The idea is as intriguing as it is simple: Why not have CEOs speak directly about the major issues that they face? The result is this uneven book, edited by the Price Waterhouse coauthors of The Paradox Principles and Better Change. When the book works, it works well. We hear a droll Colin Marshall, head of British Airways, explaining how he learned the value of customer service while serving as a cadet purser in the 1950s. Michael Z. Kay, CEO of LSG/SKY Chefs (an airline food service company), offers advice about turning around a losing venture in the form of a memo to a mythical peer. Many of the CEOs' comments, however, can be self-serving. Quips like "Monsanto is a textbook example of the courage, drive and energy it takes to create change in an organization" would have more credibility if not being made by the respective company CEOs, in this case Robert B. Shapiro. Nevertheless, from CEO reports on Siemens's experience in "Turning Supertankers into Speedboats" to Chase Manhattan's "Art of the Inclusive Merger" and Young and Rubicam's use of creative marketing as a "Core Strategy," a lot of capital ground gets covered.

 

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