CONFRONTING REALITY
Doing What Matters to Get Things Right

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Confronting Reality will change the way you think about and run your business. It is the first book that shows how to connect the big picture of the new era of business with the nitty-gritty of what to do about it. Through a completely new way to understand and use the business model as the primary tool for confronting reality — a breakthrough that will become the management innovation of this decade — you'll know sooner rather than later whether your fundamental business premise is under assault, where your best opportunities lie, what you should change and what you should leave alone, and how to realistically plan the future of your business.

The fundamentals of how a business makes money are being rapidly and permanently altered by sweeping structural changes. With their extraordinary depth and breadth of experience, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan are the ideal guides for everyone  — entrepreneur, mid-level manager, or CEO — about what is to be done so you can get things right in this challenging, radically changed world. They start by showing you how to understand the most fundamental element of any business: whether you can realistically make the money you hope to in the game you're playing.

Bossidy and Charan show how to use the business model to develop a robust, reality-based process for thinking about the specifics of your business in a holistic way. They show how to tie together the financial targets you must meet, the external realities you face, and internal activities such as strategy development, operating tactics, and selection and development of people.

Through the lens of the business model, as well as the skillful use of initiatives and development of people with the right leadership characteristics, you'll see how Robert Nardelli at Home Depot, Jim McNerney at 3M, Dick Harrington at the Thomson Corporation, Michael Wisbrun at KLM, Joseph Tucci at EMC, and John Chambers at Cisco confronted reality. Whether they faced crisis or opportunity, all made the right kinds of changes through a combination of business savvy (the art of understanding the fundamentals driving a business) and business model thinking.

Reviews

"Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan are in tune with the business zeitgeist . . . [they] bring fresh insights to a matter that’s high on the corporate agenda."
—BusinessWeek

"[Execution] was clear and hard-hitting, and if anything [Confronting Reality] is even stronger."
—Kansas City Star

"Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan once again bring clarity to the fundamentals. This isn't just a book of answers. It's more valuable than that. It tells you which questions to ask. Confronting Reality is essential reading."
—Michael Dell, chairman, Dell Inc.

"Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's latest book is really a treatise that demonstrates for all businesses that 'confronting reality' is essential to long-term performance. It is a must read today for any business leader, as we confront globalization and continuous change. The book is more than just theory. Bossidy and Charan utilize a case-study-like format that highlights the successes of those enterprises that seize the day and the frustration of those who wait for change to overtake them."
—William Harrison, chairman and CEO, JP Morgan Chase

"Drawing on their tremendous reservoir of business experience, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan make a powerful case that a leader's most important assets are the intellectual honesty to face facts and the courage to change the rules of the game. Their 'business model' concept offers managers a dynamic, flexible, and practical guide to analyzing business realities and navigating an organization through the rapids of technological and competitive change."
—Ivan Seidenberg, chairman and CEO, Verizon

"More great insight on the business of business from Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. Driving execution will not do it if you have failed to deal with the changing environment affecting your business. A great read with excellent examples of failure and success as different businesses deal with reality — or fail to do so."
—Harry Stonecipher, chairman and CEO, The Boeing Company

"Fundamental changes in the global economy are creating a new set of criteria for business leadership. Chief among them is an accurate assessment of your business reality. In Confronting Reality, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan demonstrate how a clear-eyed, focused approach to defining your business model can lead to piercing insights that separate success from obsolescence."
—Bob Wright, vice chairman, GE, and chairman and CEO, NBC Universal

Published by Crown Business
October 2004
hardcover / 272 pages
ISBN: 1400050847