Hope Is Not a Method: What Business Leaders Can Learn from America's Army

by Gordon R. Sullivan, Michael V. Harper (Contributor)

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States Army has been reengineered and downsized more thoroughly than any other business. In the early 1990s, General Sullivan, army chief of staff, and Colonel Harper, his key strategic planner, took the post-Cold War army into the Information Age. Faced with a 40 percent reduction in staff and funding, they focused on new peacetime missions, dismantled a cumbersome bureaucracy, reinvented procedures, and set the guidelines for achieving a vast array of new goals.



Hope Is Not a Method explains how they did it and shows how their experience is extremely relevant to today's businesses. From how to stay on top of long-range issues to how to maintain a productive work force during times of change, it offers invaluable lessons in leadership and provides proven tactics any business can implement.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Nonfiction, Professional Development, Military Fiction, History

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1996

Reviews

[Michael McCormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has taken me 24 years from my purchase of "Hope Is Not A Method," by General Gordon R. Sullivan U.S. Army (Retired) and Colonel Michael V. Harper U.S. Army (Retired) to finish it, which I did tonight.

To be quite honest, I am not sure why I picked it up after having it so long in my possession, except that I am revisiting the concept of what it means to be a leader and also a great manager. That the authors are great leaders and managers is evident in how they lead the reader through the book.

"Hope Is Not A Method," General Sullivan writes, is his "After Action Review" (AAR) on his time as Chief of Staff of the Army in the early to mid-1990s. He writes, "My challenge was to build a foundation on which others could build a sound future."

I simply loved the book. General Sullivan is, without the combover and glasses the spitting image of my own father, Mr. Raymond S. McCormick, another Irish American, who, unfortunately, passed away too young in 1999 at the age of 64. But the book is great because it is written with a great amount of caring evident in its pages, and despite that it was published in 1996, I found it to be quite timely, and, what's more, universal.

Maybe the reason why I loved the book so much is what is evident throughout it is the authors' love for service, that perhaps I have in common with them.

All of the General Sullivan's diagrams, of his thoughts put into pictures, like the "Sine Curve" and "Think-D0-Be" mean a lot with his descriptions. It was really cool to learn that he kept a sketch pad for drawing out ideas, and I am reminded about the "Integrated Leadership" Venn Diagram that Professor Willie Pietersen, of Columbia Business School's Executive Education Program, published based on how he developed some of his own ideas about leadership.

I recently came into possession of a graph ruled Moleskin soft-c0vered journal: I am going to start thinking of ways to draw my ideas and thoughts.

Thank you General Sullivan and Colonel Harper for your informative and inspiring book.

[Dave B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decent book with wisdom on leading change management. It was hard to make connections with most of the stories because they were strongly centered 80-90s military conflict. There was also a lot of discussions on army doctrine and after action reviews (AAR). Over all I liked the book for its focus on what matters with change management. A fixed vision, clear procedures/process and flexible approach to leadership.

[Gregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is nothing new here and sometimes the military to civilian business analogies are a bit strained. It was a solid synopsis of many leadership concepts and post-cold war Army reform so I give it three stars.

[Hj Reichen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although written in the nineties, the book is absolutely not outdated. A great recalling of the challenges following the end of the Cold War. Reading it from a military perspective, the lessons are still valid today.

[Darren Sapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. It's well written, but I learned little. Lots of business platitudes and brief case histories without in-depth studies of changes in the army.

[Thor Toms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the information is dated as it was written in the mid 1990's, but overall a well put together book.

[Turgut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than 90% of business books on strategy, quality stuff.

[Jay Phipps]

Great message and stories to back up the message. A must read for leaders.

[George S · Rating 5 out of 5]

While some may claim it is outdated, there are some phenomenal lessons to learn from this book. Highly recommend to leaders in both business and in the military!

[Mark Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still has relevance today as a thought provoking read.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really gave me to tools and perspective that I needed to deal with large issues in a large organization. Granted, the military is not a for-profit institution, but we are keepers of the public trust, and there is profit with doing as much as possible with as little as possible. (I'm Coast Guard, don't let the Pentagon know I said that...)

Honestly, good life tools in here.

[Jens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked some definitions they use and some metaphors are helpful to think about change. Yet, reading it I often found myself skipping sentences due to too much buzzwords and bullet lists. (After next organization, sequels+indicator+trigger, leadership (INVESTING not taking up resp) vs mgt, prototype,...)

[Francisca Villahermosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

More important than the story told is the philosophy of life, hope is important, HOWEVER method is required to achieve the desired results.

Very well done, both historically and conceptually.

[Lisa Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if you are busy...still worth your time

Excellent book -recommended by an MBA professor and worth your time. While some concepts may seem obvious it is a good reminder and puts them into perspective by demonstrating the concepts via stories within the U.S. military.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting tie in to the private world using the government world as an example. I'm sure there are others that this would work better for. There were definitely some good information though in it for everyone to use.

[Tze Chin Ong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic read for leaders wishing to transform their organizations.

[Mauricio Velázquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un bien libro sobre liderazgo, explica que el liderazgo empieza con propósitos internos fuerte. Excelente para preparar un taller y motivar el desempeño de un líder.

[Phillip · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not usually in the habit of reading "business books," but I thought it would be interesting with an Army spin (as a vet). I think it's useful to be in a position to benefit from organizational/leadership advice when reading this book -- and since I'm not in a position professional to be in any kind of "driver's seat," I think I was not able to connect to a lot of the advice. That being said, there is good material in it. Even though the writing is a bit dated (post-Gulf War), I still think there is value in how Army transformation, and historical Army examples, can provide guidance for those seeking change in an organization. Certainly the Army knows a thing or two about developing leaders. While the concentration in this book tries to relate it to the business environment, I think the principles can apply to any organization. So this isn't a "must read," but it doesn't hurt to check out if you're facing an organizational challenge and need some focusing on dealing with change.

[Tom Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an Organization Development consultant in the tradition of Frank "Be All You Can Be" Burns, who was the Army's Organization Effectiveness guru as part of the Task Force Delta. Frank and I are the best in the world at what we do and he's dead.

I have an ebook, The Leadership Secrets of 5th Wave High Performance, which is a sketch book for a PhD dissertation based on a civilian version of the Army Family Team Building program that Tradoc introduced in 1994 to fix something that got broke by McNamara's legacy of reforms based on the Harvard Business model.

Gordon Sullivan's Hope Is Not A Method is a text book for the executive running an organization operating from 5th Wave High Performance parameters. The civilian version of Army Family Team Building is designed to give civilian executives the experiential capacities they need to be able to utilize the executive patterns of Hope Is Not A Method,

I am a process consultant and Hope is above my paygrade. I can just get you and your organization to the point where you can understand Hope. Connect to linkedin.com/in/thomasw540 for a download of my ebook.