Review by Dana Hagist

My Book Rating: 5/5

It’s fascinating as you read through “Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin the varied and striking overlap between military strategy and business strategy.

I took a lot away from reading this book, and rather than rattling off a summary of all of the content, here are the three lessons that resonated with me the most:

Lesson 1: Practice Extreme Ownership

Of all lessons in this book, this is the central theme. If you want to be a strong and respected leader, take ownership of everything that impacts you and your mission/goal. If something goes wrong, do not make excuses, do not blame others. Acknowledge your failures and limitations. Learn from your mistakes. Develop a plan and strategy to remedy those mistakes and be better. Approach conversations up and down your chain of command with a posture of owning problems and seeking solutions. Always first look in the mirror and ask what you could have done better.

The more that I think about this, the more I realize how often I’ve seen both leaders and individual contributors reluctant to simply say “I made a mistake. Here is what I’ve learned and will do different in the future.” Instead, the constant attempts to explain away, deflect and blame only make things worse. Take ownership!

Lesson 2: Prioritize and Execute

We all get bogged down and overwhelmed with work or personal responsibilities. I’ve often experienced what is called “paralysis by analysis” as a result of this overwhelm. This principle is all about boiling your competing priorities down to the most important thing to do right now. Do that thing, and that thing alone. Then do the next thing. On down the list.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re not making any progress because you’re moving 10 projects or tasks along at a snail pace and taking small chunks out each day… stop, then, prioritize and execute.

Lesson 3: Keep it Simple

Often when we are not getting the result we are looking for from other people, it’s helpful to first ask how simple your communication was.

Have you ever worked somewhere that implemented a new process, compensation plan, go-to-market strategy that was so complicated that it just never gained traction? That’s what Jocko and Leif are talking about here. If every single person on your team can’t easily understand and implement what you’re asking, you need to simplify.

There are many other valuable lessons in this book, especially for those in leadership positions and I highly encourage a read. I will be working on my own ability to take ownership, prioritize and execute, and keep it simple.