Magdi Azer's Reviews > Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric

Reading this book was a trip down memory lane.

I had the privilege of working at GE for 20 years, so I had a front-row seat for many of the topics covered in this book. Already at GE for six years when Jeff Immelt became CEO, I can still remember sitting in a large conference room with many of my colleagues as we listened to Jeff Immelt's employee meeting his first full day on the job - September 10, 2011.

The authors captured the essence of what many employees inside the company saw including Jeff Immelt's endless optimism and the ability to cast a vision of where GE was heading.

We also watched GE acquire companies that had the potential to enhance our existing portfolio. Unfortunately, as the authors described, what we often saw was the eventual destruction of value that was reflected in company performance.

The one topic that the book did not cover was the exceptional talent and dedication of GE's employees. I recognize that this was not central to the book's focus, but I can unequivocally state that the engineers and scientists I had the privilege of working with every day were immensely talented.

Thanks for the memories!