Based on a theoretical framework which has been tested in practice over 150 years, Bungay shows how the approach known as 'mission command' has been applied in businesses as diverse as pharmaceuticals and F1 racing today. The Art of Action is scholarly but engaging, rigorous but pragmatic, and shows how common sense can sometimes be surprising.

A pragmatic approach to getting things done, in business, with innovative ideas about leadership that are claimed to really work. Written by an acclaimed military historian and distinguished business consultant.

Bungay takes a very surgical knife to some of today's sacred cows, contrasting organisational activity as opposed to action and deftly eviscerating the idea of slavish adherence to the Balanced Scorecard concept. If ever you needed a case against the idea that ticked boxes must inevitably lead to positive results, you have it right here. This is almost certainly the best work-related read I have enjoyed since Paul Kearns' The Value Motive. Indeed Stephen Bungay and Kearns share a clear and uncompromising language which emphasises the logic and clarity of their assertions. My lingering regret about this book is that for some who care to read it, it is already too late: they are in positions of command that they do not merit, and will tiptoe away in the hopes that they are not recognised. This book, nevertheless, should be required reading for anyone who aspires to own or manage any organisation, or part of one. If individuals are imbued with the right stuff this read will fall on very fertile ground indeed.