You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cohan, a management consultant and venture capitalist, examines Jim McNerney's unique approach to leadership. One of three finalists in the running to replace General Electric's Jack Welch, McNerney took the helm at Boeing after a stint at 3M. Pressure to boost revenues and cut costs led him to develop a leadership style designed to win the hearts and minds of employees. His mantra—you can't order change—implies that change must come from employees if it is to succeed. Cohan provides a road map to McNerney's success that identifies 11 specific leadership challenges and the management imperatives to overcome them. The prescriptions are universally applicable and include Help Your People Get 15 Percent Better, Build Strategy on Customer Focus, Invest in Your Strengths and Cut Your Company's Environmental Footprint, among others. Easy to navigate and concise, this book will help executives tackle persistent and difficult leadership problems while motivating employees and producing results. (Jan.)
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Product Description

The first book to explore the unique leadership style of Boeing’s acclaimed CEO

Jim McNerney was one of Jack Welch’s top protégés at General Electric and a finalist to replace the retiring Welch as CEO. McNerney lost that competition in 2001, but since then he has emerged as one of the most effective leaders of his generation.

You Can’t Order Change tells the amazing story of McNerney’s turnaround at the world’s leading aircraft manufacturer, which had faced a series of tough problems. Boeing is extremely hard to run, with more than $66 billion in annual revenue and 161,000 employees. A new product like the 787 Dreamliner costs billions to develop over many years, with global production hurdles and little margin for error.

Peter Cohan interviewed people who worked with McNerney throughout his career to explain why his consensus-driven style sets him apart. The title comes from a McNerney quote about the importance of winning hearts and minds with a clear vision of future success.

McNerney combines Midwestern integrity and humility with the brilliance and drive of a Harvard Business School and McKinsey alum. This book reveals his approach to accountability, growth, cost cutting, leadership development, customer focus, and other universal challenges.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (December 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591842395
• ISBN-13: 978-1591842392
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,156 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Warmed Over Secondary Sources, January 29, 2009

By	Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Prior to McNerney's 7/1/05 takeover, Boeing was ethically challenged and facing an obvious need for greater fuel efficiency of its products. When McNerney took over, Boeing stock was at $64.68; it now is at $40.86. The company is two years behind on promised deliveries for its new 787, as well as other new plane programs. A recent two-month strike, and major supplier problems (a record 70% of the 787 was outsourced) largely account for problems. Employee unions are also upset over Boeing's use of contract employees.

Cohan derives his material from second-hand sources that know or have studied McNerney. That is probably a major the reason the book lacks any great insights.

A major future problem for Boeing is that other nations, especially Japan, have long pursued aviation knowledge to permit their future competition with Boeing. Some believe that the 787's outsourcing (achieve lower costs, foreign airline participation, and faster development) will finally allow this. Cohan does not address this issue.

Cohan's emphasizing McNerney's focus on cost reduction, reducing time-to-market, improved ethics, increased fuel economy is not helpful to anyone knowledgeable about the industry and Boeing's recent problems. Neither is Cohan's 40,000 ft. overview of how Boeing is improving. Readers looking for such details would do much better reading material about the Toyota Production System (which Boeing is trying to follow) - especially works by the original TPS developers. Even following Boeing through several years of Business Week, Fortune, etc. articles is better than "You Can't Order Change."

Bottom Line: My beef is not with Mr. McNerney - I'm sure he is a fine manager, though he doesn't walk on water as Cohan sometimes alludes. The problem is that Cohan just didn't put much effort (or value) into this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, July 10, 2009

By	Kerry S. "gen x'er" (Cleveland, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing (Hardcover)

Very disappointing read. The author failed right off the bat to endear readers to McNerney. It is hard to root for someone with a Yale and a Harvard pedigree, born to a health care executive. What made McNerney persevere? Did doors open easily for him? We don't know because the author does not cite anywhere that he directly interviewed McNerney. Most of the advice is general and can be applied to any situation. For example "McNerney carefully assesses his own company's strengths and weaknesses". Ok. This is Business 101. And if you haven't taken Business 101, it's common sense. This book fails to provide any practical advice and ironically is very loosely linked to any theories or concepts of change, which is why I checked this book out. If you must, read it at the beach then toss.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book for managers/leaders - from aspiring to established, April 26, 2009

By	J. M. Guerra - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In "You Can't Order Change", Peter S. Cohan methodically dissects the leadership style and practices of Jim McNerney, the talented CEO of Boeing Corporation. McNerney is one of Jack Welch's disciples from General Electric. Armed with a Welch-like "results" approach, McNerney also cares about how those results are achieved. In essence, he views an organization's people as it's "critical assets" and Cohan shows us just how McNerney goes about enabling his people to achieve superior results. In a field filled with egos, we see a CEO that knows he cannot do it all himself - "there's only one of him".

The book's greatest strength is that it not only identifies the leadership style that McNerney employs to gain results at Boeing, but also describes the specific management tactics he uses as a CEO to overcome "leadership challenges". We see this through the lens of what Cohan calls "The McNerney Way" where the author has chosen four broad categories to convey "management imperatives" - leadership, strategy, operations, and communities. This is not a conceptual or high-level review, but rather a "nuts and bolts" view into a leader and his mission to change the fortunes of Boeing. Cohan has done his research and relies on a number of familiar sources while presenting his findings in a clear and straight-forward way. You will not find business school jargon or theoretical models in this book, but rather a real-world and no-nonsense look into the tactics a CEO uses to produce what matters in a corporation - things like revenue growth, operating profit, cash flow, and operating efficiency.

I would recommend this book to both aspiring and established leaders and managers as it gives the reader an insightful glimpse into how to be an effective leader in today's ever-changing and challenging globalized business world. It will give you insight into how to be a leader who motivates and has the respect of his people, but more importantly, gets results.