The board had had enough. They decided to hold Flannery accountable for the latest raft of bad news. After sixteen years of Immelt, Flannery thought that he had more time to turn the ship around, but when he looked for support from the board, there was none there. By the end of the weekend, Flannery was out, fired after fourteen months, the shortest stay at the top in GE’s long history. The new boss was Larry Culp. Flannery was reeling. He had told the board that the turnaround would take time and be painful. And the board had pledged their support, then given up on him. The board in turn
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