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Doing What Matters: How to Get Results That Make a Difference - The Revolutionary Old-School Approach
When Warren Buffett was asked why the Gillette board of directors chose Jim Kilts to be CEO, he said, “Jim made as much sense in terms of talking about business as anybody I’ve ever talked to. If you listen to Jim analyze a business situation you get absolutely no baloney. And, frankly, finding someone like that is a rarity.”
There is only one CEO in recent times who has faced—and succeeded at—the extraordinary challenges of leading three major companies—Gillette, Nabisco, and Kraft—into prosperous futures by doing what matters on the fundamentals.
That CEO is Jim Kilts. In this vivid first-person account he reveals his system for success that is both cutting-edge and back-to-basics. Doing What Matters —the action plan for identifying and tackling what’s important and ignoring the rest—is the key to winning in a warp-speed world where the need for revolutionary speed and decisiveness increases by the day.
Kilts illustrates his ideas with colorful stories, such as “that little red razor.” A new product idea he proposed early on at Gillette, it was initially shelved because “everyone knew you couldn’t sell a red razor,” but went on to become one of Gillette’s biggest marketing successes ever.
Jim Kilts’s focus on both business fundamentals and personal attributes provides the “complete package,” showing how to get results that make a difference
• Intellectual The ability to face the unvarnished truth about yourself and your business and using what you see as the basis for action.
• Generating emotional engagement and Using the force of your personality and ideas to infuse people and an entire organization with a sense of purpose and mission.
• Gillette, with just five product lines, had over 20,000 SKUs. After studying the issue for over two years, there were still 20,000. How Kilts got Gillette off the dime to pare down the number to 7,000 almost overnight is an astonishing example of getting the rubber to meet the road—with enormous benefits to the business.
• Understanding the right things through an overarching concept to frame and filter For Jim Kilts it was Total Brand Value, the framework he used in the consumer products industry for achieving better, faster, and more complete results than the competition.
Whether you’re CEO of a multibillion-dollar global company, the brand manager for a product, an entrepreneur starting a small business, or just beginning a career, Doing What Matters provides the practical ideas that get results—ranging from a day one action plan for starting a new job to a chorus of cheers and support to a program of total innovation that involves everyone in changes from small to “big bang.”
There is only one CEO in recent times who has faced—and succeeded at—the extraordinary challenges of leading three major companies—Gillette, Nabisco, and Kraft—into prosperous futures by doing what matters on the fundamentals.
That CEO is Jim Kilts. In this vivid first-person account he reveals his system for success that is both cutting-edge and back-to-basics. Doing What Matters —the action plan for identifying and tackling what’s important and ignoring the rest—is the key to winning in a warp-speed world where the need for revolutionary speed and decisiveness increases by the day.
Kilts illustrates his ideas with colorful stories, such as “that little red razor.” A new product idea he proposed early on at Gillette, it was initially shelved because “everyone knew you couldn’t sell a red razor,” but went on to become one of Gillette’s biggest marketing successes ever.
Jim Kilts’s focus on both business fundamentals and personal attributes provides the “complete package,” showing how to get results that make a difference
• Intellectual The ability to face the unvarnished truth about yourself and your business and using what you see as the basis for action.
• Generating emotional engagement and Using the force of your personality and ideas to infuse people and an entire organization with a sense of purpose and mission.
• Gillette, with just five product lines, had over 20,000 SKUs. After studying the issue for over two years, there were still 20,000. How Kilts got Gillette off the dime to pare down the number to 7,000 almost overnight is an astonishing example of getting the rubber to meet the road—with enormous benefits to the business.
• Understanding the right things through an overarching concept to frame and filter For Jim Kilts it was Total Brand Value, the framework he used in the consumer products industry for achieving better, faster, and more complete results than the competition.
Whether you’re CEO of a multibillion-dollar global company, the brand manager for a product, an entrepreneur starting a small business, or just beginning a career, Doing What Matters provides the practical ideas that get results—ranging from a day one action plan for starting a new job to a chorus of cheers and support to a program of total innovation that involves everyone in changes from small to “big bang.”
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
37 people are currently reading
311 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 11, 2022
Terrific book to help focus on what matters most. Strongly recommend!
The author, James Kilts, was CEO at Gillette, Nabisco, and Kraft and led these companies successfully into the future by focusing on what mattered most.
Key takeaways from the book include:
1. You must take radical action before the point of impact (crash)
2. With revolutionary speed and decisiveness, need to determine what you pay attention to and what you ignore
3. Revolutionary change requires everyone to be concerned and involved with innovation
4. Maintaining status quo is a recipe for failure
5. Be a leader in recruitment, retention and development of talent
6. How you get to the heart of the matter will define you as a leader
7. Integrity is crucial; adhere to a code of business ethics and fairness
8. Cost cutting must become a way of life
9. Enthusiasm on a grand scale makes all the difference
10. Focus on the importance of action; doers make the world go round
Strongly recommend!
The author, James Kilts, was CEO at Gillette, Nabisco, and Kraft and led these companies successfully into the future by focusing on what mattered most.
Key takeaways from the book include:
1. You must take radical action before the point of impact (crash)
2. With revolutionary speed and decisiveness, need to determine what you pay attention to and what you ignore
3. Revolutionary change requires everyone to be concerned and involved with innovation
4. Maintaining status quo is a recipe for failure
5. Be a leader in recruitment, retention and development of talent
6. How you get to the heart of the matter will define you as a leader
7. Integrity is crucial; adhere to a code of business ethics and fairness
8. Cost cutting must become a way of life
9. Enthusiasm on a grand scale makes all the difference
10. Focus on the importance of action; doers make the world go round
Strongly recommend!
April 9, 2025
This book was recommended to me by somebody I trust, and I was pleasantly surprised how relevant the leadership lessons that Kilts shares from his time leading Kraft, Nabisco and Gillette still are today for the tech industry executives that I coach. His message of developing great people and holding them accountable for delivering results is timeless, and a great reminder that great leadership transcends time and industry.
February 25, 2015
I couldn't get to the end of this book. He started off by talking about doing what matters, then goes on and on about how much he likes himself. A lot of the stuff he discusses seems like common sense, and I think people get so stuck in a world of what they are "supposed to do" and don't reflect on what's actually happening. Maybe this all needed to be said, but it was not particularly interesting to me. I really don't care for some of the companies he discusses, so it was just starting to bring me down.
September 19, 2012
One of few books I didn't finish. Just not applicable to me. Many books made for business apply to life or to my nonprofit career but this was for CEO's of businesses dealing with the quantities of razors sold etc...I was so happy when a good book on hold came in at the library and I could stop listening to this one on CD.
August 31, 2023
Much better than your average "business book" insofar as it actually offers real, concrete advice that goes beyond the realm of simple aphorisms. That the author is qualified to give advice is certainly without doubt. Nevertheless, there are many instances where the author is getting pretty high on his own supply (the Gillette Turbo Champion was literally just a different color razor and the author praises its "innovation" for pages and pages).
The book is also somewhat lacking in focus. The last chapter especially is essentially the author doing little more than responding to Boston journalists who trashed him during the merger with P&G and then later a tirade against a former politician. This whole section feels very tacked on and seems almost like a random excerpt from a memoir rather than a book claiming to give concrete advice.
Lastly, there is a not insubstantial number of typos in the book and the tone shifts were somewhat jarring (sometimes he is man's man business guy and others he is careful to say "person" instead of man even in fixed sayings, i.e. the man for the job). It is in these instances that one really felt that the book was written by multiple writers... one wonders how much Kilts really wrote himself.
At any rate this book stands far above its peers in the realm of "business advice" and is one of the few books of its kind that doesn't feel like it could have been reduced to a 1500-word blog article.
The book is also somewhat lacking in focus. The last chapter especially is essentially the author doing little more than responding to Boston journalists who trashed him during the merger with P&G and then later a tirade against a former politician. This whole section feels very tacked on and seems almost like a random excerpt from a memoir rather than a book claiming to give concrete advice.
Lastly, there is a not insubstantial number of typos in the book and the tone shifts were somewhat jarring (sometimes he is man's man business guy and others he is careful to say "person" instead of man even in fixed sayings, i.e. the man for the job). It is in these instances that one really felt that the book was written by multiple writers... one wonders how much Kilts really wrote himself.
At any rate this book stands far above its peers in the realm of "business advice" and is one of the few books of its kind that doesn't feel like it could have been reduced to a 1500-word blog article.
January 24, 2024
Quite the instructional if you are on track to be hired as CEO of a global elite corporation, otherwise… blah blah blah - not much I found helpful as a small business owner.
August 17, 2015
There is often a rare book that resonates with you. The reverberation is so strong that you wish to align with each and every line written as a wisdom that is talking to you.
This is one such wonderful book. I did not just read this book, but learnt it as a text book in university syllabus. I read it, took copious notes of each and every nugget, now have realms of pages of written notes to synthesize frequently.
If there is a practical actionable insightful book to excel in a management role, do not bypass this text.
This is one such wonderful book. I did not just read this book, but learnt it as a text book in university syllabus. I read it, took copious notes of each and every nugget, now have realms of pages of written notes to synthesize frequently.
If there is a practical actionable insightful book to excel in a management role, do not bypass this text.
June 30, 2008
A very simplistic overview, and one is left to wonder if the "excessive capital spending" noted by the author didn't help make his job a bit easier in the following years, but filled with good insights that are definitely valuable!
July 7, 2009
This read wasn’t a waste of time, but was somewhat sparse. Much of it was a combination of self-aggrandizing, corporate war stories, personal vindication, justification for various actions, and the like. But there were a few tips and advice worth listening to.
September 15, 2011
Listened to the audio book, will definitely listen again. A detailed analysis of how a multinational were managed, a lot of gems for managers and business owners.
March 30, 2013
A should-read book on managing companies for knowledge workers, managers, executives, and entrepreneurs.
October 3, 2013
Likely a really great book of pointers for someone taking over a CEO position in a large company. It was interesting to hear about what companies are linked to others.
December 12, 2013
Loved the product strategy tips in this book!
June 10, 2014
read it college-style (scan & skim)
"In my view, it's doers who make the world go 'round." - James M. Kilts
*last 3 pages=summary
"In my view, it's doers who make the world go 'round." - James M. Kilts
*last 3 pages=summary
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews