Guts: 8 Laws of Business from One of the Most Innovative Business Leaders of Our Time - Hardcover

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ROBERT A. LUTZ is General Motors’s Vice Chairman of Product Development and Chairman of GM North America. He is highly regarded for his genius in product development, most notably for his 1989 concept car, the Viper, and he is renowned for leading Chrysler to its second renaissance in the 1990s. Automotive News called Lutz "the towering figure in the American automotive industry in the last three decades in this century."

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Praise for GUTS, Revised and Updated

"Bob Lutz is the only man in history to rise to the top at all three Detroit automakers–Ford, GM, and Chrysler–and Guts reveals the kind of thinking that got him there. From a guy who didn't graduate from high school until he was twenty-two comes as good a business book as you will ever find, and one that applies in any industry. Go Bob, go."
―Jerry Flint, Forbes columnist, and 2003 winner of a Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism

"Bob has always been a charismatic leader, but he became a true businessman when he joined Chrysler. Guts is typical Lutz–it's controversial, thought-provoking and, in the final analysis, it makes good business sense."
―Harold "Red" Poling, retired CEO, Ford Motor Company

"Bob has the rare ability to communicate with everyone on the automotive ladder–from the engineer to the guy on the assembly line to the designer . . . even the idiotic Hollywood celebrity who just likes to go fast! And whether you're in the business of building washing machines or just writing jokes, Lutz's laws work."
―Jay Leno, Hollywood celebrity and host of The Tonight Show

"In a world in which managerial creativity and discipline have become polar opposites, Guts presents a dynamic synthesis of both forces that will enable readers to challenge the status quo and make their organizations far more competitive."
―Stephen Girsky, Managing Director/Senior Global Automotive Analyst, MorganStanley

"Guts is about business, leadership, and life, and reaches well beyond the boundaries of the auto industry. Lutz’s laws of business, updated for today’s leaders, are key ingredients to a twenty-first-century road map for success. And it’s also a great read, delivered with the passion, integrity, and strength of character so important to making good things happen in a turbulent world."
―David Cole, Chairman, Center for Automotive Research

"I've known Bob Lutz for over thirty-five years, and Guts reflects all the qualities that have made him one of the great car guys of our generation. As always, he tells it like it is, and that’s what makes his book such a compelling read."
―Lee Iacocca, Lee Iacocca & Associates

Aus dem Klappentext

What do you do with a book that s filled with controversial, counterintuitive, and downright contrarian statements that stand conventional wisdom on its ear and claim, lightheartedly, to be immutable "laws of business?" If the author is Robert Lutz, you read the book very carefully, probably several times, learn all of the "laws" by heart, and follow them to the letter every chance you get. You also find yourself laughing out loud, shaking your head in wonder, and nodding in agreement.

Revised and updated, this is a maverick s primer on the business philosophy that revolutionized Chrysler and is now powering dramatic new product development at General Motors. In it, Lutz reexamines his iconoclastic maxims to see how they have withstood the test of time. With hard evidence, hilarious anecdotes, and his characteristic frankness, the high-flying chairman of GM North America challenges his own contention that businesses should deliberately construct a "schizophrenic" corporate culture that combines rock-solid financial controls with a highly creative, no-holds-barred product development process.

Concluding that his laws have served him well and are generally reliable in any business situation and any industry, he goes on to explain why:

• The customer isn t always right
• The primary purpose of business isn t "to make money"
• When everybody else is doing it, don t
• Too much quality can ruin you
• Financial controls are bad
• Disruptive people are an asset
• Teamwork isn t always good

If Lutz s first seven laws aren t provocative enough for you, wait until you read the new one that he formulated for executives charged with managing mergers and takeovers or rehabilitating failing companies. Suffice it to say, it involves the use of a flamethrower.

Enriched by Lutz s deep store of business wisdom acquired over three-plus decades in the automobile industry, Guts combines a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at some of the most important events in the industry s history, with an outside-the-box view on the nature of leadership and success. This insightful, unorthodox, and thoroughly enjoyable discourse will change the way you think about product development and marketing, financial management, strategy, and managing people. It will redefine the way you think about success and make you all the more eager and likely to achieve it.