is how we intend to win in this mission and values are the 'how' of the mission , the means to the end.
2. Importance of candor - mentions that lack of candor blocks smart ideas , fast action and good people contributing all they can.
3. Differentiation - 20/70/10 Rule to pick out the best people : 20 % are the top performers who should be rewarded and recognized, The middle 70% is the heart of the company who should be encouraged and worked on to improve and the bottom 10% who should be trimmed
4. Leadership - this quote covers the main theme - "Before you became a leader , success is about growing yourself. After you became a leader success is about growing others."
5. Hiring - Mentions a framework for hiring that includes what he calls - 4E's and 1 P - +ve Energy , Ability to energize others, Edge ( Courage to make tough Y/N decisions ) ,Execution ability and Passion.He believes HR in a company should be elevated to a position of power.
6. Emphasises on importance of a clean , simple and powerful evaluation system that is relevant and not an exercise in paper pushing.
7. Crisis Management - Most managers waste a lot of time at the outset of a crisis denying something went wrong ! How true !
8. Strategy - the 5 slide questions
9. Budgeting should not be a negotiated settlement where both sides jostle and agree on a settlement nor a phony smile exercise that head quarters uses to push on people the budget and expected results.1. What the playing field looks like now2. What your competitor has been upto3. What you've been upto4. What's around the corner5. What's your winning move
10. On organic growth mentions that companies have a habit of sending expendable people to run new ventures instead of sending the best !
11. Beware of deal heat which in which a merger or acquisition can be seen as the last best deal. For employees - Resisting a deal , no matter how scared , confused or angry one is is suicidal to career as well as emotional well being.
12. Six Sigma is a quality program that improves customers' expectations lowers costs and builds better leaders.
13. Mentions that finding a right job is often an iterative process and there are no perfect jobs. There will always be some trade offs.
14. In any bad boss situation you cannot let yourself be a victim.
1 comment:
Nice review. I like the way you've summed up the key learnings from the book! Btw welcome to the blogging world!
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