
Six Disciplines Publishing - Six Disciplines Publishing
Release date: 2008-07-01
Hardcover
Author: Gary Harpst
Management & management techniques, Business & Economics, Business / Economics / Finance, Business/Economics, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Leadership, Business & Economics / Management, Leadership, Management - General, Business & Investing / Management, Organizational effectiveness, Strategic Planning, Success in business, Business, Accounting & Vocational: Textbooks & Study Guides




This book seemed like one or two good ideas filled out into lots of pages. Repeated graphics - non engaging writing. I'm sure the author may have brilliant ideas - but the manner in which he conveys them doesnt make for an exciting read. I couldn't get through it. Take my review of actual content and theory for granted - but if you want an easy read where you'll learn some solid business advice. This isnt the place.
I really enjoyed this book. I purchased several copies and gave them out to customers as gifts for the holidays. If you are looking for a book that gives you a formula and helps you put together a strategy and keep on task with that strategy, then this is for you. With execution of any strategy, losing focus is the main issue. This will keep you on track, and focused.
"After many years, I've finally come to view excellence as the enduring pursuit of balanced strategy and execution."
Content
Chapter 1: Business Excellence; the author exhibits a fairly nice model of business excellence balancing Strategy and Execution.
Chapter 2: The Biggest Problem in Business; author wrote, with some supporting information, that execution is the biggest problem.
Chapter 3: Why Is It So Difficult?; "Usually, it's easier not to do what we know we should" sums up the chapter.
Chapter 4: The Leapfrog Opportunity; you'll have the leapfrog opportunity if you invest in quality programs, business process best practices, personal productivity tools, business intelligence, strategy formulation, virtual community development, and coaching.
Chapter 5: Requirements for a Next-Generation Program
Chapter 6: The First Complete Strategy Execution; the authors state that the complete strategy execution requires the following four chapters (which are self-explanatory; and the rest are also self-explanatory)
Chapter 7: A Repeatable Methodology
Chapter 8: Accountability Coaching
Chapter 9: An Execution System
Chapter10: Community Learning
Chapter11: Making Solving All Other Problems Easier
Chapter12: An Enduring Pursuit
Read the chapter titles and you'll figure out what the book is about and that's it, that's all you need to know. If you insist, read the summaries in your favourite bookstore for 5-10 minutes and you'll understand everything.
I'll compare Six Disciplines Execution Revolution to the ideal "A business book that is easy to understand, distinct, credible, practical, insightful, and provides great reading experience."
Ease of Understanding: 7/10; the book is easy to understand, far too easy to understand because the concept is obvious, very obvious.
Distinction: 2/10; You have seen it all; there is absolutely nothing new in the book. 1 point to the Excellence Business Model in the back cover, you might think that it is not new! Yes, that's as far as distinction goes. The other point is from a paragraph about the character in the Bible.
Credibility: 4/10; I truly respect Gary Harpst for his successes but in this book, despite implementing 60,000 business management systems and with more than $20 million bucks and 100 man-years of research, I don't see one good example of success stories of his clients, there should be one, out of 60,000, there really should be any example of success that is relevant to the context. There are some stories about Solomon Software, the author's successful company. We need more; this book seems like hot air to me.
Practicality: 3/10; This is a book about "whats" not about "hows". The author stated the obvious goals but not a single useful method; I might exaggerate here but in Chapter11, just skip the first ten on how, the author wrote "we'll detail the how of this last point" but no, still no how.
Insight: 5/10; With too many issues to cover; Six Disciplines Execution Revolution failed to deliver insightful and thoughtful details or analysis of any specific issue. The author should focus on a specific issue rather than a small book for everything.
Reading Experience: 3/10: I felt like sitting in a university lecture, in modules like Management 101, and this book does not go beyond 101 class. I felt like taking a nap and having some snacks during the class waiting for it to end and go elsewhere.
Overall: 4/10; I'm not going to say this book is bad but it is far from ideal; it might be a good introduction to business and management practice. It might be a good idea to buy this book for your friend who does not normally read business books.