The Academy and the Company
Having experienced this phenomenon over the last year or so, I can safely attest to its accuracy. The shift between academic life and business life is stark, challenging, and effulgent.

The scholarly life requires deep rumination, careful consideration, and an ability to distill complexity into simplicity so that others might learn. In terms of delivery, the academic certainly has deadlines, but responsibility falls on one’s self. There are no clear and present responsibilities toward others; only your grade is on the line.

Business, on the other hand, remains rooted in thought, but holds a fiduciary responsibility to others. To succeed, one must connect strategy with action. You must constantly prove your worth to those with which you hold agreements. Failure to execute means failure to remain gainfully employed.

While I mean no harm to the academic life and I admit I will always continue my scholarly pursuits, I bring up the differences between business and the academy to accent a central point: those in business are in constant need of linking thought to action, or put differently, practice what they’ve promised.

With Execution, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan provide a framework for getting things done in the business world.

How to Practice What You’ve Promised

Whether a Fortune 500 leader or a small business CEO, Bossidy and Charan contend that the greatest challenge for leaders is to move from effective strategy to flawless application.

Brainstorming is easy; outlining opportunities is simple. But when it comes to follow through, the Devil is in the details as it is said.

“Execution is not just tactics—it is a discipline and a system. It has to be built into a company’s strategy, its goals, and its culture” (6).

Bossidy and Charan suggest a systematic, hands-on approach from leaders. Too much distance and employees have no direction. Too suffocating an approach and employees cannot work creatively to bring perspective to a project.

“The leader must be in charge of getting things done by running the three core processes—picking other leaders, setting the strategic direction, and conducting operations. These actions are the substance of execution, and leaders cannot delegate them regardless of the size of the organization” (24).

While a leader must be involved to ensure execution, she must learn to ask the right questions to help her employees remain on track. She must also follow up. Her employees need to know the plan, to understand the process for reviews, and to have a clear sense of deliverables connected to a concrete timeline. With anything less, employees feel lost in a sea of ambiguity.

A Culture of Execution

Stated in an earlier quote, execution also entails properly defined culture. The leader must engrain the philosophy of execution into the fabric of a firm. This process might mean firing some people—inevitably, not everyone holds the same values and regrettably, not everyone wants to contribute to results. The ability to diagnose problems and to work with people to help them find a vocational fit will not only influence bottom-line results, but it will also contribute to healthy morale.

Ultimately, any business is a collection of human beings. Your culture is directly tied to people.

“An organization’s human beings are its most reliable resource for generating excellent results year after year. Their judgments, experiences, and capabilities make the difference between success and failure” (109).

To generate a healthy culture, a leader must know his people, he must engage in open dialogue with them, and ultimately he must have faith that they can get things done.

Getting Things Done

As I am currently discovering, execution is a learned trait, not a talent. With dedication, theories become results, recommendations turn to actions, and ultimately, execution precedes success. With the utmost respect for the academic world, it takes experience in the crucible of the marketplace to truly understand how to deliver in a timely manner and with quality. If you are looking for some guidance on how not only to organize your business life, go read Execution.

Originally published at http://www.wherepenmeetspaper.com

This was a pretty good book, but it didn't contain anything that I considered "new" material. It reminded me of the Peter Drucker books I read in the 1980s and 90s. If you are unfamiliar with business management literature, this can be a good intro. There are many things pointed out that are often overlooked in business and will certainly be of help if you are in a management (supervisory or planning) position in a medium to large company. For me, however, this was old hat.

This is a vintage read from the early 2000s. It is directed towards CEOs and those who want to be CEOs. All that aside, I enjoyed it and I have retrieved some useful nuggets of information that I am able to apply in my current position which is far from the CEO suite. It is a good thing to view the world of work from the top level instead of the trenches. It tends to help put things into perspective for us working guys.

Honestly, the rating would be shy of 4 (if there was an option to go with 3.5, that is what I would choose). Two things I learnt outside of what I read in this book - a) if the Goodreads rating is much less than 4, it is probably for a reason, b) Not all recommendations should be trusted.

The book does make some good points about superior execution through a trifecta of people, strategy and operations. But I feel a lot of this is known ideas - only articulated in words here. The authors also do end up rambling in quite a few places - e.g. when talking about memos sent to leaders in their respective organizations. Plus, stay "high level" in select chapters e.g. operationalization of strategic plan (ironical that that is what they caution leaders against).

For what it's worth, I did make some notes as I went along:

⁃ you cant hand over the people process to HR, you need to manage the reviews / careers
⁃ Fastrack and reward those that do well ; ask questions to open up horizons

Building blocks - 3
Leadership behaviors

⁃ Know your people and your business: reviewing people’s work is a way of showing them that you care
⁃ Insist on realism: dont be disengaged with your company and market realities
⁃ Set clear goals / priorities: leader should have at best 4-5 priorities which guide the organization
⁃ Follow through
⁃ Reward the doers
⁃ Expand people’s capabilities through coaching
⁃ Know yourself : be ready to accept your mistakes / better ideas, avoid building a coterie of yay-sayers, be authentic

Changing the culture of an org
⁃ question the fundamental beliefs (which drive behaviors) than the values (which are rarely wrong)
⁃ Link performance to rewards. You should reward not only the achievement in numbers, but also the right behaviors. Also non financial goals (building the right org, diversity etc.)
⁃ Reward in year performance with cash, reward potential with stock options
⁃ It is important to work on both the hardware and the software of the org

Leader’s role in people development
⁃ Leaders need to spend at least 40 percent of their time and emotional energy in selecting, appraising and developing people
⁃ Leaders need to be high energy
⁃ Leaders need to make tough decisions even if unpopular
⁃ Leaders get things done through others.

Three key processes in the org:

People processes
⁃ most organization’s people processes are backward looking. They evaluate performance rather than potential
⁃ Leadership assessment is a mix of both performance and behaviors (eg collaboration). Plus also looks at continuous improvement (focuses on development needs), retention risk and succession depth (are there high potential people to take over key leadership roles)
⁃ Assessing capability on four key areas : functional skills, business skills, management skills, leadership skills

Strategy process
⁃ It should be possible to describe the strategy of a business unit on a page, listing out its “building blocks”
⁃ Milestones should be clearly laid out
⁃ It is important to balance both near term and long term when building a strategy. The short term actions should provide the fuel for driving long term objectives

Questions to ask in a strategy review
⁃ what is the competition up to and likely to do next eg which people are at the top / have been recently added, and what areas will they focus on.
⁃ Is the org geared up to deliver the strategy?
⁃ Is the plan scattered or focused?
⁃ Are we choosing the right ideas?
⁃ Is the strategic plan accounting for likely operational challenges

This book was a bizarre mix of really solid advice with things that, after reading Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A'S, Praise and Other Bribes absolutely grated on me. I made it half way through in 6 weeks and threw in the towel. Too many other books to be read.

This is my first read of 2025! I have had this book on my TBR list for a while now and am glad I finally flipped the last page.

In Execution, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan emphasize that execution is not just about making plans—it is the lifeblood that turns strategy into reality. The book argues that many organizations fail not because they lack good strategies but because they struggle to implement them effectively. According to the authors, execution is a systematic process that links people, strategy, and operations, ensuring that businesses consistently deliver results.


The authors highlight that three essential components underpin execution:

1. People – The right people must be in the right roles, with clear expectations and accountability. Execution starts with leaders who know their teams intimately and develop them to perform at their best.

2. Strategy – A well-crafted strategy is only useful if it is realistic, actionable, and continuously adapted based on execution feedback. Leaders must translate high-level strategies into clear goals that can be acted upon.

3. Operations – Day-to-day activities, processes, and resource allocations must be aligned with strategic objectives. Leaders must focus on setting priorities, monitoring performance, and ensuring that execution remains a discipline within the organization.


For these three processes to work together effectively, organizations need what the authors call "social software"—the culture, habits, and mechanisms that drive execution. This includes:

1. Robust Dialogue – Open and candid discussions where employees and leaders can challenge assumptions, debate ideas, and align on decisions based on reality rather than hierarchy or politics.

2. Accountability – Ensuring that commitments made during planning translate into actions, with clear ownership of responsibilities and follow-through.

3. Personal Connection – Leaders must stay close to their teams, understand challenges at all levels and show employees how their contributions tie into the bigger strategic vision of the organization.

4. Emotional Fortitude: leaders with emotional fortitude actively engage with their teams, ask the right questions, and face uncomfortable truths about their organization’s performance. This honesty ensures that execution efforts are grounded in reality rather than wishful thinking.


Taken together, execution is a discipline, not an afterthought—it requires constant attention and adaptation.

Strategy without execution is meaningless; execution ensures that goals translate into real-world impact.

Leadership is deeply involved in execution—setting direction and ensuring teams stay aligned, motivated, and accountable.

Follow-through is critical—decisions must be made and carried out, tracked, and refined based on results.

Un libro que enseña el manejo multidisciplinar sobre los procesos, la gente y estrategias para definir un objetivo y como llevarlo a cabo en la práctica. Hace ver también la importancia global de las cosas para ver de diferente maneras las mejores decisiones a tomar y ejecutarlo.

While there are plenty of good ideas, the book is very business jargon heavy. Unless you are reading this book to improve your business practices as a leader, a lot of this may be go over your head or be irrelevant.

Tends to get repetitive and loses its luster as it moves ahead. It does provide good use cases and a certain direction but too many times just gives mixed signals and foggy discussions.
Good one time read and should be used as a milestone to move to sterner literature on execution frameworks.

Nice sumarisation of the ideal functioning of a company. The real life comes often in more shades of gray, than the book is talking about, but the book aims to deliver the ideal point of view.
Recommended for everyone working in corporation, but don't be disillusioned about the real life :-), which many times work as the negative examples from this book.

I was lucky enough to work at AlliedSignal and participate as Larry Bossidy ran the Execution machine he describes in this book. I have found it invaluable in transforming organizations of all sizes.

ISBN-10: 0609610570 ISBN-13: 978-0609610572
Definition of Execution – The gap between what companies want to do and the ability of their leaders to get it done. It is a system of getting things done through questioning, analysis and follow through.

SECTION 1: WHY EXECUTION IS NEEDED
Chapter 1 – The chapter starts off by indicating that execution is its own discipline. Executable strategies need to be converted to operational plans. Put the right people in the right jobs. Change is fast and it is faster than ever. Strategy often fails because it is not executed well. Velocity is the ratio of sales dollars to assets deployed. Tactics are important but tactics are not execution. Execution is rigorous discussion of numerous subjects, tenacity and accountability. There are 3 parts to execution; people, strategy and operations. The leader must be totally immersed in the organization. Six Sigma and continuous improvement is very important. Execution does not work if only a few people practice it. It must be pervasive in the organization.

Chapter 2 – Intelligence is important but so is getting things done. An individual must follow through. How to make execution work: Involve people responsible for the strategy and has goals based on organizational abilities, Ask how people will specifically succeed, Set milestones for progress. The book gives examples of failure Lucent and Xerox and success such as at EDS. Use “intense candor” balanced optimism by discussion of good and bad. Book discusses the past fallacy of each individual doing their part and contrasts this to each part being in total and complete collaboration of the whole organization.
SECTION 2: BUILDING BLOCKS

Chapter 3 – Chapter 3 introduces the 7 behaviors that are essential for execution: Know your people and your business, realism, Set clear goals/priorities, follow through, reward doers, expand capabilities, know yourself. The point is made to bring some people in from the outside or you are always “washing in the same dishwasher.” This is an obvious effort to avoid groupthink. Use coaching to connect to make managers see the business more clearly and to connect them to the external environment. Presence is important. Manage by walking around (Machiavelli). Use plain talk and personal notes. Jack Welch did this a lot. Be sure to be real and follow through. Numbers are important and so is behavior. Be sure to overcome “emotional blockage.” Management requires certain decisions and emotional blockage can get in the way. Be aware and authentic to the workers, have humility and be in control of yourself.

Chapter 4 – Go from a nonperformance to a performance culture, domestic to global, and from static to continuous improvement. Culture is the sum of the company-shared values. GE and Welch say “Boundarylessness.” If you have violations of rules have “emotional fortitude” and speak out about it. The chapter gives examples of old and new EDS values and beliefs. Use the feedback and be honest. Again refers to Welch and having courage to reward winners and to speak out about sub-par performance. Individuals should do better than they did last year. The chapter says the organization is structured but it is always one unit. Improve diversity of teams “social software” and allow people to have contact with each other were they would normally not. Understand organization as a whole. This achieves transparency and simultaneous action. Use collaboration and robust dialog. Motto: “Truth over Harmony.” Be informal and have candor. Formality is bad (Welch) and informality gets the truth out. All of this gives people the opportunity to excel and it gives intensity to people. Higher managers can see who can excel in this environment and assess the growth potential. Be professional and candid and like what you do.
Chapter 5 – Put people in their correct place… reminded me of the Hermann brain dominance theory…. and they will excel. Top manager should not delegate assessing the people individually. Get the knowledge you need about a person to make the assessment and then have the courage to make a decision. Know the difference between talking a good game and actually being able to perform. Informality sometimes masks a will to win. Be sure to select the DOER. Take determination over IQ. DOERs have good work habits and drive and they manage to get things done. They also energize people. Investigate the personality and see if the commitments are met. If one cannot work with others they waste their time and others. Too many hours are a sign of inefficiency. Have meetings and summarize the outcomes. Embed this in the DNA of the organization. Look at people for their results and see if they set priorities, milestones etc. Make a full picture. Check not just that people met their commitments but how they did it. Did they sacrifice long run for the short run? Talk to people and note the strengths, weaknesses and indicate if they can change, improve, mitigate things. Allow them to inquire into why you think that way. All of this allows you to get the right person into the right job.
SECTION 3: THE 3 CORE PROCESSES OF EXECUTION

Chapter 6 – Link the strategy and operations. Develop framework: 1) Link the strategic plan to short, medium and long-term milestones and the ops plan. Make specific targets. 2) Develop leadership pipeline through continuous improvement 3) Decide what to do about non-performers 4) Transform the mission and ops of HR. Use charts for performance and behavior. Look at potential and promotable people and continuous improvement. Develop plans for succession and depth of organization. Know when to dismiss and give up, let them leave with dignity. Deciding person for job considers: 1) A good fit, 2) A stretch, 3) No action required. Uses Duke Power example to assess what people to advance.

Chapter 7 – Strategy – to win the customer’s preference and to create a sustainable competitive advantage while rewarding shareholders. How do we make the strategy? We must get it from the minds of the people that are close to the action. After making it consider the macro and microenvironment and the competition, think of the assumptions and the short and medium term to assist the long term. Then ask if you have the right people in the right places. The chapter uses AT&T as example of good strategy but not feasible. The strategy must be built and owned by those that will use it. Start by looking at the business as a growth or not growth. Plan should give synopsis of the business and ask who is successful in the business. A strong plan asks: 1) External environment, 2) How do we understand the market? 3) What is the best way to growth with profit, what are the obstacles? 4) Competition? 5) Can we do it? 6) Do we have a balance of the short and long term? 7) Milestones, 8) Critical issues? 9) How will we profit on a sustainable basis? Ask who is buying, use market segmentation, reaction of competition and do not be afraid. Ask if it is likely if we can execute? Include experience, quality and tools needed when you ask and if you can get them. Know what to do between now and the long term. Be sure to raise critical issues asking questions in a “What if?” manner. Look at financial issues for sustainability. Look at cost structure, cash needed, investment, need for revenue growth and competition reaction. Add to robustness of plan with numbers.

Chapter 8 – The Strategy review – All new plans should have new ideas. Do not rehash the old plan and determine if the new idea is feasible. Look at the following 5 things about the plan: 1) Are teams familiar with competition?, 2) How strong is the organization to execute the strategy? 3) Is plan scattered or focused? 4) Are the ideas right? 5) Do we link the right people with operations? Do not dilute the focus and be clear about the plan. Be in the right business, is it core? Do we have the knowledge? Can we succeed? If you have 5 ideas and money for only 3 pick the 3 best and do not worry about the others. Match the people with the ideas and see if they are still feasible. The strategic plan must be transferable into the Operating plan. Determine if you can do it and what the costs are both financial and opportunity. Only bite off what you can chew and ask questions. Write letters to each individual reviewing what you agreed on.

Chapter 9 – Linking Strategy with OPS – The strategy is where the business wants to go. The OPS plan is the plan or path on how it will get there. Make if definite, not vague. We want to do better than last year is not good. Include other plans such as marketing plans. Involve many people and make contingency plans. Make sure people buy in and that they are not protecting their turf. Do not allow them to sandbag or chose lower numbers. Numbers should be high but doable. Consider what price cuts or increases will do to other parts of the business such as production or other functions. Do not allow hoarding of information. Insist on synchronization, meaning moving parts all move together. This includes common understanding. This allows synergy and serendipity. Consider good and bad times, the competition and the effects on your own marketing, manufacturing and finance people. Expect different reactions and wok these out for the organization and not the individuals. Consider labor and lead times for suppliers along with other contingencies. Do not have myopia for a single trend or customer. Game theory, ask and think like your competition. Consider time differences between the mobilizations of products and plans. When building the plan consider the revenue, margins, productivity, cash flow and market share. Do the budget top down so you will not have to do it again when bottom up costs are too high. Be prepared for trade offs and look at the macroeconomic trends to see how this affects the ops and strategy plans. The leader ensures the plan is followed and that accountability is followed. When OPS plan is done review it and have question answer session to verify and discuss it. This energizes and builds the “social software” of the company. Be sure to do quarterly reviews and set realistic targets. Be ready to change the targets based on the new market data and information. Stretching the goals in a realistic manner leads to a development of new paradigms. E.g. Sam Walton lowering prices. Overall- link individuals to create a whole.

Mark D