Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan – Book Review

This month’s book review is ‘Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done’ by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan.  

Whilst this book is a not a recent one, being published 20 years ago, several of the companies are no longer household names, the stories and lessons remain as relevant today as they were then. I came across this book as it was recommended in another book I read by the COO of Lego and that book will be a feature of a future book review. 

Larry Bossidy was a former Chairman and CEO of Honeywell, and Ram Charan was a renowned business consultant, who wrote ‘What the CEO wants you to know’ and they team up to deliver an insightful guide to business leadership seeking actionable strategies to turn plans into results. 

Michael Dell, the Chairman and CEO of Dell, provided a quote for the book and said ‘If you want to be a CEO – or if you are a CEO and want to keep your job – read Execution and put its principles to work’ 

At its heart, the book argues that the most critical aspect of business success is the ability to execute strategies effectively. Execution is not merely a tactical function but a discipline integral to leadership. It involves aligning people, strategy, and operations to achieve measurable results. 

There are a number of key themes: 

 

The Leadership Mindset 

The book emphasises the importance of leaders who are deeply involved in their businesses, not just as strategists but as implementers. They highlight the need for leaders to ask tough questions, hold people accountable, and ensure alignment across the organisation. 

 

Building the Right Team

Execution begins with assembling the right people. They stress the value of candid performance evaluations, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and fostering a culture of honesty and accountability. 

 

The Three Core Processes 

Execution focuses on three critical processes: 

People: Ensuring the right talent is in place,  

Strategy: Developing actionable and realistic plans and  

Operations: Aligning resources and processes to execute effectively. 

 

Candid Conversations 

Bossidy and Charan advocate for open, honest communication within teams. This approach minimises misunderstandings, fosters trust, and ensures that everyone is working toward the same goals. 

 

The book contains a number of real-world examples and anecdotes from their careers to illustrate the principles of effective execution. I think it is important not to get hung up on the names of the businesses and what they did and when these strategies were undertaken, but rather the messaging and stories: 

Some of the examples are: 

Honeywell’s Turnaround 

Larry discusses his experience leading the turnaround of Honeywell. He emphasises the importance of understanding the organization’s operational details and fostering accountability. He focused on identifying gaps in execution by delving into the specifics of performance metrics, talent evaluations, and operational inefficiencies. By regularly meeting with teams and holding candid discussions, he ensured alignment between strategy and execution. 

 

Eckerd Drug Stores 

One such example was Eckerd Drug Stores, which suffered due to its lack of attention to execution. It had a solid strategy but failed to align its people and operations with its strategic objectives. This misalignment caused delays in store renovations, supply chain issues, and missed growth opportunities. The key takeaway was that execution requires detailed follow-through and constant monitoring of progress at every level of the organisation. 

 

CEO Visits to Front Lines 

Bossidy shares stories about spending time on the ground to understand business operations. For example, as a CEO, he would visit factories and sales teams to grasp the real challenges employees faced. These visits helped build trust, ensured transparency, and allowed for quicker resolution of issues that might otherwise have been overlooked by upper management. 

 

The Home Depot’s People Strategy 

The book examines how The Home Depot underperformed due to a lack of focus on its workforce and execution processes. The company’s leadership failed to invest in its frontline employees and did not align its people strategy with operational needs. 

 

Throughout the book, the authors revisit the importance of the three core processes—people, strategy, and operations—by showing how companies succeed or fail based on their ability to align these elements. For example, they discuss companies that excel in developing strategic plans but fail because they do not integrate these plans into day-to-day operations or lack the right people to carry them out. I think we have all seen plenty of examples where this has happened. 

 

The examples collectively highlight the need for leaders to focus on the nitty-gritty of execution and not just high-level strategy.  

The book contains real-life examples from personal experiences, and actionable insights and practical advice that leaders can implement, but there is an emphasis on accountability. The book is primarily aimed at senior leaders, the principles of execution but can be read by people at all levels to adopt a results-oriented mindset. 

It is a decent book with practical advice and takeaways and if it just makes people think more about executing the strategy rather than just producing a strategy, it has done its job. 

I will leave you with a few quotes attributed, rightly or wrongly, to certain people on the subject of strategy and execution: 

 

“Strategy without execution is hallucination.” – Thomas Edison 

“The best strategy is worthless if it’s not executed well.” – Michael Porter 

“The best leaders are masters of execution.” – Robin Sharma 

Contact Us

Please enter your name.
Please enter a valid email address.
Please enter a valid phone number.
Please type your message.