CONSULTING

Editor’s Note
M A G A Z I N E

Publisher B o a rd of Ad v i s e rs
Joe Bre m n e r
G roup Publisher Accenture
IBM’s One Degree of Separation D avid Beck Chairman & CEO
E D I TO R I A L Joe Fo r e h a n d
E d i to r- i n - C h i e f A.T. Kearney CEO
Ja ck Swe e n e y Henner Klein
j s we e n ey@consultingma g.com
You may be one of the consultants whose books sits in a stack Managing Editor Bain & Company
here in our office. Following the arrival of each text, we frequently will Mina Landr i s c i n a
mlandriscina@consultingmag.com
Managing Director
receive a call from a publicist — to whom we offer a standard apology and John Donahoe
C o n t ributing Wri te rs
some time-tested reasoning as to why we choose not to review books. So, using S t a cy C o l l e t t Booz Allen Hamilton
Alan Radding Chairman & CEO
this page to endorse any one book could send a mixed message. E ric Kre l l
Ralph Shrader
Nonetheless, allow us to say that there’s one book that deserves to be near C o py Edito r
the top of every consultant’s pile: Lou Gerstner’s memoir about his years at Ja ck Bur n e t t Boston Consulting Group
I n te rn Sr. Partner
IBM, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Some of you may rightfully disagree. S h awna Rice George Stalk
First, you’d probably tell us that Gerstner was not a consultant when he wrote DESIGN
Capgemini
it, nor is he one today. Second, you’d probably tell us that Gerstner’s book is A s s o c i a te Art Dire c tor
Thomas A l b a n o CEO North America
already three years old. ta l b a n o @ c o n s u l t i n g m a g . c o m Chell Smith
If it were not for the hopeful notion that this column and our cover story
Deloitte Consulting
could together pay some synergistic dividends, we’d have to concede to you on SALES
Sr. Partner
the second point. Not on the first, though. You see, Lou Gerstner has always Account Manage r:
B rian Cuthbert Cathy Benko
been a consultant. And despite having served as IBM’s chairman and CEO for Te l : ( 212) 563-6256,
DiamondCluster
b c u th b e rt @ c o n s u l t i n g m a g . c o m
nine years and performed leadership tours of duty at RJR Nabisco, American Chairman & CEO
Express, and, more recently, The Carlyle Group, Gerstner’s professional DNA C h a rles Nguye n Mel Bergstein
Te l : ( 212) 563-5671,
routinely exposes his true identity. “I now realize that I was always — even to c n g u ye n @c o n s u l t i n g m a g . c o m IBM BCS
St r a t e gi c A d v is er
the end — an outsider,” he writes. A r nold Po l l a r d General Manager
For a leader this is a surprise confession, intended not to garner sympathy Ginni Rometty
Consulting Magazine
but perhaps to reveal the disposition required of executives who are tasked with Volume Seven: Issue One Katzenbach Partners
ISSN 15 2 5 - 4 3 21 Senior Partner
bringing vast change to an organization. It’s clear that Gerstner’s detachment
Jon Katzenbach
or independent-mindedness made his approach mirror that of a consultant. E d i to rial & Sales Offi c e :
3 Pa rk Avenue, Floor 30 Mercer Delta Consulting
Some could argue that such qualities were largely inbred, given the fact New Yo rk, NY 10 016
Te l : ( 212) 563-6256
Chairman
Gerstner spent more years at McKinsey & Company (1965–78) than anywhere David A. Nadler
else during the span of his career. Gerstner’s independence aside, Elephants SUBSCRIPTIONS
Te l : (800) 531 - 0 0 07 Monitor Group
should remain a classic consulting text because of its determined focus on what Managing Director
M a n a ge r : Carole Kru n k l e v i c h
is generally accepted to be the weak knees of the consulting profession — the Mark Fuller
R E P R I N TS E R V I C E S
hinge where strategy and execution meet. C h a rles Nguye n Perot Systems Corp.
The book relates a number of carefully chosen anecdotes, including one that Te l : ( 212) 563-5671, Chief of Consulting
c n g u ye n @c o n s u l t i n g m a g . c o m
details a brief encounter with a 79-year-old Thomas Watson, Jr. — the man James Champy
who brought IBM into the computing age. Watson urges IBM’s new leader to AD TRAFFIC MANAG E R
Sapient
L a u ra Tre m bl ay
shake it up “from top to bottom.” At the conclusion of Elephants, you can Te l : (603) 924-0900 (ext. 619), Co-CEO
imagine that there have been just three IBM CEOs who have ever really mat- ltremblay@kennedyinfo.com Jerry Greenberg
tered: Watson, Gerstner, Palmisano.
This book may have even deeper meaning for the consulting world when Kennedy Information
you consider that Gerstner personally knew and admired McKinsey’s modern
founder, Marvin Bower. It was Bower, Gerstner has stated, who taught him the
C h a i rm a n
importance of leading with principles. In the end, when Gerstner passes the Paul N.Wo j c i k
baton to Palmisano, those familiar with IBM’s maturing consulting ambitions CEO & Pre s i d e n t
Joe Bre m n e r
may wonder from whose hand Gerstner himself originally received it.
G roup Publisher
D avid Beck
C o rp o ra te Offi c e : One Phoenix Mill Lane,
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Te l : (800) 531 - 0 0 07
Fax: (603) 924 - 44 6 0
Jack Sweeney, Editor-in-Chief Consulting Magazine is published bimonthly
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