Who says elephants can't dance?
by Louis V. Gerstner · first published 2002
64% recommend36% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Firsthand account by IBM's CEO of the early-1990s turnaround, covering the cash crisis, the pivot toward services, and changing a large company's culture. Suited to readers of business leadership and corporate change.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? sums up Lou Gerstner's historic business achievement, bringing IBM back from the brink of insolvency to lead the computer business once again.Offering a unique case study drawn from decades of experience at some of America's top companies -- McKinsey, American Express, RJR Nabisco -- Gerstner's insights into management and leadership are applicable to any business, at any level. Ranging from strategy to public relations, from finance to organization, Gerstner reveals the lessons of a lifetime running highly successful companies.
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…100k in a couple years. The 1993 job cuts saved IBM about $4b/yr and IBM's market cap rose from $29b in 1993 to $168b in 2002 when Gerstner retired. If you're interested in more, I recommend the book, 'Who Says Elephants Can't Dance' - a memoir by Gerstner.
on “Next Week's Bloodbath At IBM Won't Fix The Real Problem” ↗>In the 90's when it seemed liked it was doomed, it "saved itself" by selling off big chunks of that real estate. Wonder if that was during Lou Gerstner's time as CEO at IBM. I had read his book Who says Elephants can't Dance, about what he did to turn IBM around. It was an interesting read. Don't remember if selling off some of their real estate was part of what they did, though it could have been. A review of the book…
on “Google is buying Chelsea Market building for over $2B” ↗…UI/UX design and trying to invest heavily on it. Lot of big name startup even though succeed for short or medium term but struggling a lot in long run. I really enjoy reading the below book about IBM Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? by Louis V., Jr. Gerstner (Outsider came to IBM as CEO) IBM is nearly in verge of collapse during early 90s. And he pulled it off. http://www.amazon.com/Who-Says-Elephants-Cant-Dance/dp/00605...
on “IBM Design” ↗This wasn't in the last 10 years, but Louis Gerstner turned around IBM in the 90s and wrote a good book about it: Who Says Elephants Can't Dance: https://www.amazon.ca/Who-Says-Elephants-Cant-Dance/dp/B00DJ...
on “Bidding war with Salesforce drove up Microsoft’s LinkedIn bill” ↗give "who says elephants can't dance" a read. it deals with the turnaround of ibm, a company with tremendous institutional inertia. http://www.amazon.com/Elephants-Dance-Inside-Historic-Turnar...
on “Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief” ↗Read "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance", Lou Gerstner's firsthand account of IBM's historic turnaround. IBM was 3 months away from running out of cash when he got there in 1993. It survived largely because he bet the company on a pivot out…
on “Amazon, Google employees bullish; 25% of Microsofties say things will get worse” ↗One great book on how the culture of an entire giant company can change is "Who says elephants can't dance" by Lou Gerstner. He was the CEO of IBM who orchestrated IBM's transformation from a mainframe supplier to a service-oriented company. My take on the process is this - the change can be done and has been…
on “Google Brass Set 2023 as Deadline to Beat Amazon, Microsoft in Cloud” ↗…CEO fought splitting the company up. He figured they were better off having everything together. It worked a little while he was there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Gerstner#IBM "In his memoir, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?, he describes his arrival at the company in April 1993, when an active plan was in place to dis-aggregate the company. The prevailing wisdom of the time held that IBM's core mainframe business was headed…
on “Companies like HP must split to survive, is like the evolution of new species” ↗IBM, to some degree. They launched Global Services long before it was fashionable. Louis Gerstner explains in Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? that there was tremendous doubt in the 1990's that consulting was the way to go, but he realized early on that the world "didn't need another hard drive maker" and decided that IBM could provide value…
on “And Then There Was One: Red Hat” ↗…change, given their hidebound culture. From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_V._Gerstner,_Jr.#IBM "Gerstner is credited with saving IBM from going out of business in the early 1990s. In his memoir, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?, he describes his arrival at the company in April 1993, when an active plan was in place to disaggregate the company. The prevailing wisdom of the time held that IBM's core mainframe business was headed…
on “Goodbye, IBM. Seriously.” ↗…and who not to and it will take more than a few weeks to make sensible decisions. And yes, that's the exact conversion I had when I found myself in that situation and it's not valid just for SMEs, see 'Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?' for basically the same idea in a place as big as IBM (when he talks about everyone expecting him to come up with a brilliant strategy fast)
on “The Sad Truth About Developing Executives” ↗