The New Science of Strategy Execution: How Established Firms Become Fast, Sleek Wealth Creators

I have just noticed this review of my book given almost a year after its publication.

Let me say that I think this kind of review is very irresponsible. While not all books are for everyone, as the reviewer repeatedly suggests, this reviewer got away with alot in my opinion in anonymity.

A reviewer should judge a book by the author’s own objectives, not what the reviewer wishes they would have been. Mine were set out in the Preface. This book was to have been an overview to what I feel is the value add over conventional books on strategy execution. I state readers should start with those if they need more conventional material. It was also not intended to be an academic book with citations everywhere documenting the line of reasoning. While I have been an academic, this book is the product of almost twenty five years on the firing line with clients and real businesses. Each client supplied part of the puzzle that is presented holistically here for the first time. This book was intended to be in the tone of James Thompson’s Organization in Action or Chester Barnard’s The Function of an Executive. Short, framework oriented but broad in scope and with rigor trying to get to the root causes of problems with strategy execution. If the reviewer had read the Preface, he or she would have known that this book was not what they needed, as per the long series of things he/she said should have been there.

And finally there are loads of innuendo as to my integrity. Flippant statements about if I really did the client research or really did the client work are irresponsible and border on slander. If my educational and consulting background as presented in the Acknowledgements section were not good enough for this reviewer, then he/she should have not have read the book.

This kind of review smacks of someone trashing a book to protect turf. In fact, I’ll bet this person is a cynical academic or consultant trying to protect his/her turf. This reviewer knows my name – I do not know his or her name. If he or she would like to communicate with me directly, please do so at s10tech_inc@comcast.net or go to my website s10technologies.com and communicate with me there.

WILLIAM R. BIGLER, JR., is President and Founder of S10 Technologies and the Strategy Execution Institute.

MARILYN NORRIS is Founder and Principal of 21st Century Resources.