CloserQ readers, I was recently asked what book do I
recommend for companies in transition. I
first laughed, because I believe all growing and successful companies are in
perpetual transition as they make leaps in revenues, # of employees, products,
markets, etc. Then I recommended, Jim
Collins’ fantastic book ‘Good to Great’
Jim researched thousands of companies over decades to
find companies that have been Great over a decades vs. quarters or even
years. Then Jim then researched those
successful companies to determine what makes them Great vs. just Good.
Jim then reviews, with details and examples, what it
takes to be a Great company. What is
really interesting in today’s culture of
"I need it now and I need to be a superstar to doing it", that the results are
counterintuitive to what I expected. Jim
high-lights four areas:
- Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
- The Hedgehog Concept: (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
- A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
- The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.
One of the areas in ‘Good to Great’ that has helped me
in both my professional and personal lives is The Stockdale Paradox named after
Admiral Jim Stockdale, who was a United States Military Officer held captive
as POW for eight years during the
Vietnam War. Admiral Stockdale was
tortured more than twenty times by his captors, and never had much reason to
believe he would survive the prison camp and someday get to see his wife again.
And yet, as Stockdale told Collins, he never lost faith during his ordeal: “I
never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in
the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in
retrospect, I would not trade.” The
Paradox is:
- You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties
- AND at the same time…
- You must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be
Below is a link on amazon.com:
Good Reading / Listening!
Reader Feedback, please click the ‘comments’ below to
give your feedback on 'Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't'. Shaun Priest aka CloserQ. Have
fantastic day.
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