The Art of Action: How Leaders Close the Gaps between Plans, Actions, and Results Hardcover – November 4, 2010

This book is remarkable. The author's breath of reading and research is amazing. Almost every important author or management book of the 20th century is referenced here - in refreshing and often critical candor. From fads like 'Blue Ocean Strategy' to serious works like 'Balance Scorecard' The Art of Action looks at a wide range of material and distills down what works for actually accomplishing something.However what made this book so significant is the practical advice and implementable ideas. This isn't another ivory tower theory from on high book, but a practical solution that every manager or leader can get results from.That said it isn't a handbook. More 'how to' should have been included. Illustrations are small. Footnotes are numerous (and without chapter heads). There are no summaries, no easy to read or follow instructions. They exist but thy are not as useful as the author intended. You have to do the work of reading, digesting the material, and thinking through a practical application for your business.But oh how worthwhile you'll find that process. Of the dozens of books I read annually The Art of Action is one I'll keep at hand, re-read, and use.Like in war when a business strategy encounters the real world 3 gaps appear (gaps in terms of expected results and reality: outcomes, actions, plans). They are:1. The knowledge gap - the difference between what we would like to know and what we actually know.2. The Alignment Gap - the difference between what we want people to do and what they actually do.3. The Effects Gap - the difference between what we expect our actions to achieve and what they actually achieve.The Art of Action is about filling those gaps. Stephen Bungay uses the lessons of war and military theorists to figure out how to really create a "learning organization." The mechanical view of workers as learning tasks and slavishly performing them won't work in dynamic situations like war or competitive business environments. People need to know the goals (intentions) of a business and then have the skill sets to proactively and creatively find their own solutions to accomplish them. We provide the strategy, again goals and intentions along with tactical resources but the people think and act independently to accomplish the goals. A tall order however The Art of Action explains how.Simply a great book that will save you tons of time from reading the hundreds of books this author has read and gleaned the gold from."We have a strategy, we have long-term objectives, we all have budgets...meanwhile our people are asking, 'so, what is it exactly that you're asking me to do?'""Generating activity is not a problem; in fact it is easy. The fact that it is easy makes the real problem harder to solve. The problem is getting the right things done - the things that matter, the things that will have an impact, the things a company is trying to achieve to ensure success. A high volume of activity often disguises a lack effective action."

For anyone leading a product organization who wants to get the true value of agile and customer focused cross functional teams, this book is required reading. Most of my favorite leaders and product people recommend this book and I can see why. If you are interested in empowered teams, or work in a multi-team environment where there is more than a minor of amount of uncertainty in how to achieve your outcomes, this book will guide you through how to think about the challenges of Knowledge, Alignment and Effects that are holding you back. It's a great companion to A Seat At The Table.

"The Art of Action" is a great book. I can't say that there's ever been a business book based of maneuver warfare. I don't exactly know the precise time when the maneuver warfare craze hit the United States Military (US Marines were first, synthesized by USAF Col. John Boyd), but it happened long enough ago that the once polemic idea is now accepted corpus of military strategy. "Prussian envy" was a phrase coined to describe this type of thinking, with impressive sounding words like Auftragstaktik or Coup d'oeil.There are many types of strategic formulation, you analyze your yourself and your industry and pounce on opportunities; you can ask the different functions and find out what driving the your business as in "driving forces"; you can look at your processes and improve them; etc. What I take away from this book is that the implementation phase of strategic process can in itself generate strategies in a kind of iterative way. Which by the way is how textbooks describe them.In these times we live in, management is in love with networks. Networks are not even mentioned in "Art of Action" but if you do work on a network, then "Art of Action" is the way you would thrive in such a world.Tidbits I found profound in this book are: Competencies are built on top of another; don't make a decision on things you don't know.

We'd all be better off if we spent less time podcasting the latest hot takes from "leadership gurus" and more time reflecting on the proven principles applied successfully by history's best and most thoughtful leaders. Dr. Stephen Bungay surveys the historical terrain and puts the lessons into a system that can help leaders in any industry close the gaps between plans, actions, and outcomes.If you are a veteran and are excited to apply your military leadership experiences to the civilian world, but have a sneaking suspicion that something is missing, this book is the place to start. If you are a civilian and think that most military leadership books give advice that's either banal or not appropriate in a business context, this book will be a very pleasant surprise.For anyone with the patience to look backwards to history's greats instead of searching twitter for the latest leadership models, the rewards will be immense.

I've read this book three times and have probably gifted it to twice as many people, all of whom are my direct reports.Strategy books either live in the "Here's how Google/Apple/IBM did it and here's why Xerox failed" space of big lofty ideas without any dirt under their nails, or they live in the "here's 101 tricks to beating you competition you've already hear before." This book is completely different and I've never come across its like before. It thinks about strategy as a function of organization, not as a function of leadership/cult of personality or a "big audacious goal." Strategy is what happens when you get the right people in the right room with the right incentives and have the staff to make sure these ideas are actually enacted.I'd never heard of von Moltke before, but it is clear in this book, he has a lot to teach us about how to lead, train, manage and succeed. A wonderful book.

The three gaps are real and probably they exist in all companies. This book is the key to avoid your company to wast time and money without having return.

Having heard Stephen speak, I quickly bought the book.And it has served as a great reminder in times of chaos as to how to ensure that we as leaders follow through.If you want to help yourself to a good read that will give you great ideas and great influence on your day. I highly recommend this book.

An in-depth analysis of, basically, how to get good results in what we do: whether in business, command or just everyday life. If you are in a hole, and need to get out, this book will give you some principles of how to get good “outcomes” from bad situations.You may find the terminology easier to understand than some management books. In fact, this book is more about leadership, and effective leadership, than management.There are some chapters which I found more difficult than others. But the military terminology, and the adaptation of strategy, was absolutely spot on. It explains that strategy is something that evolves and cannot always be planned for.It’s not cheap, but that will reflect the potential value of such a book. It may very well change your life. It’s certainly a clear guide to help deal with the problems that life throws at us.Invest in this book if you want to be a good leader.

Ho letto molti libri sul pensiero militare e su Clausewitz. Non mi aspettavo molte novità da questo testo, invece L autore ha Saputo fare una efficace e avvincente sintesi dei temi fondamentali che riguardano il Comando e la Leadership, rendendoli immediatamente fruibili sul piano pratico. Indispensabile testo di leadership per chi si muove in contesti complessi, incerti, ambigui e volatili

te da una muy buena idea en generar para realizar estrategias para lo que deseas hacer :)