Topic: Lou Gerstner

The Wizard, King, and Hobbit of Business

The history of IBM unfolds into an epic trilogy about its three CEOs--the determined father, reluctant son, and enterprising stranger.READ»

Success Here's the Inside Story

Few books by company founders capture the real drama -- or the lessons -- behind their success. Too often, really smart business leaders write really dumb books. These four books are notable exceptions.READ»

Leading Ideas: Culture Drives Success

"I came to see in my time at IBM that 'culture' isn't just one aspect of the game - it is the game." -- Lou Gerstner (1942- ) Former IBM CEO, credited with its turnaround Last week, a colleague was venting some frustrations about a ...READ»

IBM's Grassroots Revival

The real story of how Big Blue found the future, got the Net, and learned to love the People in Black.READ»

Change or Die

All leadership comes down to this: changing people's behavior. Why is that so damn hard? Science offers some surprising new answers -- and ways to do better.READ»

Boiling the Ocean

What this bit of management buzz-speak would really entail, courtesy of our Consultant Debunking Unit.READ»

Building A Better Skunk Works

In a bold effort to nurture new businesses, IBM is putting its best and brightest in charge of its risky startups.READ»

Memo to: CEOs

Business is at a crossroads. Scandal and recession have cast a pall on the way CEOs go about leading their companies. Three distinguished professors send this memo -- Five Half-truths of Business -- as a wake-up call.READ»

It's Your Choice

The 21st century is upon us, and it's time to make some defining choices. A Fast Company-Roper Starch Worldwide Survey posed some stark trade-offs. Here's a report on your choices.READ»

Widespread Empathy: Rewiring Your Corporation for Intuition

Companies that make empathy an easy, everyday, and experiential part of work inevitably outperform their peers.READ»

• Dev Patnaik's Innovation blog

IBM's Management Makeover

As its world changes, IBM is studying its top-performing leaders. What do they do differently, and can everyone do it?READ»

Clear and Present Danger

Bankruptcy, unemployment, terrorism, war, disease . . . Welcome to dangerous times. Here are four strategies for living well in a state of high alert.READ»

Zero-002

ZPURPOSE - ZPAST - FCBIO Session Time: 41 Minutes Wake Up Call: A great designer makes his design comprehensible Improve management of all transition points Focus on being grounded when abstraction ...READ»

Provocation 101

Larry Weber is trying to provoke you. He wants to take your tired cliché-ridden definition of leadership and turn it upside down. Here?s a look at the leader of today: the provocateur.READ»

What Do You Get for $50 Billion?

According to a new book on the consulting business, a year's worth of advice -- and more questions than answers.READ»

Difference Is Power

Lots of companies talk a good game when it comes to the proposition that different is better. Ted Childs, IBM's vice president of global workforce diversity, walks that talk.READ»

IBM - a Case for Inclusion by Telle Whitney, CEO Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology

IBM is viewed by many, including me, as the Gold Standard for a company that reinvented itself in order to meet its business objectives, but whose culture was transformed to be inclusive to all of its employees. Their story is ...READ»

Competitive Intelligence - Get Smart!

Thanks to the Web, you can learn more about the competition faster than ever. Fast Company's panel of experts provides a six-point program for keeping an eye on your rivals. Now, where's Agent 99?READ»

CEOs Who Should Lose Their Jobs

It's the new era of accountability: Most of the nation's worst-performing bosses have been shown the door. But what about the guys who just won't go? Meet the Teflon CEOs. Poor results, declining stock prices, and strategic blunders just seem to slide right off them.READ»

IBM.com's Man in the Hot Seat

Keeping IBM's Web site up and running is David Leip's nightmare-inducing responsibility. But the company's Webmaster sleeps better knowing he's built the site to keep going and going and going.READ»

Everything You Wanted to Know About Courage... But Were Afraid to Ask.

We asked some of the world's foremost leadership thinkers 15 questions to get to the core of courage.READ»

Faster Company

The leaders of IBM's 100,000-person IT staff knew that their team had many strengths. But the team also had one big weakness: It was too slow. Thus was born a group of change agents dedicated to speeding up Big Blue.READ»

Fast Company Library

Books previously featured in Fast Company (1999)READ»

How Business Is a Lot Like Life

According to Richard Pascale, if you want your company to stay alive, then try running it like a living organism. The first rule of life is also the first rule of business: Adapt or die.READ»

Leader - Bob Moffat

The personal-computer business used to be fast growing and glamorous. Now it's ruled by price wars, vanishing stock prices, consolidation, and layoffs. So why is Bob Moffat, who runs IBM's PC group, having such a good time at work?READ»