Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick [Hardcover]

Ken Iverson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471155144 | ISBN-13: 978-0471155140 | Publication Date: October 1997 | Edition: 1

A visionary, maverick, and genuine American business hero, Ken Iverson is one of the most closely-watched business leaders in the world. Credited with single-handedly rejuvenating the rapidly declining American steel industry to the status of world-class producer, Iverson is one of the most successful and, as he likes to point out, one of the lowest-paid CEOs in the U.S. In his long-awaited book, Ken Iverson shares his ideas, observations, and the lessons he's learned about what it takes to grow a super-competitive, world-class organization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ken Iverson is a leader whose vision shaped an industry and the future, a leader whose character, values, and ethics merge seamlessly with the mission and values of a successful, innovative business." -Frances Hesselbein, President and CEO, The Peter F. Drucker Foundation

Ken Iverson taught us that America could compete in a tough global economy. He did it in an industry where being a maverick was the only way. His accounting of Nucor's story should serve as a blue print or us all. -David Glass, President and CEO, WalMart Stores, Inc.

No theory; just important, practical ideas proven by Ken Iverson in the furnace at Nucor.-Peter Larson, Chairman and CEO, Brunswick Corporation

It is a masterpiece! Plain Talk provides a penetrating analysis of why Nucor has performed so well for so long, full of insights and solid conclusions. The book is easy to follow, very well written, and a 'must' read for every executive...a major contribution to business. -Vijay Govindarajan, Earl C. Dum 1924 Professor of International Business, Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, DartmouthCollege

This is a story about Ken Iverson, a man who built a major steel company from ground zero, much of it during a period when the U.S. steel industry was losing 25% of its capacity. But most of all, it's about motivating people to a level of remarkable accomplishment. You will enjoy reading this book as much as the people who work for Nucor enjoy being there.-James F. Collins, President, Steel Manufacturers Association

From the Publisher

A visionary, maverick, and genuine American business hero, Ken Iverson is one of the most closely-watched business leaders in the world. Credited with single-handedly rejuvenating the rapidly declining American steel industry to the status of world-class producer, Iverson is one of the most successful and, as he likes to point out, one of the lowest-paid CEOs in the U.S. In his long-awaited book, Ken Iverson shares his ideas, observations, and the lessons he's learned about what it takes to grow a super-competitive, world-class organization.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471155144
• ISBN-13: 978-0471155140
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful portrait of a titan of industry at work, April 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick (Hardcover)

Ken Iverson is unlike any big businessman and his company, Nucor Steel, is unlike any large corporation. As chairman of America's third-largest steel company, he is a champion of individual initiative and an outspoken opponent of bureaucratic management. At a time when naysayers were predicting the death of American steel, he lifted Nucor out of near bankruptcy: Nucor has turned a profit almost every year since he took the helm, while his employees are among the best paid in the industry.

In his new book, Plain Talk, Iverson shows how he achieved his amazing success and offers constructive advice for managers and workers alike. Contrary to popular opinion, Iverson believes that the interests of workers and managers are-and should be-harmonious. Both are after their own ends. Both want to be successful. There is no reason, in Iverson's view, to drive an artificial wedge between the two. The main focus of Plain Talk is on maintaining and nurturing the virtue of productivity in all employees.

Unlike other books on business success, this one is free of jargon and quick-fix schemes. Moreover, the book's advice is well grounded in Iverson's spectacular successes at Nucor.

In the early 1980s, the American steel industry was in dire straits. As the number of steel workers plummeted from 400,000 to 200,000, some predicted the demise of the industry. But not Ken Iverson. While Nucor's production was down by nearly 50%, he did not lay-off his workers. Rather, he cut hours and salaries-for workers and managers, even including his own. Iverson explains that, "No employee was being asked to carry more than his or her share of the burden." Far from acting altruistically, his decisions were in the long-term interest of Nucor. As a rational manager, he knew that cutting back on his workforce without cutting back on management would have hampered his ability to pull the company out of its low period.

Indeed, according to Iverson, a major hindrance to productivity is bureaucratic, heavy-handed management. He decries the layers of management that burden most large American corporations. At Nucor, there are exactly four layers between sooty steel workers and suited upper management.

As a means of enhancing profits through productivity, Iverson places great emphasis in trusting his employees. He trusts them to accomplish their goals without undue interference from management. Just as the crowning principle of a proper legal system is "innocent until proven guilty," so Iverson grants his employees the benefit of the doubt, only taking action against them if they fail to live up to their end of the contract. Iverson counts on the rationality of those who work for him-in stark contrast to bureaucratic corporations in America today. Iverson's investment in trust pays dividends: high employee morale, productive excellence and consistent profits for Nucor.

Such is Iverson's approach leadership that Nucor has no union. No, he doesn't prevent employees from organizing-the employees don't want a union. Iverson explains that Nucor's culture of freedom and self-reliance has eliminated the threat of unionization.

"...our employees don't seem to like unions much. They generally see unions as outsiders trying to push their way in and take a slice of their pie. One day...a union organizer positioned himself outside our mill...to hand out pamphlets and talk to the workers.... A few workers stopped, though, to state that they didn't need any union's help. They strongly suggested that the organizer move on and find somebody who did...."

Although Iverson is a brilliant manager, he does himself an injustice when he hails the "egalitarian" culture at Nucor and condemns "hierarchy." One of the chapters is even titled "Destroy the Hierarchy." These are misleading terms in the context of the book because their actual meaning is not what Iverson intends: his actions and success belie his explicit statement. No egalitarian could have achieved what Iverson has, because egalitarianism-the doctrine that all men should be existentially equal-implies that the most industrious be treated no differently-receive no more reward-than the lazy and feckless. Egalitarianism is the perversion of justice. In reality, no one is equal because everyone has different levels of ability and motivation. Moreover, this fact implies that a hierarchy of ability-in business as elsewhere-is a natural consequence of differing aptitudes and desires. What Iverson means-and has put into action-is that: each should get what he rightly deserves. This equivocation somewhat mars the book.

Plain Talk is a wonderful portrait of a titan of industry at work. It is a pleasure to encounter so many rational values applied to a major corporation in one book. This alone pales whatever minor flaw one may find in it. If you are looking for a business hero, you will find him in Ken Iverson.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Headlong Pursuit of a Shared Purpose..., February 23, 2001

By 

Leonard E. Rogol "Leonard" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick (Hardcover)

Ken Iverson has truly earned the right to be called a "Business Maverick". In this book he explains how the culture he created at Nucor became "60% of their competative advantage". He explains how breaking down hierarchy and opening the lines of true communication in all directions can propel a business to success.

His unique, but successful, techniques at time agree with, and at times flies in the face of, McGregor, classical management theorists, and others who have studied management, communications and human resources.

In chapters entitled, "A Higher Cause", "Trust Your Instincts", "Destroy the Hierarchy", "A Simple Stake in the Business", "The Virtues of Smallness", "Ethic Over Politics", and others Mr. Iverson relates how you too, if you are willing to work hard enough at it, can "turn a confused, tired old company on the brink of bankruptcy into a star player...", while learning that "many of the so-called 'necessary evils' of life in corporate America are, in fact, not necessary".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed With Knowledge!, September 16, 2004

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick (Hardcover)

Perhaps the highest praise for this refreshing little memoir is this: if certain other captains of industry had read Ken Iverson's book when it was published in 1998 and heeded its advice, investors would have been spared billions in losses and a slew of corporate scandals would have been averted. Iverson, head of steel maker Nucor Corporation, injects much-needed common sense into the often-bureaucratic, hierarchical world of corporate boardrooms and corner offices. This persuasive text, written in the sort of clear, muscular prose you'd expect from a steel man, will make you want to give up your executive parking space and embrace an egalitarian corporate structure. We recommend this engaging work to managers who want to look at their jobs a new way.