Customer Reviews

Hope is Not a Method

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I cannot remember a book so well written, so full of business principles, and yet so easy to understand. I am a management consultant in the housing industry, and this book is required reading for every existing client, and I do not take on a new client until this book has been read by the management team. Sullivan and Harper, with pinpoint accuracy, identify the principles which make good companies great, and great companies, untouchable.

I am an XGI who has spent his business career in a constant quest for change. I have been the change agent and now, in senior management, look back on our most recent exercise in Strategic Planning and have to admit we fall into several of the planning traps described by General Sullivan. I think this is so relevent for our company that I am going to buy at least 10 copies for my direct reports. We all spend so much time "tweaking the margins" instead of trying to develop truly breakthrough thinking. This is the best I have read in years.

I know this is a business book, but it's more, it's a case study, and anyone who has been the defense industry or large government acquisitions - can relate. Budget, schedule, source selection, contract management, program & technology management... it seems at times--overwhelming. Managing projects of this scope are like juggling chainsaws, especially when wrapped so tightly with budget and schedule, or changing schedules as technology changes and emerges during the course of an acquisition. Then it's rework and modifications to contract, it's extreamly dynamic! Interconnectivity along the differing nodes (USN, USAF, USA, USMC, USCG, HQ, Pentagon...) was incredible. Defense contracting is HUGE, INNOVATIVE and it's NOT like running a sandwich shop or a gas station. Totally different realm. Just the technological advances from 1992 to 2000 were staggering, managing that aspect of the acquisition took strict attention to detail and a hand on the pulse of the industry. No sense fielding a system which needs a major technology upgrade 2 years after FRP.

Remember Winter 2003? I couldn't believe the press questions during tactical updates... if they had read THIS book they would have completely understood the capability, innovation and the battlefield overview the ARMY possessed. Instead we get the usual uninformed prattle about how bad the losses were going to get, or how will our Army ever survive the onslaught of the RNG. The U.S. owned the night, had total control over every aspect associated with the dissemination of the opposing forces.

Example: in 1992 it took 10 minutes to acquire and put ordnance on a target. In 2003 it took 2 minutes, 45 seconds of which was the time the ordnance was in the air enroute to impact. That's impressive, that's technology at work, that's why this book is a must read for every business major or military professional or... the press.

Otherwise, you're just uninformed.

As a manager and an officer, I liked this book. In my career I am constantly finding synergy between the leadership skills taught in the army and leadership in the business world. I found it to be a very enjoyable read and ended up going through it with a highlighter, picking out several key points for future reference.

This is a great book. I think it should be mandatory reading for all public officials particularly those in police and fire services. As a Fire Chief of a large municipal SoCal fire department, I found the principles wonderfully helpful. I shall tout the book to others and, of course, the service from Amazon.com is great. I just wish I could retain all the principles; I desire a photographic and instant recall brain but... it doesn't exist. Thank you.

John Hawkins

This book is very well written and will tell the reader what must be accomplished in any sized organization to lead any change.

I am on my 3rd read and use it all the time for research.

The reader would have to be the same age and gender, and possess the same beliefs, values and military experiences as the authors to stay awake while reading their book. I could not begin to relate to all the "war stories" coupled with the dry, tedious writing style, I found myself craving a wet martini.

I have read before on many topics I can not personally relate to; I just finished a fascinating story about a man being caught in an unexpected avalanche and trapped in its snow for an hour or so. The writing style literally picked me up and placed me in his journey. Unfortunately, all 260 pages in "Hope Is Not A Method" evoked a feeling like being stuck for all eternity in a dark snow bank. The authors' beliefs are so focused as to be beyond narrow-minded.

"We believe that by applying our ideas from the battlefield that we were able to effect ..." was a concept played over and over again. The authors boldly tried to transfer battlefield principles to the world of business. A fundamental flaw, as successful correlations were not made from the war room thinking the business boardroom, where profit is the goal. A perfect book for aspiring military leaders. Not useful for all others

I have been an active duty army officer for twelve years, and all I can say is don't follow the advice in this book. Do you really want your organization run like the military? Sychophants placed in good postions, everyone scared to think outside the box, the inability to fire a screw-up, doctrinaire thinking? Sullivan didn't "re-engineer" the army. Nobody has. The only thing transformed in the military is it's PR machine. There has been a lot of the military tooting its own horn about its "post-Vietnam transformation." Don't believe it. This book will teach you nothing about leadership, and nothing about management. The army has an public image of being the forge for leadership. What people don't seem to realize is that in the army, people follow not because of leadership, but because they go to jail if they don't. This book demonstrates how clueless some of the people in the top slots are.

I'm an active duty soldier and business student. I have experience in the civilian business world, and will re-enter business upon completion of my term. Mr. Sullivan apparently has little experience outside of the military, and it shows. Although much can be learned from the military in terms of structure, team development, and decision making, it must be severely tempered with a dose of good business sense. The Army does not operate for profit, and therefore will never achieve the same level of pursuit of excellence that a highly motivated businessman can. Because the Army lacks both customers and shareholders, underperforming leaders routinely get away with murder in their progress reports, since much of what they do in peacetime is subjectively interpreted. In business, profit and loss are not easily concealed, and underperformers are shown the door. Change is painfully slow in the Army's layered bureacracy, and a modern business this sloth-like soon becomes lunch. The authors obscure any possible connections to civilain business practices by conspicuous absence of examples and analogies, instead substituting "there I was" war stories and abstracts that a civilian will not easily relate to or care about. The introductions to each chapter read more like West Point commencement addresses, and are about as interesting and as long. Overall, the book could be useful if more concise and relevant. However, since it's more likely to be read by Army officers rather than business people, it will still sell. For real business generalship, study Al Dunlap.