Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Good To Great: Book by Jim Collins
Good To Great: Book by Jim Collins
Good to Great
Good is the enemy of great.
Why is that true?
Companies Studied
(15-year return compared to general stock market)
Abbott (3.98) Circuit City (18.5) Fannie Mae (7.56) Gillette (7.39) Kimberly-Clark (3.42) Kroger (4.17) Nucor (5.16) Philip Morris (7.06) Pitney Bowes (7.16) Walgreens (7.34) Wells Fargo (3.99)
Upjohn Silo Great Western Warner-Lambert Scott Paper A&P Bethlehem Steel R.J. Reynolds Addressograph Eckerd Bank of America
#1
#1
Leadership
Professional Will Creates superb results, a clear catalyst in the transition from good to great Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult Sets the standard of building an enduring great company; will settle for nothing less Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck Personal Humility Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning public adulation; never boastful Acts with quiet, calm determination; relies principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma to motivate Channels ambition into the company, not the self; sets up successors for even greater success in the next generation Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the companyto other people, external factors, and good luck
#2
#2
#2
#2
#2
How to be rigorous
1. When in doubt, dont hirekeep looking. 2. When you know you need to make a people changeact.
The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, youve made a hiring mistake. The best people dont need to be managed. Guided, taught, ledyes. But not tightly managed. Waiting too long before acting is equally unfair to the people who need to get off the bus. How to know: Would you hire the person again? Would you be relieved if they left the organization?
3. Put your best people on your biggest opportunities not your biggest problems.
Corollary: When you decide to sell off your problems, dont sell of your best people. Make a place on the bus for the best people, and theyll be more likely to support changes in direction.
#2
3. Put your best people on your biggest opportunities not your biggest problems.
Corollary: When you decide to sell off your problems, dont sell of your best people. Make a place on the bus for the best people, and theyll be more likely to support changes in direction.
#3
Two choices: confront brutal facts and change or stick head in sand Kroger and A&Psuperstores vs. low prices You have to be number one or two in each market or you have to exit. You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts.
#3
Your job is to turn over rocks and look at the squiggly things, even if what you see can scare you! Some organizations (Bank of America) have climates where managers will not even make a comment until they know how the boss felt. The moment a leader allows himself to become the primary reality people worry about, rather than reality being the primary reality, you have a recipe for mediocrity, or worse.
#3
1.
2.
3.
4.
Attitude: We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Attitude: We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail.
#3
#3
#4
#4
#4
#4
#4
#4
#5
#5
#5
#5
#5
Flywheel
UCLA won 10 NCAA championships and 61 games in a row. How many years did Wooden coach UCLA before the 1st championship? 15
#5
Flywheel
Point to tangible accomplishmentshowever incremental at firstand show how these steps fit into the context of an overall working concept.
Step forward, consistent with hedgehog concept Accumulate visible results People line up, energized by results Flywheel momentum builds
#5
Doomloop
Instead of a quiet, deliberate process of figuring out what needed to be done and then simply doing it, the comparison companies frequently launched new programsoften with great fanfare and hoopla aimed at motivating the troopsonly to see the programs fail to produce sustained results. They sought the single defining action, the grand program, the one killer innovation, the miracle moment that would allow them to skip the arduous buildup stage and jump right to breakthrough. Guess what happened
#5
Leaders who stop the flywheelleaders who step in, stop an already spinning flywheel, and throw the organization in entirely different direction.