Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will: How Jack Welch Has Made General Electric the World's Most Competitive Company

by Noel M. Tichy and Stratford Sherman

Book Overview

"Facinating... There is at least as much to be learned here as from reading Peter Drucker John Kenneth Galbraith or Michael Porter." -Boston Globe Acknowledged as the outstanding business leader of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0887306705
• ISBN13: 9780887306709
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: HarperBusiness
• Length: 460 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Mr

One of the best books written. Provides ideals for a driven person. I read everything that I can get from Mr. Tichy. Book delived in great shape and on time

Lessons from GE's Revolution

'Control Destiny or Someone Else Will' is deeply insightful and comprehensive examination of GE's transformation. It contains detailed, valuable lessons for all those interested in Jack Welch and his GE, as revolutionaries.Noel M.Tichy and Stratford Sherman write, "The old way, exemplified by Henry Ford's production line, calls for top managers to analyze the work that needs to be done, then devise rules even an idiot can follow. Managers, divorced from the actual work, become bureaucrats, while their frustrated subordinates tighten the bolts...The new way-GE's way-breaks the intellectual framework that defines the limits of traditional management...Instead of seeking better ways to control workers, Welch says he aims to liberate them. As he explains, that goal is based on self-interest: The old organization was built on control, but the world has changed. The world is moving at such a pace that control has become a limitation. It slows you down. You've got to balance freedom with some control, but you've got to have more freedom than you ever dreamed of" (pp.19-20).At this point, after outlining basic characteristics of old and new ways, Noel M.Tichy describes the difference between them in terms of sports:1. Old Way-Machine Age: Hierarchical, control-focused, and bureaucratic. He notes, "The old GE resembled a football team: Each player had carefully prescribed roles, yielding a carefully orchestrated pattern. The coach called all the plays. Even the strategic-planning guidebook that governed GE policy were like the playbooks in football."2. New Way-Information Age: Networks, flexibility, knowledge, and creation. He notes, "The New Way GE is like hockey; roles are blurred, play flows uncontrollably from one side of the rink to the other, there are no timeouts, players adjust to new situations almost every moment and think for themselves while looking out for the team as a whole."In this context, throughout the book, Tichy and Sherman show GE's process of corporate transformation as three-act drama.I highly recommend this business classic to all revolutionaries of the new century.

Road to mastering destiny

Jack Welch, the revolutioanry CEO of GE shows his business acumen in mastering change. A must-read for today's business managers ... a practical guide to business transformation amidst modern competition and changing business processes. Articulately crafted by the duo Tichy and Shermon, the philosophy of Jack Welch reminds me of Deming's Cycle (Plan, Do, Check and Act). The GE case study will find similarities in the modern industrial scenario - where managing change is the most challenging job. The approach of Welch towards modern management is based on both pragmatism and gut-feeling. He tried to explore a semblance of harmony amidst chaos, often pushing his executives to express themselves freely without contraints, and transformed threats into opportunities, thus bringing the GE juggernaut from the brink of collapse to remarkable recovery.

A must read for those concerned about good business

Noel Tichy and Strat Sherman do a masterful job in presenting the natural genius of Jack Welch's business ideas. When he came to head GE, Welch was a man ahead of his time. Now, his ideas are considered to be fundamental to good business practice. Although I may not have agreed with every action he took in implementing his thinking, the business results Jack Welch has achieved cannot be disputed. Thanks to Noel and Strat for an insightful and entertaining account.

classic study of business transformation, with useful manual

This is still the best case study of an organization under-going radical change. Jack Welch started the process in 1981,, years before re-engineering became popular. And he went far beyond re-engineering, dealing with "soft" human issues when critics were still calling him "Neutron Jack." The business results are incredible -- record profits, sales turnover that more than tripled, and now GE ranks as the most valuable company (by market value) on the NY stock exchange. This book has answers that work, and includes a "Hand Book for Revolution" that helps you apply the lessons to your own business.