Customer Reviews

Jacked Up: The Inside Story of How Jack Welch Talked GE into Becoming the World’s Greatest Company

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Few books are manage to be funny and informative--especially when the topic is business. I've read all the GE books and "Jacked Up" goes to the head of the class. Previous tomes about GE (either by Welch or business writers) were too concerned with buffing the legend's already glowing image. This insider's view revels in some of the rough edges at the same time it imparts some great tips that all of us can put to work. The author's thesis that communication was central to Welch's success certainly seems to be borne out by the plunge in the conglomerate's stock price that coincided with Welch's departure.

As an alum of GE from the late 90's and a communications professional, this was a breath of fresh air that got me excited about my job again. Not only does Lane take you behind the scenes of the Welch era to see the rough edges and cold realities -- and his stories ring true for this GE alum -- but he also gives you a real and pragmatic idea of what the top brass are really thinking when they're listening to your pitch. And better yet, he gives you some proven advice about how to prepare yourself for the big day. Lane pulls no punches -- clearly this book is a prime example of the type of communication he's preaching. And I can confirm that the movement documented here that Welch started (and Lane was part of) really did happen -- this is a rare look behind the scenes. I just ordered another copy to give my CEO.

This is a testosterone-drenched memoir of Jack Welch's speech writer at GE. The message can be summed up as:

* Jack Welch and I teamed up to declare war on corporate B.S.
* We raised the bar on business presentations
* Over-prepare for any presentation and sweat the details
* If you don't have passion, don't bother
* Avoid "Death by PowerPoint;" in fact, ditch the PowerPoints!

Not bad advice, but then again just saying that would not have consumed 300+ pages. Underlying all of this is the theme that the author believes that he and Welch were hot s---, which may be true, though Welch's legacy has been tarnished some by his emperor-like severance package disclosures and a messy affair that led to divorce #2 and wife #3.

Still, from reading the memoir you get an entertaining feel for what it was like being close to "Neutron Jack" during the height of the GE years. It was a hard working, hard driving, hard living and hard drinking (and hard golfing!) crew. Forget about any rubbish regarding "work-life balance." All is sacrificed to the gods of GE stock price.

The peppery memoir snaps and crackles with a locker room type atmosphere of Alpha Male dogdom, with everything except the towel-snapping. Even in the C-level suite, boys will be boys.

Withal, and whether you envy or pity those at GE, agree or disagree with Welch and his iconization as The Ultimate CEO, this is an entertaining read!

A well written book that gives a detailed, positively biased picture of Jack Welch, and his frenetic, profane style of management at GE. It also has some useful advice on presentations in general. This book is recommended reading for anyone who wants to a more complete picture of what life at GE under Jack Welch was like, and some sound advice on making good presentations to any audience.

The main shortfall of this book was there was not much discussion on how Jack handled some his major headaches, such as the rotary refrigerator compressor debacle, the Joseph Jett scandal, and the PCB's in the Hudson river problem. The only problem area that was discussed in any detail was the robotics endeavor problem. Seeing how Jack and his crew, who were supposedly experts at seeing through misleading data, handled these problems, would have been helpful.

"Jacked Up" emphasizes from page one the importance of Clear, short, and useful presentations to business success. The book is organized into short, interesting chapters, and contains a number of suggestions on delivering effective presentations. These include eliminating all meaningless b.s. (eg. bragging, unless short, and followed with specifics on how to replicate; sugar-coating a failure as a new opportunity instead of explaining why it happened; broad, unsubstantiated generalities), acronyms, PowerPoint slides/graphs, media showpieces (eg. multiple projectors, movies of new products in use), and meaningless statistics (eg. number of new patents, vs. contribution to new products).

Other suggestions include creating a "Yes"able presentation, telling people what they ought to do (vs. reports), lots of work in thinking through, shortening and simplifying the material, and rehearsing and asking for frank feedback.

A suggested 5-chart structure for planning meeting presentations is: 1)Describe the world market, 2)Summarize moves by competitors in the past three years, 3)Summarize your moves the last three years, 4)Relate competitors' likely actions over the next 2 years, and 5)State you intentions to counter of leapfrog those competitors in 2 years.

Other valuable "tidbits" included in "Jacked Up" include various Welch techniques for quickly changing an organization's culture. These include reviewing top-level presentations in advance (redirecting as necessary to make more effective and model desired behaviors), quickly removing those not performing (often after bombing a presentation), providing tutorials on the desired behaviors at corporate seminars, see "strategy" as the evolution of a central idea through continually changing circumstances - rather than detailed in advance through complex, elongated scenarios (Welch eliminated strategic planning because the future was not foreseeable), be #1 or #2 in market share (ensures don't get behind on economies of scale), and moving from low-growth (eg. fans, vacuums, ACs) to faster-growth areas (creates higher stock multiples).

Finally, there was an expectation of giving 110% (no going home regularly at 5 P.M. - sorry, soccer moms), and total integrity.

The result was a G.E. that Welch called a "learning organization;" others call it an extraordinary monument to Welch's leadership.

If you are looking for good advice on the do's and don'ts of making in-house business presentations - this is the book for you. By telling various GE stories it makes the points and brings them home. In doing so, it shines a light on the real "corporate culture" at GE during the 80's and 90's - not a happy place to work if you were not an egocentric workaholic - and white and male. That is just the way it was (is?)- the author does not apologize for it, just reports it - which is fair - although politically incorrect. If you get upset by that - then you are missing the point. Which the author makes, by quoting Maria Bartiromo on how she overcame all the prejudices on Wall Street "I work very, very, very hard."

Use this as a text book on presentations and as a history lesson as to the state of a large company during a period of transition and transformation.

Well worth the money.

Great book.
Lane should go out on the speaking circuit and SHOW what
he talks about in print.

None of the books I have previously read about Jack Welch have given me what I would consider a `real' portrait of the man. In recent years I have begun to appreciate his strengths due to his regular appearances on CNBC's Squawk Box where he has shown himself to be a tough talking, tough questioning guest. He doesn't take prisoners. Bill Lane's book brings Welch to life and not always with hagiographic, lovey -dovey type of commentary.

The book contains real-life commentary (i.e. regular f-bombs and other interesting descriptors) and paints a good pictures of how hard driving Welch was. The opening chapter shows how unreasonable this hugely successful CEO could be and as he himself admitted how vain he could be. Welch was, and probably still is, completely unreasonable, profane and unrealistic in his work practices and demands which is partly why he was such an amazing success.

Jacked Up is interesting in a number of ways and is a book that could be of real benefit to the budding speech writer or someone who fancies themselves as an inspirational, motivational, keynote speaker.
Lane takes us through how Welch used communications to ignite the growth of GE, but he also shows us some key lessons of good speechwriting. Conversely, one of the weaknesses of the book is that he provides too much advice. Almost every chapter finishes with some speech writing advice based on Welch's or Lane's experience. It is not possible to take all of this advice on board, but if you want one enjoyable read about one of the business world's greatest icons, this is worth purchasing.

The A..-kissing in this book by Bill Lane is sickening. Welch this, Welch that... Wow how hard must it have been to work for someone like Welch that constantly required to his ego protected.

On the other hand, I have to give credit to Lane. Even though I think he is an a..-kissing a......! The book (aside from protecting Welch and making him seem human, even as he dismisses people who are not exactly like him) is HONEST. The book says YES we are A-Holes, racists and put women down. Check out page 218 for the "rules" all women executives were forced to follow as they moved up the company.

I firmly believe that the GE way of management is A WAY to run a company. It is NOT THE ONLY WAY run a company. This management style has worked for GE and Welch; but may not work for your company. Cultures ARE UNIQUE and have to be treated as such.

One final note, check out page 289!! WOW the balls on this guy (Lane). I completely disagree with his steriotyping and close mindedness. But I have to give him credit for putting his thoughts about minorities and women in writting. This unfair steriotyping is all over corporate america, but it is seldom written about honestly.

Just my opinion.
R.

This is probably the best book I've every read on the importance of a business presentation! It's honest, factual and provides a true inside look at one of the great U.S. Corporations. Humerous and informative - a GREAT read! Bill Lane has created a handbook for young (and old) business professionals on the absolute necessity of preparing your pitch. Whether an informal toast to friends or to the board of IBM, Bill's passion for communications is evident in his knowledge of the subject and how giving a great pitch can really change your life.