You Can’t Order Change

Description

You can’t order change — but you can lead it. When Jim McNerney took over Boeing in 2005, the world’s leading aircraft maker was reeling: ethics scandals, missed deadlines, a culture in crisis. In You Can’t Order Change, Peter S. Cohan tells the inside story of the turnaround — and the leadership lessons it holds.

McNerney, one of Jack Welch’s top protégés at General Electric, brought GE’s relentless focus on talent and accountability to Boeing’s engineering culture. Cohan shows how McNerney attacked the ethics crisis head-on, rebuilt the leadership pipeline, and restored pride — offering a playbook for any leader facing institutional rot. Culture change, he proves, comes from behavior, not memos:ering culture. Cohan — a management consultant, venture capitalist, and Wharton MBA — dissects how McNerney rebuilt trust, refocused the company, and proved that culture change comes from behavior, not memos.

Essential for managers, executives, and students of leadership — a case study in turning around an American icon.

When Jim McNerney took over Boeing in 2005, the world’s leading aircraft maker was reeling — ethics scandals, missed deadlines, and a culture in crisis. In You Can’t Order Change (Portfolio, 2008), Peter S. Cohan — a management consultant, venture capitalist, and Wharton MBA — tells the inside story of how McNerney turned it around.
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nMcNerney was one of Jack Welch’s top protégés at General Electric and a finalist to succeed Welch; before Boeing, he ran 3M. Drawing on interviews with people who worked alongside him throughout his career, Cohan unpacks the leadership style that made the difference: Midwestern integrity and humility paired with Harvard-honed brilliance and drive, a relentless focus on operational excellence, and the conviction that real change can’t be ordered from the corner office — it has to be earned on the factory floor.
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nThis is a business book with a thesis: culture beats strategy, and leaders who listen outperform leaders who lecture. Across 240 pages, Cohan draws practical lessons for anyone managing through a turnaround.
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nSharp, readable, and grounded in real reporting, You Can’t Order Change is essential reading for managers, executives, and students of leadership.