American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company

This is a business book but reads like a novel with plot, character development and great suspense . It is extremely well written and makes for a very enjoyable read. I certainly look fwd to the next book. The author puts to use the access he has to the key people of the story. As the book ends, the Ford turnround per se is achieved but it begs for an epilogue in the near future or maybe a follow up about the search for Mr. Right, a replacement for Mullaly, and how a new leader will have Ford pursue and adjust Mullaly's Legacy. A few interesting points for me. - The adequacy of the duo Mullaly / Bill Ford: Mr. Hoffman mostly focuses on Mullaly, the main character. But he also emphasizes Bill Ford's self awareness. By acting the way he did, B. Ford enabled the Mullaly's success and deserves much credit for that. This is a useful teaching for any business successes to look for the enablers. - Related to the former point: the end of the book where the author reflects on the various elements of the turnaround context is also useful. It is tempting to regard Mullaly as the white knight who shows up and figures it out. And Mullaly does that anyways. But it is happening in a context that matters a great deal to give full force to Mullaly's leadership qualities. - The book is about the Ford turnaround but I would have liked more writing about Mullaly's life within Ford: how did he relate to his family during his tenure so far. Was he struck by any personal tragedy after he became a CEO? Anything that brought any self doubt? What are his favored books / authors? What does he do when he does not work? Does he speak any language other then English, etc. it is not about digging dirt, of course, but merely humanize him and allow the reader perhaps to better relate to him in a way. Or is he just THAT perfect? - Each chapter is preceded by a quote from Henry Ford, putting the content under his intellectual patronage. Each chapter connects well with the chosen quote, somehow Bringing H Ford's wisdom across decades into the present. Nothing wrong on face value. But given the rather complex and larger-than-life Henry Ford (including unsavory sides), it would have deserved a few lines in the intro to better define the boundaries of this intellectual patronage (or did I just miss it?). - The book is a perfect illustration of the Chinese idea of crisis: at once a danger and an opportunity. Or as Rahm Emanuel puts it: "Never waste a crisis". - Little is said about the consequence of the downsizing of Ford on former employees and communities where they lived. A change in the company and the industry did not go without affecting many lives… It is not the subject of the book but could have put in perspective the positive tone of the turnaround and highlighted some costs. - Ford and then Mullaly efforts are narrated over a period of time when Wall Street went crazy. I read "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis and the 2 books offer an interesting contrast. Mullaly (re)built a company that actually makes something whereas the WS financiers did not "make" anything and ran the economy to the ground. He is quoted at some point of the book saying something like "all value comes from engineers". This is an interesting proposition to reflect on. - There might be a similar story to write about a high tech / software giant at some point soon. Microsoft post-Gates is looking for someone to replace Balmer. Maybe Apple in a post-Cook leadership. Perhaps later Google and Facebook… The high tech industry is currently going through a major change and those who will know how to lead a large company reinvention should be an interesting subjects for the talented Mr. Hoffman.

I am not a car enthusiast. I enjoy having a reliable, clean and efficient vehicle, but the primary purpose, for me, is to get me where I'm going on time and without surprises. So when I ordered this book, my expectations were that I'd ignore the "car stuff" for the most part, and concentrate on the leadership stuff. Well, I wound up doing both, and enthusiastically at that. Hoffman has written an excellent book mixing family business intrigue with a history of the car business and its missteps as well as a book replete with leadership lessons. Here are just a few of the most notable for me. Look outside the industry: Many leaders today realize that to avoid "group think" or "boxed in thinking," it is useful to have cross industry experience. To his credit, Bill Ford, Jr., recognized that not only was he not the best person to turn Ford around, but that he had to go outside the Detroit mentality to get the job done right. After several failed prospects, they finally "landed" Alan Mulally of Boeing fame. History shows that no finer pick could have been made. Have a clear compelling strategy and/or vision: One Ford became Mulally's battle cry, and it was, essentially, the business plan. While he had that simple, clear plan, he also had four simple points on which he kept his team, the board and the company focused; 1. Aggressively restructure to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix. 2. Accelerate development of new products our customers want and value. 3. Finance our plan and improve our balance sheet. 4. Work together effectively as one team. Accountability: Almost immediately upon assuming his responsibilities as Ford's new CEO, Mulally instituted weekly Business Plan Review (BPR) meetings. He further insisted that his direct report team (all senior "c-suite" executives of major divisions) make their presentations themselves. It became crystal clear very quickly that they were to be in command of the numbers and be accountable for knowing what was going on in their divisions. Any "issues" that came up in this BPR would be noted and any working solution was ironed out in the follow up "special attention review" or SAR immediately following the BPR. "Rules" of engagement: Every executive meeting had the following list of rules to be followed; * People first * Everyone is included * Compelling vision * Clear performance goals * One plan * Facts and data * Propose a plan, "find-a-way" attitude * Respect, listen, help, and appreciate each other * Emotional resilience. . . trust the process * Have fun. . . enjoy the journey and each other The data will set you free: Mulally insisted that decisions and continuous improvement be based on data. Up until then, decisions were often based solely on instinct. Conventional wisdom (Detroit think) was used to decide what did and did not get designed, delivered or developed. Mulally would only accept vetted numbers and his team was expected to know them and were held accountable by the numbers. Study the competition: Early in his first months at Ford, Mulally showed up at GM and Chrysler. He was content to let the "senior Detroit executive" treat him as the naïve aerospace engineer who would undoubtedly fail since he wasn't a "car man." What he learned was that those executives didn't have a clue about how bad things were for their companies. He went back to Ford with a renewed sense of urgency to get his team to see the reality of their situation. There are many more lessons in this well written and compelling story. Hoffman has given us a must read leadership book.

Great explanation of how Mulally saved Ford and the challenges he encountered in the process. The book underscores the same truth that’s found in most business turnarounds-in order to turnaround a company, you must have a plan to turnaround the culture. Really good read!

Really good read - more like a novel. There are a ton of lessons for everyone in here -resilience, ingenuity, treating people well. Alan Mulally is a fascinating character of course but so are all of the others. Highly recommended read.

There are lots of layers to this story. Everything from Mulally’s leadership to the economic downturn in 2008, there are several lessons to take away from this book. It’s a great reminder to b consistent, stay humble, and be joyful. Great read.

Una manera muy ilustrativa, agradable y detallada de entender como un líder inspirador guió a un equipo talentoso de personas a unir sus propósitos en un proyecto compartido, enfrentaron todo lo que se puede enfrentar y lograron lo que todos consideraban imposible, inclusive los mismos participantes, Ford Motor Company le dio la vuelta a su propio peso de errores corporativos Gracias a una simple pero poderosa fórmula de disciplina de trabajo y una incomparable claridad de visión. Excelente lectura, ampliamente recomendada a cualquiera que desee una visión sobre lo que es estrategia aplicada.

The author takes us right into the middle of things at Ford and keeps the reader engaged throughout the book. The writing is so rich with minutiae details that as a reader I felt I was in the middle of organised chaos that was Ford under Alan Mulally. You can feel the pulse of a BPR meeting, at the tense union negotiations and many other situations. Above everything else, the leadership lessons that can be learnt from Alan Mulally in the successful turnaround of Ford are invaluable for anyone dealing with complex environments, and these lessons have been well presented in the book in a structured and easy to follow manner.

Having long been an admirer of Mulally as a keen observer of Boeing and the airplane and airline industries, and not a big admirer of some of the moves made by the big 3 Ford GM and Chrysler in the years leading up to the 2008 Depression, this is an outstanding look at the activities of Ford and especially of Mulally's impact really from the moment he joined the company. A man now almost 70 years of age with an extraordinary devotion to his career and aware of his impact on millions of people, rising in the wee hours to put everything into his daily achievements. Truly a remarkable leader.

The book is a compelling account of Ford’s dramatic turnaround under the leadership of Alan Mulally. At a time when the Detroit automakers were on the brink of collapse, Mulally an outsider from Boeing stepped in and transformed Ford from a near bankrupt, bureaucratic giant into a streamlined, profitable company, without resorting to a government bailout. One of the most intriguing aspects of Mulally’s story is the missed opportunity for Boeing. Many believe that had Boeing chosen Mulally as CEO instead of shifting toward cost-cutting leadership, the 737 MAX disaster might have been avoided. His engineering-first approach and commitment to transparency and teamwork could have preserved Boeing’s legacy as an industry leader rather than allowing financial pressures to dictate critical safety decisions Well worth reading.

This book is amazingly good, and an absolute must-read for anyone with a deep interest in the automobile industry. The story of how Alan Mulally comes in from Boeing and turns a behemoth like Ford around, steering its way towards a more sustainable future, is very well told. I took 5-6 days to finish reading this 400-page book, and enjoyed every minute of it. Highly recommended.