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Courage to Execute
Book

Courage to Execute

What Elite US Military Units Can Teach Business About Leadership and Team Performance

Wiley, 2014 more...


Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

The US armed forces set out to execute their work flawlessly. Former US Air Force fighter pilot James D. Murphy explains how businesses can adapt the military’s time-tested organization, motivation, training and execution tactics. He cites some well-known examples of US military successes: the killing of Osama bin Laden by the Navy Seals; the Air Force’s amazing Thunderbird aerial acrobats; the Rangers, Green Berets and Delta Force special forces; and the amazing Silent Drill Platoon from the Marines. Although Murphy paints with a broad brush, and focuses only on military success, not failures, his work is clear, precise and unambiguous. getAbstract recommends his compelling military examples as lessons in strategic execution.

Take-Aways

  • US companies tend to increase – not lessen – complexity, and that hampers their execution.
  • Business theorists and intellectuals – the “business-intellectual complex” – glory in convolution, making corporate America worse, not better.
  • To improve your firm’s execution, copy the US military’s “Flawless Execution” model.

About the Author

James D. Murphy, founder and CEO of the training and consulting firm Afterburner Inc., is a former US Air Force F-15 pilot. He also wrote Business is Combat and Flawless Execution.


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