800-CEO-READ Blog

Jack Covert Selects - What Really Works

What Really Works: The 4+2 Formula for Sustained Business Success by Nitin Nohria, William Joyce, and Bruce Roberson, HarperBusiness, 352 Pages, $26.95 Hardcover, May 2003, ISBN 0060512784

This book is the result of an extensive, thorough, and unique five-year study called the Evergreen Project in which the authors worked to find the fundamental practices that create sustained business success. Not an easy mission! After analyzing, interpreting, and organizing 10 years worth of data, they gave us the results in What Really Works. Of course, they also supply excellent hands-on information about how to become a winning company by using their “4+2” formula.

The authors found that there are eight management practices that directly correspond to superior corporate performance, as measured by TRS (total return to shareholder). The eight practices are divided into two groups: a primary and secondary. In the primary group are strategy, execution, culture, and structure. The secondary group is comprised of talent, leadership, innovation, and mergers/partnerships. A winning company achieves excellence in all four of the primary practices, and also two of the secondary practices. That’s where they get the “4+2” formula. Companies that maintain a high level of success in “4+2” management practices also maintain a high level of sustained business success. This simple equation sounds just that—simple. However, as the authors show us, the simple equation is very hard to maintain!

The bulk of the book gives detailed descriptions and illustrations of winning and losing companies, in the contexts of the eight management practices. They show you what to do, and also what not to do. In the “Meet a Winner” chapter, we look at Dollar General and why they are a winner. In the “Meet a Loser” chapter, we look at why and how Kmart fell into bankruptcy. The rest of the chapters each focus on one of the eight management practices in extreme detail, using examples of that practice at work (or not at work) in companies like Campbell Soup, Home Depot, Nike, Target, and Polaroid.

I like this book because it is backed by such thorough research on the front end, and then goes on to show you exactly how you can implement the results of that study into your own company’s management practices. What Really Works is not just another business book—it is a very important one with earth-shattering ideas and processes.

Jack Covert Selects - The Warren Buffett CEO

http://800ceoread.com/products/?ISBN=0471430455The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets from the Berkshire Hathaway Managers by Robert P. Miles, John Wiley & Sons, 400 Pages, $16.95 Paperback, May 2003, ISBN 0471430455

I know about Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. I know that if you bought $100 worth of stock in the 1960s, you would be incredibly rich right now. Yes, that’s nice to know and fun to contemplate, but it isn’t something that seems too relevant to me right now. However, Robert Miles has made it all relevant to today’s business world. He has looked at the businesses in Berkshire Hathaway, personally met with 20 CEOs, and then shows us why Buffett has been so successful. We discover it is Buffett’s leadership style and his uncanny eye for a good investment. As is stated in the preface:
“This book isn’t a ‘How to invest Like Warren Buffett.’ Instead, it introduces the managers who are running the businesses that Buffett has invested in. As you read these chapters, you’ll learn about the different families and the beginnings of some interesting and successful businesses. You’ll also learn some management and investment tenets from some of the most respected CEOs around.”

People who have gotten JCSs in the past know that I love books that I call “airplane reads.” An airplane read is a book that you can read during a two to three hour plane ride. This is an airplane read with heft. This is a book that you will carry in your briefcase or have on your nightstand—as I have—for a long time.

You will read about Jordans, a New England furniture store. Comparing Jordans to a furniture store is like comparing Disney World to a county fair. You will meet the third generation owners and discover what makes them special. Buffett calls them “Shoppertainers.”

In the closing section, Miles has a section called “Berkshire Post-Buffett” which includes a memo from Buffett to Berkshire Hathaway Managers dated 8-2-00. That memo spoke volumes to me because of Buffett’s real world, practical corporate view. I now understand why this man is so well respected. Read this book to learn like I did why Warren Buffett is a remarkable and exceptional person.

Jack Covert Selects - Purple Cow

Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin, Portfolio. 140 Pages, $19.95 Hardcover, May 2003, ISBN 159184021X

The one and only time I offered a money-back guarantee was with Lou Gerstner’s story of the IBM turnaround, Who Said Elephants Can’t Dance? However, I just finished a book that is so powerful, it is compelling me to offer the same money-back guarantee again! The book is Seth Godin’s latest, Purple Cow. It is absolutely laser-focused on a subject that is near and dear to all of us: how to sell/market our products. The title comes from a story Seth tells about when his family was traveling in France and marveling at the pretty cows. After awhile, there were so many cows that they became boring. This brought to Seth this idea: “A purple cow, though. Now that would be interesting. (For a while.) The essence of the Purple Cow is that it must be remarkable.” To help you understand what he means by remarkable, he states that the opposite of remarkable is “very good.” Not bad or mediocre, but very good. He states that he doesn’t think that there is a shortage of remarkable ideas; he thinks that what is missing is the will to execute the ideas. He says:
“My goal in Purple Cow is to make it clear that it’s safer to be risky—to fortify your desire to do truly remarkable things. Once you see that the old ways have nowhere to go but down, it becomes imperative to create things worth talking about.”

The case studies used in the book are perfectly selected. Although I had heard some of the stories before, many were new to me. At the end of each case study/story he has a “takeaway” which is a group of questions that should be used to stimulate discussion or idea generation. The case studies range in length from a couple of paragraphs to a few pages and are written in a breezy, casual style that draws you into the book and makes you want to keep turning the pages. I don’t think I have ever used the term “page-turner” to describe a business book, but this book is special and deserves the designation.

Jack Covert Selects - Service Magic

Service Magic: The Art of Amazing Your Customers by Ron Zemke and Chip Bell, Dearborn Trade Publishing, 260 Pages, $18.95 Paperback, May 2003, ISBN 0793164672

I love business books that give you up-front value. Books that have information that makes perfect sense, that show you the application to your business immediately. A book like this makes you want to share it with others. Service Magic has all of that and more! When you look at the pedigree of the authors, you shouldn’t be surprised. These guys have written a ton of bestselling books. Zemke wrote the hugely successful Knock your Socks Off series, and Bell has written books like Managers as Mentors and Customers as Partners.

In Service Magic, they have put together an old-fashioned, easy, and fun-to-read primer on service. They not only have some great stories about the Nordstrom kind of service magic, they give examples from many organizations in many industries—from hospitality, financial services, health care, retail, to entertainment. Plus, the book is loaded with very practical ideas. The authors state:
“The Service Magic Method is a technology and a set of tools, derived in part from the art and science of stage magic and in part from the art and science of service manage. It’s about creating pleasant surprises for customers grown weary of bland, mundane and truculently impersonal service—and keeping them coming back for more.”

They tell a story of a retirement facility in Texas that has special amenities in the Alzheimer’s wing for the patients there. The facility created a 1950s style kitchen with a 1955 Maytag oven! The patients love to bake cookies as they remember doing long ago, then they watch old movies down the hall. That is just one of literally hundreds of stories to support Zemke and Bell’s premise that you need to create magic in your clients’ experiences. Service Magic is a highly recommended title that is written by some real pros.

Jack Covert Selects - Awakening the Leader Within

Awakening the Leader Within: A Story of Transformation by Kevin Cashman, John Wiley, 340 Pages, $24.95 Hardcover, May 2003, ISBN 0471273198

The business novel/parable is making a huge comeback! So far this year, at least eight books of this genre have been released. I personally find business novels a great tool to teach concepts; they are also very easy to learn from. The words “business novel” and “emotions” are very seldom used in the same sentence, but Awakening the Leader Within requires using these words in its description.

I honestly can’t remember reading a business book where I actually cared about the main character—until now. Bensen Quinn is the CEO of a multinational company. Besides being able to squeeze revenue from many expense lines, he was a successful manager—constantly on top of his people and the competition. He wasn’t mean; he was just focused on the short term. Unfortunately, Quinn also didn’t have much of a life outside of his corporate world. One very telling example of this disconnect is when his wife calls and tells him he needs to pick up his daughter from her play rehearsal. After he whines about it, he has to ask his wife where the high school is! Not what you would call a dedicated father. Then his daughter has a terrible accident, and Ben stops and realizes he has some serious personal issues. Then, the guru/mentor appears in the form of a gardener; and we follow Ben’s transformation.

All through the book the author has “Wake Up Calls” which are worksheets that ask discussion questions around the plot of the book. Also the book’s final fifty plus pages are action guidelines and growth guides. Like I said, the book really moved me and I really feel that the lessons talked about are important and presented well. The book reads extremely well, is an interesting story, and I learned something. I loved it.

Jack Covert Selects - A Branded World

A Branded World: Adventures in Public Relations and the Creation of Superbrands by Michael Levine, John Wiley and Sons, 240 Pages, $27.95 Hardcover, April 2003, ISBN 0471263664

When I first looked at A Branded World, I expected it to be a book on branding and marketing. Wrong! The book is about public relations and how it applies to branding. Michael Levine, head of Levine Communications, one of the dominant players in the PR world, wrote the book. He represents Barbara Streisand, Michael Jackson, Charlton Heston, and many more major players in the media and the corporate world. I must admit (eternal music junkie that I am) that I became interested in reading the book when I opened it to the story of the PR that was done by the Paul McCartney camp when he was busted for marijuana going into Japan in 1980. Levine notes that the McCartney brand would have lost millions of dollars if his detention by the Japanese authorities had been handled badly by his PR team. After I read a little more, I suddenly started seeing PR issues that I needed to look at regarding my company’s brand. The book is a real nuts-and-bolts look at how to leverage PR to build brands and to communicate brand identity to consumers.

Another fun aspect of the book, besides all the big names Levine drops, is the fictional brand of ice cream we see go though the entire branding process. The book is filled with fascinating stories with many real-world examples, and numerous anecdotes on PR campaigns for some of the biggest brands around. He details the many ways PR impacts the most vital aspects of branding like packaging, first impressions, damage control, e-branding and brand loyalty.

This is a fun read that is so very applicable to today’s world. It is a must read for PR folks and all marketing managers, plus anybody who is interested in how they can improve their business’ PR and branding.