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Title: The GE Work-Out Authors: Dave Ulrich, Steve Kerr and Ron Ashkenas. Publisher: McGraw Hill, 2002, 327 pages. Manageris 110b. What company doesn’t dream of developing leaders able to launch and implement change effectively? Flexibility and resiliency are instrumental to success in today’s world. Yet, few large organizations manage to develop these qualities. The GE Work-Out provides readers with an inside look at GE’s success in this arena. In just ten years, Jack Welch turned a giant with feet of clay into one of the most agile companies in the world. This prowess was largely achieved thanks to Work-Out. The authors analyze this program in detail and share the secrets of successful implementation. Main subject [Change Management] |
Reading Tips for...
This book attempts to deliver the keys to the success of Work-Out, the change program designed and implemented on a large scale by General Electric. Many companies across the world consider this concept to be exemplary, and try to reproduce it to reinforce their ability to change.
Written in a clear and simple style, this book provides all the tools required to launch into the program. Readers are offered several layers from which to choose, depending on the level of detail desired. Initial chapters are devoted to general principles, while some chapters enter into highly practical considerations – right up to the logistics of reserving a conference room!
- To grasp the principles that make Work-Out so effective, readers should turn to chapter 2. This chapter specifically elaborates upon two fundamental characteristics of this program, namely recreating the spirit of start-up companies – simple communication, rapid decisions and action, absence of organizational barriers and silos, etc. – and combining immediate problem solving with profound cultural transformation.
- The Work-Out process itself is described in chapter 5, using a fictitious, but highly illustrative example. Except for those about to embark on a Work-Out program, most readers will probably get lost in the details of chapters 6, 7 and 8, which are respectively dedicated to preparing the Work-Out event, orchestrating the actual Work-Out seminar, and tracking the selected initiatives. However, the examples of Work-Out programs conducted by companies other than General Electric presented in chapters 4, 9 and 10 may be of greater interest.
- Two key success factors are each covered in a separate chapter. Chapter 1 affirms the indispensable support of the company leader, the archetype being Jack Welch, and chapter 3 describes the need to anticipate resistance to mobilize the entire organization.
- Chapters 11 to 13 develop the long-term advantages of Work-Out. Provided that the organization is able to turn a pilot project into a continuous process (chapter 12), Work-out is a very effective tool to change the culture of an organization (chapter 14).
Critical commentary…
By Jean-Claude Tarondeau,
professor emeritus of Strategy and
Management at ESSEC.
All recipes for success deserve consideration. Particularly when they come from one of world’s leading companies – General Electric. There is therefore little risk in predicting that McGraw Hill’s recent publication of The GE Work-Out by Dave Ulrich, Steve Kerr and Ron Ashkenas will not collect dust on the bookstands. The title is sufficiently vague to cover an entire set of problem-solving methods, a change method, a company culture and a management philosophy. As with any success story, the great intuition of the hero – in this case Jack Welch – former CEO of General Electric, is at the origin of this perpetual revolution designed to keep the corporate mastodon that was General Electric in a state of eternal youth. In reality, Work-Out deserves its place among the many methods that have emerged over the past two decades to make organizations more open, more flexible and more agile. In this case, Jack Welch’s commitment and tenacity had a lot to do with the results obtained.
As they age and grow, organizations tend to become rigid. Experts stop communicating with one another, barriers between functions become impermeable, routines and procedures are not challenged, even when they cease to be useful, the sense of serving the organization and creating value through and by action gets lost, bureaucracy stifles innovation and creativity. These tendencies creep into all large companies day in and day out. Sufficient energy must therefore be perpetually deployed to combat this organizational sclerosis. In this sense, Work-Out is the corporate elixir of youth. The watchwords are speed, simplicity and self-confidence. In Welch’s words, “In the eighties, we saw that organizations get faster as controls are lifted. As this occurs, people who spent years devoting half their time serving the system and their other half fighting it suddenly come to life and make face-to-face, spontaneous decisions on topics that would have previously taken months of hesitation and tons of paperwork”.
This book was written by people who participated in developing and implementing the Work-Out method for over a decade. It is designed to prepare readers to move into action. Only 20 percent of the text is dedicated to explaining the underlying principles, while the overwhelming 80 percent is devoted to presenting methods, tools and examples.
There is little doubt that the issues covered and the improvements targeted by Work-Out are fascinating for any large organization. However, let’s not fool ourselves – the best how-to book in the world is not enough to challenge the balance of power in an organization, foster cross-functional communication and cooperation, and develop individual self-confidence and empowerment. The proactive commitment of company leaders is an absolutely prerequisite for this book to improve management practices effectively.
Further readings…
- Action
Learning
David L. Dotlich, James L. Noel – Jossey-Bass. (Book)
Use training programs based on real projects to develop leadership in the organization. - Mobilizing the Organization
George H. Litwin, John Bray, Kathleen Lusk Brooke – Prentice Hall. (Book)
The characteristics of successful change initiatives, based on an analysis of European companies. - La stratégie du projet
latéral
Olivier d'Herbemont, Bruno César – Dunod. (Book)
Overcome opposition to ensure the success of politically sensitive projects.
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