I saw this book on a friend’s bookshelf when we recently visited Cincinnati to hang out with some old friends. He recommended it to me highly. The idea of a business book in the form of a novel reminded my of The Goal and Leadership and Self-Deception. Intrigued, I picked up a copy from my local library to read.
The story starts when Bill Palmer is called into the office of the CEO. On the way he learns that the CIO and VP of IT Operations have been summarily fired. When he reaches the CEO’s office, he is told of the bad spot the company is in and offered the job of VP of IT Ops. He wants to refuse, but the CEO sweet talks him into accepting before he even realizes it. The rest of the books is how he slowly builds a team and learns how to apply factory principles to IT operations.
This is a clever and engaging way of sharing some very important concepts. It felt close enough to real for it to be instructive. There were people who dug in and didn’t change, but most wanted to succeed more than be right. They worked and grew together. It was both educational and entertaining.
My rating: 4/5
