Tuesday, June 26, 2007
"Winning" - Jack Welch
What can you say about a book with the infamous Jack Welch (JW)'s face on it? Anything other than positive superlatives spin would immediately put you in the minority corner, probably with someone holding a hammer on your head, and say to you: "what?"After all, this is JW, the legendary retired CEO of General Electric, a man credited with the turn-around/successes of GE, and the one associated with Six-Sigma concept.
What? Exactly. The best thing about the book, that is attractive enough for mere mortals to actually pick up and read it, is the face of JW. I guess if one would put Paris Hilton's face on it, would have the similar if not have more impact. By the way, at the time of writing this blog, Paris Hilton has just gotten out of jail, a book with her face (or any other part of her anatomy) and the word "WINNING" beside it, may be an instant best sellers! Wouldn't it be ironic.
Back to the "Winning". Of course, this book is not actually written by JW himself only. Suzy Welch was the co-author. The book is supposed to be a collections of management wisdoms and also ideas from questions asked by numerous participants in JW's seminars from all over world. I must say, it is readable (may be having Suzy Welch as the co-author helped here), not too intense, not very theoretical, never throw you any obscured data from some dubious research done by certain self-confessed Phd pretenders or professors , and most of all, never mentioned Michael Potter. It is a light bedtime read, when one get too tired of general genres. In fact, I read the book as my bedtime read.
The problem with bedtime reading is that, you don't expect to remember anything after you've read the material. In this case, I do remember two things:
1) Strategy can never be perfect. Execution is the key
2) Learning organisations tend to have better successes in their business.
Would I recommend this book to anyone. Of course I would! One must at least read the contents, first couple of pages, and may be last page, enough to claim that one has read this book. It make good small talks during business functions. Throwing JW's name around, and stating that you've read his book, would instantly attract admiring if not appreciative perception from your audiences. It goes to show that you're in the loop.
Now, where is that book with Paris Hilton face on it?
What? Exactly. The best thing about the book, that is attractive enough for mere mortals to actually pick up and read it, is the face of JW. I guess if one would put Paris Hilton's face on it, would have the similar if not have more impact. By the way, at the time of writing this blog, Paris Hilton has just gotten out of jail, a book with her face (or any other part of her anatomy) and the word "WINNING" beside it, may be an instant best sellers! Wouldn't it be ironic.
Back to the "Winning". Of course, this book is not actually written by JW himself only. Suzy Welch was the co-author. The book is supposed to be a collections of management wisdoms and also ideas from questions asked by numerous participants in JW's seminars from all over world. I must say, it is readable (may be having Suzy Welch as the co-author helped here), not too intense, not very theoretical, never throw you any obscured data from some dubious research done by certain self-confessed Phd pretenders or professors , and most of all, never mentioned Michael Potter. It is a light bedtime read, when one get too tired of general genres. In fact, I read the book as my bedtime read.
The problem with bedtime reading is that, you don't expect to remember anything after you've read the material. In this case, I do remember two things:
1) Strategy can never be perfect. Execution is the key
2) Learning organisations tend to have better successes in their business.
Would I recommend this book to anyone. Of course I would! One must at least read the contents, first couple of pages, and may be last page, enough to claim that one has read this book. It make good small talks during business functions. Throwing JW's name around, and stating that you've read his book, would instantly attract admiring if not appreciative perception from your audiences. It goes to show that you're in the loop.
Now, where is that book with Paris Hilton face on it?
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Adaptive Legacy
One of my friends met his untimely dead 5 years ago. I said untimely dead because he was at the peak of his business career. The business ventures he setup have started to bear fruits at the time, and he spectacularly chose to pursuit other out of this world adventure. He was a larger than life, charismatic character, live his life to the fullest, always on the edge, extreme in every things. His legacy would always remind in our hearts and minds.
Since then, every morning when I read The Star, or other newspapers, invariably I would read the Obituary column. Every picture, every obituary, tells a story. The story of legacy that the passed-on person left behind.
Is he/she going to heaven or hell?
Did he/she die young or have had a full life?
Is he/she die as a lonely person? Lonely meaning with no spouse and/or kids.
Is he/she a prominent person? Normally, this can be seen from the size of the obituary column. For some unknown reason, the more "prominent" a person was, the bigger, or more column/frequency the obituary.
For a ripe old age fellows, the number of children, grand-children, and even great-grandchildren. This has always blessed my heart when a old fellow passed away that have lived a full & rich life.
Or, names listed that have deceased spouse. I could feel for the fellow if he/she has deceased descendants.
This is a legacy a person's life left behind. So, what is your legacy? We don't need to die to leave behind our legacy. That is terminal as dead can be fatal. In our professional life, as a manager, or a leader, we need to access at all times what would be our legacy when we left the company we work for. What would your "Obituary - resignation" say about you? A good leader, a devil, or somewhere in between.
We've choice to leave behind a good legacy. Lives that you touch, a kind & encouraging words here and there, a commitment or promise come good, people that you nurture, successes that you're part off, and many moments when you could've been angry or bitter but chose not to.
So, what would be yours?
Since then, every morning when I read The Star, or other newspapers, invariably I would read the Obituary column. Every picture, every obituary, tells a story. The story of legacy that the passed-on person left behind.
Is he/she going to heaven or hell?
Did he/she die young or have had a full life?
Is he/she die as a lonely person? Lonely meaning with no spouse and/or kids.
Is he/she a prominent person? Normally, this can be seen from the size of the obituary column. For some unknown reason, the more "prominent" a person was, the bigger, or more column/frequency the obituary.
For a ripe old age fellows, the number of children, grand-children, and even great-grandchildren. This has always blessed my heart when a old fellow passed away that have lived a full & rich life.
Or, names listed that have deceased spouse. I could feel for the fellow if he/she has deceased descendants.
This is a legacy a person's life left behind. So, what is your legacy? We don't need to die to leave behind our legacy. That is terminal as dead can be fatal. In our professional life, as a manager, or a leader, we need to access at all times what would be our legacy when we left the company we work for. What would your "Obituary - resignation" say about you? A good leader, a devil, or somewhere in between.
We've choice to leave behind a good legacy. Lives that you touch, a kind & encouraging words here and there, a commitment or promise come good, people that you nurture, successes that you're part off, and many moments when you could've been angry or bitter but chose not to.
So, what would be yours?
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