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Jack Welch's memoir, JACK: Straight from the Gut, is part autobiography and part
business theory text. Welch covers his fast trip from General Electric employee to General
Electric CEO, his years in the top job (including an in–depth look at the
philosophical positions he brought to and developed while holding that position) and the
recent search for his replacement --- a search that culminated with his retirement in
2001. In the end, however, JACK is less the story of its author and his theories than it
is a love letter to the men and women who helped Jack Welch recreate General Electric over
the past two decades.
That might not be what you would expect from a CEO whose most famous moniker in the press
during the 1980s was "Neutron Jack" --- a name he was saddled with as he vastly
downsized GE while simultaneously building posh new buildings for the folks who were
spared the ax. But as JACK makes clear, Welch's unwavering search for the best and the
brightest people to manage and work at GE allowed him to reshape the huge company into a
model of efficiency and idea–swapping that can accomplish far more with far fewer
people than it did prior to Welch's accession to the CEO's chair. Relentless in his
efforts to destroy corporate bureaucracy, Welch created a culture of accountability and
teamwork that he persuasively argues is the foundation of GE's continued success.
The book is filled to bursting with anecdotes about the men and women who work at GE.
Spreading the credit liberally, Welch tells stories of top–flight executives and
union production workers with equal gusto, relishing the successes at every level of the
vast company and its many divisions. Welch is also willing to name names when things
didn't go well --- though the name he most often mentions in this regard is his own --- or
when a someone was unable to adjust to GE's new corporate culture, making it clear that he
is a man who rejoices in the success of others while feeling deep and personal
disappointment when someone fails to live up to his expectations.
The book is driven along by Welch's chatty, excited style, crafted with the help of
co–writer John A. Byrne, a senior writer at Business Week magazine. This
engaging storytelling keeps the book afloat during extended passages detailing the terms
of leveraged buyouts, contract negotiations, or how GE increased its margins in this or
that industry.
Those sort of passages make it clear that despite an aggressive marketing campaign for the
book, JACK is not necessarily a general interest business book. After all, Welch talks
about deals involving millions upon millions of dollars as if they were made with pocket
change; he argues for the importance of huge compensation packages to attract and keep
quality employees; and he devotes a chapter to giving advice to fellow and future CEO's of
large companies --- a niche audience if ever there was one. He also makes no effort to
disguise his workaholic nature, glossing over the break up of his first marriage, heart
surgery, and various other aspects of his life away from GE in just a few paragraphs
scattered here and there. Many readers may well marvel at Welch's business savvy and
commitment to success, while simultaneously wondering how his story and ideas apply to
them personally or to the smaller, less cash–rich businesses for which they work.
Even so, JACK is an energizing book that tells an American dream story of an
unconventional businessman who climbed to the top of one of the world's biggest companies
and made it even bigger. Along the way, the reader meets a Jack Welch whose clear
enthusiasm and affection for those with whom he worked stands in sharp contrast to his
"Neutron Jack" reputation.
--- Reviewed by Rob Cline (rjbcline@aol.com)
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