Who said elephants cant dance wiki

Maybe reading a book about an arguably-successful CEO will change my opinion. A ship, even a good one with a fine crew, needs a captain. Someone who can look the situation over and make a binding decision.

But imagine how situations would've been different without the "barge in and take command" behavior of James Kirk or the wise, patient leadership of Jean-Luc Picard. These captains take charge and, for better or worse, suffer the consequences of the choices THEY make. Honestly, I don't think either of those fictional leaders would've known what to do with IBM of the early 90s. Because it sounds a LOT like some kind of alien world.

Here's an organization so completely hamstrung with bureaucracy and obsession with titles you'd think it was an 18th Century royal court in some obscure European nation.

People who've been promoted to a certain level refusing to do certain roles because it was beneath their title. People taking titles with them to new roles where, arguably, they "outranked" the people they were reporting to. People who don't delegate their responsibilities because doing so would diminish their prestige and have armies of assistants who actually do all the work while the leader just "presides," usually not even needing to give their official "yea" or "nay.

And failure, by any one of them, to provide approval in a timely manner can stop the whole thing in its tracks. Until someone else gets put in charge and proceeds to shake up the kingdom. And, to his credit, Lou Gerstner did exactly that. He saw the rise of e-business. Indeed, they were the main organization championing that concept. He also saw the dot-com bubble. At its core, too many people seemed to think the "e-" stood for "easy.

We have an IPO and give ourselves massive numbers of shares. Other people bid up the value of those shares, we cash out and go on a permanent vacation. At its core, e-business is just business over a different medium.

And real business is hard work. He correctly calls out investment bankers as the people who "organized the the party and supplied the booze" for the fiasco that was the dot-com bubble. The investors supplied and promptly lost the money and the tech entrepreneurs supplied the talent and the reputations.

The investment banks ended up with all the money. Everyone else lost pretty much everything. Sound familiar? Apparently, where C-level executives are concerned, a great leader is someone who recognizes BS and has the ability to put a stop to it.

They get people and an organization to stop wasting time and money and do what they need to do. The path he put IBM on has served it rather well: services are where the money is. His successors have continued down that path to the present day. Probably the biggest single mistake he made was handing out large quantities of corporate shares to top-level management, making that a significant fraction of their compensation.

He wanted to "align the interests" of management with those of the shareholders. The result is that management has been doing whatever they can to keep boosting the values of the shares, even if what they're doing is unsustainable. They're laying off their experienced people and offshoring so much of the work that it's nearly impossible to find anyone to talk to about getting your contracted services fixed and working properly.

These are the people where the "rubber meets the road. Their cloud offerings, in which they've invested HEAVILY, simply ain't gettin' it done but they keep indicating that will be their savior.

Maybe next quarter. Or the one after that. Yes, he made some necessary changes. Improvements needed to become the default course, rather than resistance to same. Complacency needed to be stomped. Expenses needed to be trimmed. But he needed to remember that capital shareholders is not the friend of labor the people who actually do the work. Putting management on the side of the former and against the latter means they will have fewer and and fewer people to manage.

While it is possible to have too many employees, it's possible to have too few, as well. When there's not enough rubber hitting the road, you lose traction and either stop or go off the road.

Modern-day IBM is doing a combination of both. Sounds like they need another guy like this to come along and seriously alter their course again. Apr 28, Michael Bykov rated it it was amazing. Absolutely brilliant story and insight from a non-tech executive turning around the world's biggest tech company - despite all odds.

Jun 10, Utkarsh Sankhla rated it really liked it. The only time I thought about this company growing up was when the TV would air their Smarter Planet advertisements. I found them very cool, but never really understood what IBM did anyways. Lou and his story of turning around IBM is a lucid exposition of how culture and people are critical to an organization's survival and renewal.

Books like these restore my faith in my job, and the impact it can create. The stories are simple yet powerful and I personally found Lou Gerstner's style very unassuming and rolled up sleeves-ish. The answer is simple - a very gutsy guy. Also, did I mention that I heard this book in audiobook format? I think this format is no longer the pariah that I had for so long deemed it to be. What I liked: The anecdotes all of them , all the moments where Lou talks about the incredulous practices he saw in his initial days at IBM, and the gentle humour that he brings into his recollection.

By then, I was too invested in IBM to care about musings about the industry and its future. May 19, Terry rated it it was amazing Shelves: non-fiction , top-pick. Great insights and lessons from a top business leader who orchestrated one of the greatest corporate turnarounds in recent memory. This a must-read for anyone with or planning a career in business, government, or social enterprise. It is written in a clear, concise, and easy-going style that reflects Lou's genuine and honest perspectives on the nine years he spent leading IBM from the brink of collapse to the successful global organization it became under his stewardship.

Given the inherent scop Great insights and lessons from a top business leader who orchestrated one of the greatest corporate turnarounds in recent memory. Given the inherent scope, depth and profound value, I am putting this on my list of re-read books. View 1 comment. Nov 10, Akshith Rao rated it really liked it. Lou does a great job of explaining how age old incumbents can take some tips from the IBM turnaround.

An interesting and gripping read that shall be highly relatable to anyone working in slow moving elephants. Jun 09, Viktorija Ratomske rated it liked it. While there are great ideas as well as an amazing example how to turn business around and adapt to the new market rules with such a huge operation, today I find some of the ideas outdated and not too relevant in the fast changing online world.

May 06, Will McLean rated it it was amazing Shelves: present. Very readable and easy to digest. May 10, Tiklu Ganguly rated it it was amazing. Just read this book. You must read this to understand what a truly visionary person Lou is.

Also, this is a great read for any managers. Dec 12, Matias Alanko rated it it was amazing Shelves: business. A very un-business book-like business book. Gerstner just simply gives the facts and the honest story of IBM's transformation. There is no jargon, no grandeur, and no big words. I highly recommend reading this book. In addition, it was funny to think while reading the book that today, IBM is again in need of a radical transformation.

Dec 31, Vidisha Negi rated it really liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Basically it is a book, that shows how IBM revived itself from a loss making comping and to a profitable one.

The book talks about how Louis Gerstner the author himself changed the way of doing business for IBM by partnering with its competitors, building strategies that talks about cutting down costs of its products in a tactful manner, winning as a global team and not restricting success to a particular geography, the new marketing plan that came up with "IBM for smarter planet" ad campaign, Basically it is a book, that shows how IBM revived itself from a loss making comping and to a profitable one.

The book talks about how Louis Gerstner the author himself changed the way of doing business for IBM by partnering with its competitors, building strategies that talks about cutting down costs of its products in a tactful manner, winning as a global team and not restricting success to a particular geography, the new marketing plan that came up with "IBM for smarter planet" ad campaign, etc that worked in the favor of the company.

Its a treat! Great insights into a huge turnaround of one of the largest companies in the world. A fascinating read if you're in the mood for it. Personally, there are some market changes that have been going on in the past few years within Buffer's market, and so I found it very interesting to read about some much larger scale market changes and necessary action to turn a company around from a clear decline.

I particularly enjoyed reading about the strategy decisions, the approach convert that into execution Great insights into a huge turnaround of one of the largest companies in the world.

I particularly enjoyed reading about the strategy decisions, the approach convert that into execution, and the cultural adjustments needed to make it all successful. Some of the history of IBM was interesting, though some of it felt a bit dense to get through. Similarly, I wasn't as interested in the author's personal history, though some of it is context for his approach to leading IBM. One thing that bugged me a little, is that there's a lot of military jargon used in the context of business throughout the book, and a lot of zero sum mentality, of winning by others losing.

Some of the highlights for me, in the form of quotes I highlighted: "Move fast. We had to stop looking for people to blame, stop tweaking the internal structure and systems. I wanted no excuses. I wanted no long-term projects that people could wait for that would somehow produce a magic turnaround.

I wanted—IBM needed—an enormous sense of urgency. I needed my new colleagues to accept the fact that external forces—the stock market, competition, the changing demands of customers—had to drive our agenda, not the wishes and whims of our team. Easy success. Easy life. When you strip it down to bare metal, e-business is just business. And real business is serious work. In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.

Empath Up! Tony Cusato. Sailie Ashtekar. Nrupur Shetye. Mohamed Fouad. Andrew AdLin. Show More. Views Total views. Actions Shares. No notes for slide. Section 2: Two Big Bets on the Future 7. Successful leaders and organizations have lots of good leadership available to them. Successful leaders and business are focused: Who Says Elephants Cant Dance? HarperCollins Publishers.

While Buster relegates himself to a life of car-washing, Meena returns to the remains of the theater, fantasizes of what it would have been like to perform, and starts singing " Hallelujah ", attracting Buster's attention. When he asks her if she thinks she can sing in front of a real audience, Meena still doubts herself but states she wants to try, and she smiles when Buster says he wants to see her perform. The performers, including Meena, set up a makeshift, but workable open-air theater, and the show turns out spectacular.

When it's finally Meena's turn, she freezes, but her friends and Buster all give her their support and encouragement. Initially, Meena starts off soft and afraid but is able to finally sing with the passion she's kept buried inside and performs her loud and spectacular number, " Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing ".

She is also seen cheering on the other performers, and at the end of the movie, she attends the grand reopening of Moon Theater. Meena and her grandfather have fun at an ice rink while " Sleigh Ride " plays. When Gunter replaces the music track with his holiday-themed dance remix of " Groove Is in the Heart ", she happily dances with her grandfather.

At the end, she poses with the rest of the Sing cast. Pre-Show Meena stands in front of a mirror, attempting to boost her self-confidence for her upcoming performance. When she fails, Gunter encourages her to take deep breathing exercises.

After three deep inhalations, he instructs Meena to breath out, and is promptly blown away by her trunk exhalations. Sing Wiki Explore. As a business leader and technologist, he has led the building and expansion of new markets for IBM in artificial intelligence, cloud, quantum computing, and blockchain.

Bullfrogs Bullfrogs… No rest for the Bullfrog. IBM was failing to compete with the new breed of innovative software companies and hardware producers who could make computers much more cheaply. Piggie suggests him to just try so he starts to learn dancing from her. Could Piggie wants to dance with Gerald. The Elephant Dance is a simple and fun song with lots of actions to learn body parts.

To avoid this, cancel and sign in to YouTube on your computer. An error occurred while retrieving sharing information. Are you kidding me? By means of trade-offs, Gerstner manifested the seriousness of leadership in turning around the company.