Car Guys Vs. Bean Counters: The Battle For The Soul Of American Business (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Bob Lutz is hard not to like. 'Car Guys vs Bean Counters' is an enormously entertaining account of how Lutz returned to GM to help turn the company around. He gleefully documents the astonishing dysfunctions operating within GM at the time-- a cadre of professional yes-men, a product development process wholly subjugated to spreadsheet jockeys with no interest in automobiles, and a fixation on the greatness of GM's past, driven, one is led to conclude by a loss of faith in GM's future. Lutz simplified GM's approach by insisting that the company should focus on primarily one thing: designing, building, and selling cars that people will love. His take-no-prisoners leadership style led him to clash with many around him, but the reader is left with the unshakable conviction that such a dictatorial management style was needed to turn the ship around.His memoir suffers from a generous injection of RNC talking points. From the evils of unionization, to the demonization of teachers as the main reason why America's education system is failing, to the utterly erroneous account of how the mortgage crisis was caused by liberal do-gooders forcing banks to give home loans to minorities who would never be able to repay them, Lutz gets a '10 out of 10' rating from the Heritage Foundation for parroting such canards. In one passage, he attempts a bit of failed centrism by contrasting "the lunatic left" with "the vocal right". Fortunately, the reader may skip over such tangents as they have little to do with his main narrative.The cast of villains wheeled-out by Lutz is long, and includes--* The Japanese, whose success in the auto industry Lutz disingenously attributes solely to the weak Yen instead of superior product design.* Liberals, whose insistence on CAFE emissions regulations Lutz argues dealt a body-blow to the auto industry. One must ask whether, in absence of such regulations, the big three would have spontaneously opted to reduce emissions.* Wide-eyed environmentalists, who Lutz claims unfairly blame GM for making big cars, when it was simply responding to a legitimate market demand. (Talk about an abdication of leadership.)* The media elite, who, allied with their leftist ties in government, conspired to criticize GM and lionize the Japanese because (presumably) liberals hate America.This endless parade of culprits becomes a tiresome blame-game which undermines the truth of Lutz's central thesis: GM was nearly destroyed not by exogenous forces, but from an epic failure of internal leadership. This failure created a vacuum which was quickly filled with an army of spreadsheet-wielding MBAs who cared little about making great cars. Lutz's legacy is how he stripped these number jockeys of their power over product design and put car guys back in charge. Fortunately, 'Car Guys' is a light read, and the reader may skip through Lutz's tirades where they fail to ring true without missing the main thread of his wonderful narrative. Bob Lutz put together a very revealing and interesting conversation about the problems with the American automotive industry and the things he has done (and would have done) to fix them. His insights are realistic and relevant, while his actions and thoughts are those of a more sensible car guy who cares about his products. Lutz is brief and cuts straight to the point, making this a quick and worthwhile read.
What do You think about Car Guys Vs. Bean Counters: The Battle For The Soul Of American Business (2011)?
Lutz is the master of honesty. His insights are fantastic and transcend business verticals.
—dewemiser
I won this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Thanks.
—Johnny
