What Makes Six Disciplines for Excellence Different?

What makes Six Disciplines for Excellence different from other business improvement books?

“Six Disciplines for Excellence is what the E-Myth Revisited wants to be when it grows up.” (David Rothacker, Rothacker Reviews)

”We interrupt our coverage of meaningless business books to review a book that made the cut: Six Disciplines for Excellence by Gary Harpst.” (Ethan Johnson, The Vision Thing)

“How does his (Harpst’s) book differ from others which also discuss business improvement? First, [unlike most other books] which focus 80% on principles and 20% on implementation, this book's content is focused 20% on principles and 80% on implementation.” (Robert Morris, Top 10 Reviewer for Amazon.com)


“Six Disciplines differs in that respect – it’s all about teaching a system of getting done the things that we all know need to be done.” (Bob Shuneman, Small Biz Matters)

“This is the type of book that each time you read it you’ll find new pearls of wisdom and – better yet – practical advice.” (Bob Schuneman, Small Biz Matters)

“What I found also fascinating is that the book was influenced by many people (the same people that I had read and liked the theories but didn't know how to act) including: Michael Porter (Competitive Strategy), Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People), Michael Gerber (The E Myth Revisited), Robert Kaplan and David Norton (Balanced Scorecard), Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline), and Jim Collins (Good to Great) to name a few. (Skip Angel, Random Thoughts of a CTO)


“This is a guidebook, with practical business advice, that if followed, will enhance your business and provide solutions to every day small business problems.” (Gary Whitehair, High Performance Business)


“Here’s what differentiates this book: it bridges concept and principles to execution.” (Sam Decker, Decker Marketing)


“But the book doesn't stop there! Therefore, there is also a Six Disciplines company that was established to help companies long-term get established and maintain using this methodology.” (Skip Angel, Random Thoughts of a CTO)

“In reading the book, I’m struck that the author spends time focusing on HOW to achieve maximum benefit from each of the six interdependent Disciplines, and not just providing a laundry list without explanation.” (Gary Slinger, Slinger’s Thoughts)

“Full of incredibly useful tools and charts -- all about how small businesses execute strategy.” (Anita Campbell, SMB Trend Wire)


“However, the power of this book is in how it integrates these time tested, common sense ideas into a useful whole.” (Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy)

“What makes this book unique, not to mention worthwhile? The book is filled with concrete examples, processes and checklists that will help a business owner in creating a successful business.” (Trevor Hall, Servant-Leadership Blog)

“I've read and participated in many 'best practice' methodologies over the years. Unfortunately most are skewed towards theory, with minimal attention to practice and implementation. Gary Harpst is the direct opposite.” (David Daniels, Business & Technology Reinvention)

“The approach is current and I love that it ties technology and systems with strategy. Most importantly this book is about execution.” (David Daniels, Business & Technology Reinvention)

”Overall, I found this book to be well-organized, yet a slow read because my brain kept exploding with ideas while reading selected units.” (Ethan Johnson, The Vision Thing)

”And that is indeed what sets this book apart from more typical business book fare: Gone are the grandiose declarations and cheeky labels.” (Ethan Johnson, The Vision Thing)

“Instead, this is meant to read more as a how-to manual. Not so much “read”, as “used.” (Ethan Johnson, The Vision Thing)

“Harpst's book is the first book I’ve read that takes the best education from (Good To Great, E-Myth Manager, others) and combines them into one book. As you can tell, I’m a fan of “Six Disciplines for Excellence.” (Gary Tomlinson, Tomlinson & Associates)

BOTTOMLINE: Read Six Disciplines for Excellence.