Execution the dicipline of getting things done

To me one of the most beautiful sight to watch is some one doing their job efficiently. It could be a carpenter working on wood or a coder tapping on the keyboard. Browsing thru the excellant Santa Clara City Library I came across this book – Execution-the dicipline of getting things done. The word execution immediately struck a chord in me and brought the same feeling I wrote earlier. When I checked out the book from library, I was thinking of execution at a personal level. But it turned out focus of the book is much larger and it is execution at the organization level. In other words it is a good book for CEOs. But then somewhere in everyone there is this feeling to be one someday. So it was a good education to me on what CEOs face in day to day life. How organizations work and what does is the best way to run them.

Authors have broadly divided the organizations into People, Strategy, and Operations. Of course People are the most important part of an organization, they are the ones who make strategies which are then turned into operational plans. Strategy is a much abused word in consulting business I work. The booked helped me align my thoughts on what really is a strategy what a CEO talks about. Strategy is what turns an idea like “we need to have product for this” to reality. Finally Operations is step by step action plan to walk down the path given by strategy.

It was not an easy book to read for me. At various points I would stop and think about what the author’s are trying to say and how would a real life situation like that would be. Again I have never thought as an executive. My work plan is limited to get this solution implemented as decided during the blue print phase while managing the client expectations. So this book for me was also a peep into he CEO’s mind. I guess I need to widen my perspective.