Ruthless Execution: What Business Leaders Do When Their Companies Hit the Wall

Chapter 1. Introduction

Ruthless execution is the method and strategies that business leaders employ to break through performance walls. My friend and former partner, John Sifonis, and I first employed this term in 1996 when we were doing work for Hewlett-Packard (HP). Subsequently, the phrase appeared prominently in our book Net Ready (McGraw-Hill, 2000) as a way to sum up the actions key to getting a company “Internet-ready.” During the research process for this book, and in searching for a way to “package” my findings, it became clear to me that the same term captured the essence of the strategies that business leaders execute to overcome tough times.

Few books exist on tough times and how to deal with them. Books on American corporate life ...