Let me talk straight; this book is all about automobiles, automobiles and automobiles. What I mean by that is, it all revolves around GM, Ford, Chrysler and not to forget some Japanese giants. It is truly an autobiography, not a case study. It starts from his birth, to schooling, getting a job in Ford, being fired from Ford, joining Chrysler and rest as they say is History.
It will be most useful from management point of view, but also if, you are somehow related to manufacturing or auto industry. So! what I as an under grad computer science engineer have learned from this book is more then the above mentioned beneficiaries. We as an undergrad always wondered how such corporate ’’honchos’’ are able to do such great things in life. All we try to know is how are their persona, what are their daily routines, how do they interact and of course how do they make a balance between their social and work life. No book is going to tell us this in detail. For that we need to be present with them like a shadow :). What we should learn from this book is how should we maintain our calm and composure at times when we are facing the worst phase of our life.
People are no GOOD or BAD. Its the situation that makes them and as the cliche goes ’’Time changes everything’’. Even people which are closest to our heart can not help us, and enemies can become best friends. How should we face the government and their laws ? How we should keep all the strings attached ? We should sometimes break the convention of business , and for that matter anything in life, when we have one leg in grave. Change is the only thing that is constant. Even Bill Gates is follower of Change.The top(opposite to bottom) line is : its all about management and priorities. But during stress it is very important to maintain confidence/courage, faith, tolerance/temper and patience/perseverance. I term this as the CFTP protocol . The main thing is, it affects our life and family. Hence it boils down to maintaining a universal Balance.
THIS BOOK IS A COMPLETE PACKAGE.
Excerpts :
01 - You’ll never really know what happiness is unless you have something to compare it to. -If someone is bigger than you are, don’t fight back.
02 - Use your head instead of your fists.
03 - Life isn’t always going to be fair.
04 - The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in
business-or almost anywhere else,for that matter.
05 - If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.
06 - Establishing priorities and using your time well aren’t things you can pick up at the Harvard
Business School.
07 - Formal learning can teach you a great deal, but many of the essential skills in life are the ones you have to develop on your own.
08 - Mistakes area a part of life; you can’t avoid them. All you can hope is that they won’t be too
expensive and that you don’t make the same mistake twice.
09 - The dealers are really the only customers a company has.
10 - If you screw up, don’t give me any excuses-- go look at yourself in the mirror. Then come see me.
11 - When the product is right, you don’t have to be a great marketer.
12 - Whenever you’re trying to promote a brand name, your first task is to make clear where the brand is available.- As everyone knows, there are only two ways to make more money: you can sell more
goods or spend less on overhead.
13 - Styling and value are what sells cars, but QUALITY is what keeps them sold.- Leadership means setting an example.
14 - If everybody is suffering equally, you can move a mountain.15 - Gasoline is the blood of the car industry, an interest rates are the oxygen.
Most important -
Always think, first, in terms of the other person’s interest.
