Good to Great
I think my favorite reading this week was the summary on the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. A lot of it is putting the cart before the horse, since I don't have any company yet, let alone a good one. But I gained a lot of insight on how to start out that will help make me go from good to great a lot easier. I copied a bunch of quotes from the summary, realized I was copying the whole thing and just went and bought the book off of Amazon because I'm that intrigued by the concepts. In the Launching Leaders video, I loved how the speaker (I forget his name!) called the book one of his "friends" or "mentors." It's such a great outlook to have about books that help you learn and grow. I have a feeling that once I read this book it's going to become one of my friends too! I'm especially intrigued with the idea of Level 5 Leadership and how I can start developing those traits now. Or what traits I already possess that I can grow and develop too.
My second favorite reading this week was the Letter to Garcia. I've never thought about the power of execution before reading this article. It's made me think about why I'm dithering on executing my own business, even if right now it's just social media profiles. I definitely won't be successful if I can't just take the letter and deliver it without too much fuss and bother. So why am I doing it now?
I've read both the talk by Elder Bednar and Kim B. Clark before in the Pathways program. I enjoyed them the first read through, and this one as well. Overall, a great week and I get a new business book to add to my collection!
Notes from Good to Great
“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority have become quite good – and that is their main problem. That good is the enemy of great is not just a business problem. It is a human problem. If we have cracked the code on the question of good to great, we should have something of value to any type of organization. Good schools might become great schools. Good newspapers might become great newspapers. Good churches might become great churches. Good government agencies might become great agencies. And good companies might become great companies.” – Jim Collins
Good-to-great companies move ahead of their competitors by pursuing only those projects that have three traits in common: 1. What they can be “best-in-the-world” at. 2. What drives profitability for their business model. 3. What the people are deeply passionate about.
“‘Growth’ is not a hedgehog concept. Rather, if you have the right hedgehog concept and make decisions relentlessly consistent with it, you will create such momentum that your main problem will not be how to grow, but how not to grow so fast.” – Jim Collins
“The good-to-great companies appear boring and pedestrian looking in from the outside, but upon closer inspection, they’re full of people who display extreme diligence and a stunning intensity.” – Jim Collins
Loads of companies have a “To Do” list – wish lists of things to do in the future. Good-to-great companies have “Stop Doing” lists instead – lists of things the company will stop doing in order to better focus on the hedgehog concept. The best way to institutionalize this idea is to change the annual budget process. Instead of figuring out what resources should be allocated to each activity, good-to-great companies determine which activities best support the hedgehog concept. Those that do get fully funded and strengthened while those that do not are not funded at all and therefore get eliminated.
Thus, most good-to-great transformations are cumulative rather than dramatic. There usually is not one sweeping change that leads the company to the “Promised Land” of greatness. Instead, a predictable pattern of small buildups and breakthroughs occur, each contributing to momentum in a consistent direction over a sustained period of time
While the media and popular culture at large takes notice of new technology, good-to-great companies maintain a very balanced viewpoint. They don’t tend to view technology as the most important factor in their success. They don’t even devote significant portions of their attention to discussing it. Instead, they subscribe to the train of thought which suggests: “Technology, by itself, cannot turn a good enterprise into a great one, nor can it prevent a disaster in the making in and of itself”. The people at good-to-great companies view technology simply as an important tool but not the “fountain of youth”. And therefore, in good-to-great companies, how a technology is used becomes far more important than whether or not the latest technology is taken up. When technology is linked to a compelling and clear hedgehog concept and complemented by a deep understanding of the business, great things can and should happen at an accelerating pace. On the other hand, even the best technology, applied in the wrong areas, won’t help but will generally accelerate the downfall of a badly run and ill disciplined business organization.
My second favorite reading this week was the Letter to Garcia. I've never thought about the power of execution before reading this article. It's made me think about why I'm dithering on executing my own business, even if right now it's just social media profiles. I definitely won't be successful if I can't just take the letter and deliver it without too much fuss and bother. So why am I doing it now?
I've read both the talk by Elder Bednar and Kim B. Clark before in the Pathways program. I enjoyed them the first read through, and this one as well. Overall, a great week and I get a new business book to add to my collection!
Notes from Good to Great
“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority have become quite good – and that is their main problem. That good is the enemy of great is not just a business problem. It is a human problem. If we have cracked the code on the question of good to great, we should have something of value to any type of organization. Good schools might become great schools. Good newspapers might become great newspapers. Good churches might become great churches. Good government agencies might become great agencies. And good companies might become great companies.” – Jim Collins
Good-to-great companies move ahead of their competitors by pursuing only those projects that have three traits in common: 1. What they can be “best-in-the-world” at. 2. What drives profitability for their business model. 3. What the people are deeply passionate about.
“‘Growth’ is not a hedgehog concept. Rather, if you have the right hedgehog concept and make decisions relentlessly consistent with it, you will create such momentum that your main problem will not be how to grow, but how not to grow so fast.” – Jim Collins
“The good-to-great companies appear boring and pedestrian looking in from the outside, but upon closer inspection, they’re full of people who display extreme diligence and a stunning intensity.” – Jim Collins
Loads of companies have a “To Do” list – wish lists of things to do in the future. Good-to-great companies have “Stop Doing” lists instead – lists of things the company will stop doing in order to better focus on the hedgehog concept. The best way to institutionalize this idea is to change the annual budget process. Instead of figuring out what resources should be allocated to each activity, good-to-great companies determine which activities best support the hedgehog concept. Those that do get fully funded and strengthened while those that do not are not funded at all and therefore get eliminated.
Thus, most good-to-great transformations are cumulative rather than dramatic. There usually is not one sweeping change that leads the company to the “Promised Land” of greatness. Instead, a predictable pattern of small buildups and breakthroughs occur, each contributing to momentum in a consistent direction over a sustained period of time
While the media and popular culture at large takes notice of new technology, good-to-great companies maintain a very balanced viewpoint. They don’t tend to view technology as the most important factor in their success. They don’t even devote significant portions of their attention to discussing it. Instead, they subscribe to the train of thought which suggests: “Technology, by itself, cannot turn a good enterprise into a great one, nor can it prevent a disaster in the making in and of itself”. The people at good-to-great companies view technology simply as an important tool but not the “fountain of youth”. And therefore, in good-to-great companies, how a technology is used becomes far more important than whether or not the latest technology is taken up. When technology is linked to a compelling and clear hedgehog concept and complemented by a deep understanding of the business, great things can and should happen at an accelerating pace. On the other hand, even the best technology, applied in the wrong areas, won’t help but will generally accelerate the downfall of a badly run and ill disciplined business organization.
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