Results: Keep What's Good, Fix What's Wrong, and Unlock Great Performance (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Bruce A. Pasternack (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Results hums with vibrancy and energy." -- USA Today, December 27, 2005

"The book offers insights into why your passive-aggressive, over-managed, outgrown, stop-start business seems so hard to lead." -- Financial Times, November 6, 2005

Review

Praise for Results: One of Harvard Business Review’s “Breakthrough Ideas”


“Highly readable and right on target, Results will help readers at all leadership levels understand why their organizations fall short, frustrate talented people, and deny even the most obvious needs for change. In the hands of committed leaders, Results will get results.” —Hank McKinnell, chairman and CEO of Pfizer, Inc., and author of A Call to Action: Taking Back Healthcare for Future Generations

“I highly recommend this practical book on how to organize and deliver the optimal results you always wanted but never achieved.” —Dick Kovacevich, chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo Bank

“Results makes a solid case for organization types and the four building blocks that make up a company’s DNA. Neilson and Pasternack show how business leaders can use these tools to diagnose problems and modify their DNA to create sustainable solutions and a healthy company.” —Chad Holliday, chairman and CEO of DuPont

“Results is critical for any executive. You’ll learn how to figure out the DNA of your organization and then act on that knowledge. With readable tales and enlightening examples, it shows how to build on what’s good and discard what’s bad.” —Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute and author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

“Results identifies a number of all-too-common organizational pathologies that get in the way of business performance. More than that, Neilson and Pasternack provide explicit, example-filled advice on how to fix the problems and take your organization to the next level.” —Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and coauthor of The Knowing-Doing Gap

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business (October 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400098394
• ISBN-13: 978-1400098392
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #516,536 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anatomy of Change for High-Performance Organizations, January 6, 2006

By	Art Kleiner "Editor, strategy+business" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

I wasn't going to review this book, because I have a connection to it. I am the editor-in-chief of strategy+business (http://www.strategy-business.com), where an adaptation of part of Results appeared. But the first review, while complimentary, seems to have its own axe to grind, and someone should put Results in perspective.

This is a book about leverage for changing organizations into a high-performance, employee-energizing, model. There are a lot of books on that subject, but Results is distinguished by three things. First, it's theoretically rich. Drawing on both economic organizational theory and the authors' own extensive global surveys (still going on at www.orgdna.com), it has a coherent theory of the "building blocks" that leaders can either design effectively or not. These levers include decision rights, information flows, incentives, and other practices that are usually tackled piecemeal. Results shows how to put them together.

Second, Results is distinguished by the way it labels organizations. The link between the combinations of "building blocks" and the perceived personalities (resilient, passive-aggressive, military, and so on) is remarkably consistent, and it helps people see the nature of the organizations they work for - and the reasons why they got that way.

Third, Results is distinguished by its writing style. It's accessible, but not glib. The examples are substantial, and worthy of attention, like Caterpillar, whose story represents one of the most genuine transformation stories I know of -- from a company on the point of stagnation to an extremely successful high-performance global enterprise.

I spend a lot of time trying to make sense of the entity called "organizations," which are so influential - and so difficult to influence. I find myself continually returning in my mind to the stories and the building blocks of Results. It's a very pragmatic book, targeted directly at people who want to make useful change in organzations and not waste their time. It's deceptively simple on that level, but it's not superficial at all. It's not the only book a change-oriented manager might read -- there's a lot of organizational learning material that would represent a good complement to it -- but it has at its heart one of the critical things that an organizational leader needs to know: The way the tangible policies and practices of a company or enterprise shape the human culture of that company or enterprise, and the aspirations and sensibilities of the people inside it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-Done!, March 17, 2006

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Obviously, all human effort produces results, including no change of the status quo. What Neilson and Pasternack are talking about are efforts which sustain what is both effective and efficient, repair or eliminate what isn't, and thereby result in ("unlock") great performance. They identify four separate but interdependent "building blocks" (decision rights, information, motivators, and structure) on which to establish a program to achieve whatever the desirable results may be. Perhaps to manage growth. Perhaps to rightsize. Perhaps to introduce a new product or service and/or to penetrate a new market.

In Chapters One through Nine, they examine several different types of organizations:

Passive-Aggressive: "Everyone Agrees But Nothing Changes"
Fits-and-Starts: "Let 1,000 Flowers Bloom"
Outgrown: "The Good Old Days Meet a Brave New World"
Overmanaged: "We're from Corporate and We're Here to Help"
Just-in-Time: "Succeeding by the Skin of Our Teeth"
Military Precision: "Flying in Formation"

Each of the first six types has specific characteristics, most (if not all) of which are perversions of what would otherwise be desirable. For example, most executives would agree that an organization's operations should be disciplined, consistent, and lean; also, that there should be a well-defined chain of command. However, in a Military Precision organization, there can be serious problems which result from "command and control" management which discourages (if not punishes) principled dissent and individual initiative. Almost everyone involved awaits "orders" to be followed without question or hesitation. As I read Chapter Eight in which Neilson and Pasternack discuss the Military Precision organization, it struck me that it could run off independent thinkers and develop within those who remain a passive-aggressive attitude which results in subversive behavior. However, there are at least some organizations on which the appropriate emphasis should be on everyone knowing his or her role and implements it diligently, producing fluid and consistent execution of its policies and procedures.

As Neilson and Pasternack suggest, "7-Eleven exemplifies the Military Precision organization because it is top-down with a twist. It takes its direction from above, but its intelligence lies in the field...and it recognizes that. it's an organization bent on providing a consistent, quality customer experience to the thousands, often millions, that pass through its doors every day."

As for the Resilient organization, which Neilson and Pasternack describe as the "healthiest" of all, it also has several organizational traits which include entertaining the inconceivable ("seeing" what isn't yet...but could be); building a culture of commitment and accountability; "moving the goal post...every three years" at least; at all times and in every way demonstrating the "courage of its convictions"; recovering from adversity and then moving on; thinking horizontally (i.e. rather than in terms of hierarchies); Self-correcting (i.e. having mechanisms which identify small problems before they become major crises; listening to complainers to identify patterns and trends of dissatisfaction enterprise-wide; linking motivators to what is most important; and realizing any "success" is transient ("a little paranoia is good for you"). I presume to add one point: Today's Resilient organization can very quickly become one of the other seven. That is to say, each of the ten positive traits which Neilson and Pasternack identify, if taken to an extreme, defining characteristics of an "unhealthy" organization.

According to Neilson and Pasternack, the symptoms of a Passive Aggressive organization include smiles which conceal dissent, "shopping for decisions" (i.e. seeking until finding decisions preferable to those of one's supervisors); hoarding of resources which creates a "Bermuda Triangle" of information flow; "mixed message motivators" which create confusion and dissonance; and widespread use of the CYO strategy in anticipation of unfavorable consequences. These symptoms obviously suggest often deeply submerged feelings of dissatisfaction and perhaps even hostility.

What makes this volume so informative, indeed valuable is the fact that Neilson and Pasternack identify all manner of causes of dysfunctional organizations, suggest how those causes can be avoided or eliminated, and then explain what a "healthy" organization is but also how to establish and then sustain one. It occurs to me that most organizations proceed through phases during any one of which they exemplify one of the seven types. Therefore, some of the attributes of one type (e.g. Passive-Aggressive) should be replaced by some of those of another (e.g. Military Precision). It remains for decision-makers to understand which of the seven types best describes their organization and then, guided and informed by what Neilson and Pasternack provide in this volume, make whatever corrective or preventive adjustments may be necessary.

To Neilson and Pasternack, I now offer "Well-done!"

5.0 out of 5 stars Results: Keep what's good, fix what is wrong, and unlock great performance, May 14, 2007

By	Dr. S. O. Agbo - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A very reader friendly, handy and excellent reference book. A must have for future middle level managers and leaders