Robert Herbold, longtime P&G manager and later the COO of Microsoft, knows how to get things done in large organizations. That's the premise of What's Holding You Back.

While his experience is in complex and enormous enterprises, what stood out about Herbold's advice was its simplicity.

In his view, there is much to be gained from: cutting sloppiness, focusing on a few key tasks, reining in budgets, being decisive, and holding people accountable. In a world where advice seems to constantly make things more complicated (data so big you need IBM to tell how what it means), this simplicity was refreshing.

People gain more from doing less.