BUILT TO LAST
Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
http://www.wikisummaries.org/Built_to_Last
Chapter 1 – Best of the Best
This chapter reiterates the author’s intentions of describing visionary companies, not visionary product concepts, market insights, or visions. Porras and Collins define a visionary company as a “premier institution in their industries, widely admired by their peers and having a long track record of making a significant impact on the world around them.” They define a visionary company as an organization and describe powerful individual leaders and ideas as inevitably short-lived. Both authors ask readers to compile a list of visionary companies according to reputation, contribution to society, life before 1950, and more. Porras and Collins outline their goals of selecting visionary companies and “comparison companies” that don’t quite match visionary status.
Chapter 2 – Clock Building, Not Time Telling
In this chapter, Porras and Collins liken the longevity of a company to time telling and clock building. According to the authors, time telling is “having a great idea or being a charismatic visionary leader” and clock building is “building a company that can prosper far beyond the presence of any singer leader and through multiple product life cycles.” Porras and Collins explain the importance of building an organization’s “core value system” instead of relying on great product ideas, charismatic leaders, and paying too much attention to profit. They denounce the idea of charismatic leaders and explain the “great idea” myth by pointing out Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard’s ventures into non-electronic products and Masaru Ibuka’s Sony Corporations brainstorming sessions on which products to make after starting the company.
Chapter 3- More than Profits
In this chapter, Porras and Collins talk about how important it is to recognize that core ideology alone does not make a visionary company, since everything around you is always changing. In order to meet the demands of a changing world, companies “must be prepared to change everything about itself except its basic beliefs as it moves through corporate life.” According to the authors, companies must preserve its core ideology while allowing room for the manifestations of the core ideologies to change. This means product lines, profit strategies, cultural tactics, and organization structure can change – but a core ideology should not. “Preserving the core and stimulating progress” tactics are discussed. Interlude – No “Tyranny of the Or” (Embrace the “Genius of the And”) In this chapter, Porras and Collins make reference to their use of the yin/yang symbol from Chinese philosophy in order to explain the visionary mentality of not “oppressing themselves to the tyranny of the OR” – which means hell for those that cannot live with two contradictory ideas at the same time. According to the authors, inferior companies hold proclamations such as – “you can invest for the future or do well in the short-term” and “you can have low cost or high quality.” This limits companies to a short-minded frame of reference where there is only one choice, but not both. The authors ask readers to embrace both extremes and to figure out a way to have both choices. Visionary companies find ways to do well in the short-term and long-term, rather than sacrifice one for the other. They don’t look for a balance – rather, acquiring both to the max. The purpose of the yin/yang symbol is to illustrate this concept.
Chapter 4 – Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress
This chapter describes the ways companies should do business by being able to adapt and change over time in response to market conditions. Over time, competencies, strategies, and goals change but the core ideology must remain intact. One visionary company Porras and Collins use as an example of one preserving its core is Boeing and its fleet of 747 jumbo aircrafts. In the 1950s, Boeing ventured into new territory and took a gamble on building commercial airliners instead of sticking to military aircraft, which earned most of its profit. As a result, its rival Douglas Aircrafts was left in the dust. Both authors sat that the drive for change in a visionary company is internal, where philosophy takes precedent over external forces like market conditions and profit motives to make them change. Visionary companies must have the confidence to set the “big hairy audacious goals” discussed in the next chapter. They also instill mechanisms in place to preserve the core and stimulate progress. Chapter 5- Big Hairy Audacious Goals
Chapter 5 Big Hair Audacious Goals
discusses a visionary company characteristic of taking risk and “setting super goals” as a hallmark for success. It starts off with Boeing’s pursuit of the commercial airline market in the 1950’s, which was underdeveloped and needing a major player for jet aircrafts. Unlike its rival Douglas Aircraft, who avoided entering the commercial market, Boeing took a gamble and developed a prototype for the commercial airliners used today. This chapter introduces the “BHAG” concept as a way for companies to enhance team spirit and shooting for goals to become visionary. Porras and Collins describe BHAGs as nearly impossible, but possible with confidence and a bit of arrogance on behalf of the company. It stresses high commitment and working outside of a comfort zone. The Kennedy moon mission is also an example of a BHAG.
Chapter 6 – Cult-like Cultures
Porras and Collins discuss visionary companies as not a great place to work for everyone. All employees within a visionary company must adapt and embrace the core values assigned to them in order for the organization to make strides. According to the authors, visionary companies are demanding of its employees to seek accomplishment and to follow the core ideology. The authors outline four common characteristics of cults that apply to the visionary organizational philosophy – fervently held ideology, indoctrination, tightness of fit, and elitism. Fervently held ideology – All employees believe strongly in the company ideology. Indoctrination – Management is responsible for introducing and encouraging the proper work culture to employees. Tightness of fit – Employees who do not believe in the same ideology should switch positions or be fired altogether. Elitism – Recognizing the sense of responsibility that comes from being a member of a visionary company. The beginning of Chapter 6 uses Nordstrom as an example of a visionary company where an interviewer tells an interviewee what is expected of him, in accordance with the company philosophy of excellent customer service and starting from the bottom to work your way to the top.
Chapter 7 – Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works
This chapter discusses Porras’ and Collins’ visionary company research and how they’ve come to the realization experimentation, trial & error, accidents, and opportunism were ahead of detailed strategic planning. An example of Johnson & Johnson’s accidental discovery of using talc as a skin soother after customers complained of skin irritation from medicated plastics they were producing. They sold packaged “baby powder” soon after. Other example companies include 3M getting into the masking tape business and Walmart introducing people greeters. Both authors describe opportunistic experimentation through trial and error as a way to make evolutionary progress. According to Porras and Collins, five ways to make evolutionary progress includes: Giving ideas a quick try Accept mistakes and letting the weakest die Taking small steps to achieve small failures in order to get ahead Persistence Building a “ticking clock” as described in Chapter 1 to turn the aforementioned points into a process.
Chapter 8 – Home Grown Management
Porras and Collins describe a characteristic of visionary companies as likely to hire inside employees to high positions as opposed to other organizations that “hire from the outside.” This allowed for consistent excellence in leadership from within the ranks, from employees who have adhered to the company’s core ideology. In the overall picture, this is a way for companies to preserve the core while stimulating progress – a mantra discussed in Chapter 4. To support their claims, both authors cite comparison companies are six times more likely than visionary companies to hire their CEO from a pool of outside applications. At visionary companies, only 4% of CEOs came from the outside.
Chapter 9 – Good Enough Never Is
In this chapter, Porras and Collins ask wannabe visionary companies to ask the following question: “how can we do better tomorrow than we did today?” instead of lesser questions posed by lesser companies like “how well are we going” and “how well do we have to perform in order to meet the competition.” They reject the idea of a “finish line” and define a visionary company as one who is never satisfied with its results. All visionary companies hold high standards and reject the practices of comparison companies that make money off successful products. Porras and Collins stress investing for the future and adapt to newer ideas and technology earlier than others. Out of 18 companies researched, 16 were found to drive themselves harder for improvement.
Chapter 10 – The End of the Beginning
In this chapter, Porras and Collins use the “end of the beginning” concept to explain how visionary companies translate their core ideologies into the every day workings of the organization. Core ideology is translated into the strategies, behaviors, business practices, and goals of the organization. Porras and Collins used Hewlett-Packard as an example of a “core ideology into practice” organization with their management methods of providing well defined objectives to employees and allowing them as much freedom as they wanted to work towards that goal with the intention of recognizing the individual’s efforts throughout the organization. Some business practices Porras and Collins explain are paying attention to details, combining pieces to perform tasks (i.e. employee talents), asking if a practice is appropriate to a company’s ideology and goals instead of “is this practice good?” and taking care of misalignments within the organization.
Chapter 11 – Building the Vision
“Building the vision” is a rearrangement of values intended to stimulate progress. It asks potential visionary organizations to strive for self-improvement day in and day out and to invest in new technologies and new management methods to take risks instead of lying back and remaining conservative. An eye should always be kept for the long term instead of the short term, even when it is hard to do so.
GOOD TO GREAT
Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
http://www.wikisummaries.org/Good_to_great
Chapter 1: Good is the Enemy of Great
The first chapter of the book lays out the criteria that Collins and his research team used in selecting the companies that served as the basis of the meta-analysis that provided the findings set forth in the book. The most important factor in the selection process was a period of growth and sustained success that far outpaced the market or industry average. Based on the stated criteria, the companies that were selected for inclusion were Abbott, Fannie Mae, Circuit City, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes,Walgreens, and Wells Fargo. Collins also offers a few of the most significant findings gleaned from the study. Of particular note are the many indications that factors such as CEO compensation, technology, mergers and acquisitions, and change management initiatives played relatively minor roles in fostering the Good to Great process. Instead, Collins found that successes in three main areas, which he terms disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action, were likely the most significant factors in determining a company’s ability to achieve greatness.
Chapter 2: Level 5 Leadership
In this chapter, Collins begins the process of identifying and further explicating the unique factors and variables that differentiate good and great companies. One of the most significant differences, he asserts, is the quality and nature of leadership in the firm. Collins goes on to identify "Level 5 leadership" as a common characteristic of the great companies assessed in the study. This type of leadership forms the top level of a 5-level hierarchy that ranges from merely competent supervision to strategic executive decision-making. By further studying the behaviors and attitudes of so-called Level 5 leaders, Collins found that many of those classified in this group displayed an unusual mix of intense determination and profound humility. These leaders often have a long-term personal sense of investment in the company and its success, often cultivated through a career-spanning climb up the company’s ranks. The personal ego and individual financial gain are not as important as the long-term benefit of the team and the company to true Level 5 leaders. As such, Collins asserts that the much-touted trend of bringing in a celebrity CEO to turn around a flailing firm is usually not conducive to fostering the transition from Good to Great.
Chapter 3: First Who, Then What
The next factor that Collins identifies as part of the Good to Great process is the nature of the leadership team. Specifically, Collins advances the concept that the process of securing high-quality, high-talent individuals with Level 5 leadership abilities must be undertaken before an overarching strategy can be developed. With the right people in the right positions, Collins contends that many of the management problems that plague companies and sap valuable resources will automatically dissipate. As such, he argues, firms seeking to make the Good to Great transition may find it worthwhile to expend extra energy and time on personnel searches and decision-making. Collins also underscores the importance of maintaining rigorousness in all personnel decisions. He recommends moving potentially failing employees and managers to new positions, but not hesitating to remove personnel who are not actively contributing. He also recommends that hiring should be delayed until an absolutely suitable candidate has been identified. Hewing to both of these guidelines, Collins claims, will likely save time, effort, and resources in the long-term.
Chapter 4: Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)
Another key element of some companies’ unique ability to make the transition from Good to Great is the willingness to identify and assess defining facts in the company and in the larger business environment. In today’s market, trends in consumer preferences are constantly changing, and the inability to keep apace with these changes often results in company failure. Using the example of an extended comparative analysis of Kroger and A & P, Collins observes that Kroger recognized the trend towards modernization in the grocery industry and adjusted its business model accordingly, although doing so required a complete transformation of the company and its stores. A & P, on the other hand, resisted large-scale change, and thus guaranteed its own demise. Collins outlines a four-step process to promote awareness of emerging trends and potential problems: 1) Lead with questions, not answers; 2) Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion; 3) Conduct autopsies without blame; and 4) Build red flag mechanisms that turn information into information that cannot be ignored.
Chapter 5: The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity Within the Three Circles)
In this chapter, Collins uses the metaphor of the hedgehog to illustrate the seemingly contradictory principle that simplicity can sometimes lead to greatness. When confronted by predators, the hedgehog’s simple but surprisingly effective response is to roll up into a ball. While other predators, such as the fox, may be impressively clever, few can devise a strategy that is effective enough to overcome the hedgehog’s simple, repetitive response. Similarly, Collins asserts, the way to make the transformation from Good to Great is often not doing many things well, but instead, doing one thing better than anyone else in the world. It may take time to identify the single function that will be a particular firm’s "hedgehog concept," but those who do successfully identify it are often rewarded with singular success. In order to help expedite this process, Collins suggests using the following three criteria: 1) Determine what you can be best in the world at and what you cannot be best in the world at; 2) Determine what drives your economic engine; and 3) Determine what you are deeply passionate about.
Chapter 6: A Culture of Discipline
Another defining characteristic of the companies that Collins defined as great in his study was an overarching organizational culture of discipline. He is quick to point out that a culture of discipline is not to be confused with a strict authoritarian environment; instead, Collins is referring to an organization in which each manager and staff member is driven by an unrelenting inner sense of determination. In this type of organization, each individual functions as an entrepreneur, with a deeply rooted personal investment in both their own work and the company’s success. Although this discipline will manifest itself in a high standard of quality in the work that is produced by managers and employees alike, its most significant outcome will be an almost fanatical devotion to the objectives outlined in the "hedgehog concept" exercises. Disciplined workers will be better equipped to hew to these goals with a single-minded intensity that, according to Collins, will foster the transformation from merely Good to Great. In addition, the author asserts, it is important that within this overarching culture of discipline, every team member is afforded the degree of personal empowerment and latitude that is necessary to ensure that they will be able to go to unheard-of extremes to bring the firm’s envisioned objectives into existence.
Chapter 7: Technology Accelerators
Today, many businesses have come to depend upon technology to increase efficiency, reduce overhead, and maximize competitive advantage. However, Collins cautions that technology should not be regarded as a potential panacea for all that ails a company. The folly of this kind of thinking was revealed in the aftermath of the crash of the tech bubble in the early 2000s. The market correction threw into sharp relief the differences between sustainable uses of the Internet to extend established businesses and ill-planned, unviable online start-ups. Collins contends that the good-to-great companies approach the prospect of new and emerging technologies with the same prudence and careful deliberation that characterizes all of their other business decisions. Further, these companies tend to apply technology in a manner that is reflective of their "hedgehog concepts" -- typically by selecting and focusing solely upon the development of a few technologies that are fundamentally compatible with their established strengths and objectives. Collins characterizes the ideal approach to technology with the following cycle: "Pause -- Think -- Crawl -- Walk -- Run." Chapter 8: The Flywheel and the Doom Loop In this chapter, Collins describes two cycles that demonstrate the way that business decisions tend to accumulate incrementally in either an advantageous or a disadvantageous manner. Both, the author emphasizes, accrue over time. Despite the popular misperception that business success or failure often occurs suddenly, Collins asserts that it more typically occurs over the course of years, and that both only transpire after sufficient positive or negative momentum has been accrued. Collins describes the advantageous business cycle that, in some cases, can foster the transition from Good to Great as "the flywheel effect." By making decisions and taking actions that reinforce and affirm the company’s "hedgehog" competencies, executives initiate positive momentum. This, in turn, results in the accumulation of tangible positive outcomes, which serve to energize and earn the investment and loyalty of the staff. This revitalization of the team serves to further build momentum. If the cycle continues to repeat in this manner, the transition from Good to Great is likely to transpire. In contrast, the doom loop is characterized by reactive decision-making, an overextension into too many diverse areas of concentration, following short-lived trends, frequent changes in leadership and personnel, loss of morale, and disappointing results.
Chapter 9: From Good to Great to Built to Last
In the concluding chapter of Good to Great, Collins makes a connection between this book and his previous work, Built to Last, which represented the findings of a six-year study into the factors that determined whether a new company would survive in the long-term. First and foremost, Collins contends that companies need a set of core values in order to achieve the kind of long-term, sustainable success that may lead to greatness. Companies need to exist for a higher purpose than mere profit generation in order to transcend the category of merely good. According to Collins, this purpose does not have to be specific -- even if the shared values that compel the company toward success are as open-ended as being the best at what they do and achieving excellence consistently, that may be sufficient as long as the team members are equally dedicated to the same set of values. Although many of the conclusions of both of the books overlap, Collins notes that Good to Great should not be seen as the follow-up to Built to Last, which focuses on sustaining success in the long-term. Instead, Good to Great actually functions as the prequel to Built to Last. First, a company should focus on developing the foundation that is necessary to work toward greatness. Then, they can begin to apply the principles of longevity that are set forth in Built to Last.
HOW THE MIGHTY FALL
And Why Some Companies Never Give In
http://www.jimcollins.com/books/how-...ghty-fall.html
STAGE 1: HUBRIS BORN OF SUCCESS
Great enterprises can become insulated by success; accumulated momentum can carry an enterprise forward for a while, even if its leaders make poor decisions or lose discipline. Stage 1 kicks in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they lose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place. When the rhetoric of success ("We're successful because we do these specific things") replaces penetrating understanding and insight ("We're successful because we understand why we do these specific things and under what conditions they would no longer work"), decline will very likely follow. Luck and chance play a role in many successful outcomes, and those who fail to acknowledge the role luck may have played in their success—and thereby overestimate their own merit and capabilities—have succumbed to hubris. The best leaders we've studied never presume they've reached ultimate understanding of all the factors that brought them success. For one thing, they retain a somewhat irrational fear that perhaps their success stems in large part from fortuitous circumstance. Suppose you discount your own success ("We might have been just really lucky/were in the right place at the right time/have been living off momentum/have been operating without serious competition") and thereby worry incessantly about how to make yourself stronger and better-positioned for the day your good luck runs out. What's the downside if you're wrong? Minimal: If you're wrong, you'll just be that much stronger by virtue of your disciplined approach. But suppose instead you succumb to hubris and attribute success to your own superior qualities ("We deserve success because we're so good/so smart/so innovative/so amazing"). What's the downside if you're wrong? Significant. You just might find yourself surprised and unprepared when you wake up to discover your vulnerabilities too late.
STAGE 2: UNDISCIPLINED PURSUIT OF MORE
Hubris from Stage 1 ("We're so great, we can do anything!") leads right to Stage 2, the Undisciplined Pursuit of More—more scale, more growth, more acclaim, more of whatever those in power see as "success." Companies in Stage 2 stray from the disciplined creativity that led them to greatness in the first place, making undisciplined leaps into areas where they cannot be great or growing faster than they can achieve with excellence—or both. When an organization grows beyond its ability to fill its key seats with the right people, it has set itself up for a fall. Although complacency and resistance to change remain dangers to any successful enterprise, overreaching better captures how the mighty fall. Discontinuous leaps into areas in which you have no burning passion is undisciplined. Taking action inconsistent with your core values is undisciplined. Investing heavily in new arenas where you cannot attain distinctive capability, better than your competitors, is undisciplined. Launching headlong into activities that do not fit with your economic or resource engine is undisciplined. Addiction to scale is undisciplined. To neglect your core business while you leap after exciting new adventures is undisciplined. To use the organization primarily as a vehicle to increase your own personal success—more wealth, more fame, more power—at the expense of its long-term success is undisciplined. To compromise your values or lose sight of your core purpose in pursuit of growth and expansion is undisciplined.
STAGE 3: DENIAL OF RISK AND PERIL
As companies move into Stage 3, internal warning signs begin to mount, yet external results remain strong enough to "explain away" disturbing data or to suggest that the difficulties are "temporary" or "cyclic" or "not that bad," and "nothing is fundamentally wrong." In Stage 3, leaders discount negative data, amplify positive data, and put a positive spin on ambiguous data. Those in power start to blame external factors for setbacks rather than accept responsibility. The vigorous, fact-based dialogue that characterizes high-performance teams dwindles or disappears altogether. When those in power begin to imperil the enterprise by taking outsize risks and acting in a way that denies the consequences of those risks, they are headed straight for Stage 4. Bill Gore, founder of W.L. Gore & Associates, articulated a helpful concept for decision-making and risk-taking, what he called the "waterline" principle. Think of being on a ship, and imagine that any decision gone bad will blow a hole in the side of the ship. If you blow a hole above the waterline (where the ship won't take on water and possibly sink), you can patch the hole, learn from the experience, and sail on. But if you blow a hole below the waterline, you can find yourself facing gushers of water pouring in, pulling you toward the ocean floor. And if it's a big enough hole, you might go down really fast, just like some of the financial firm catastrophes of 2008. To be clear, great enterprises do make big bets, but they avoid big bets that could blow holes below the waterline.
STAGE 4: GRASPING FOR SALVATION
The cumulative peril and/or risks gone bad of Stage 3 assert themselves, throwing the enterprise into a sharp decline visible to all. The critical question is: How does its leadership respond? By lurching for a quick salvation or by getting back to the disciplines that brought about greatness in the first place? Those who grasp for salvation have fallen into Stage 4. Common "saviors" include a charismatic visionary leader, a bold but untested strategy, a radical transformation, a dramatic cultural revolution, a hoped-for blockbuster product, a "game-changing" acquisition, or any number of other silver-bullet solutions. Initial results from taking dramatic action may appear positive, but they do not last. When we find ourselves in trouble, when we find ourselves on the cusp of falling, our survival instinct and our fear can prompt lurching—reactive behavior absolutely contrary to survival. The very moment when we need to take calm, deliberate action, we run the risk of doing the exact opposite and bringing about the very outcomes we most fear. By grasping about in fearful, frantic reaction, late Stage 4 companies accelerate their own demise. Of course, their leaders can later claim: "But look at everything we did. We changed everything. We tried everything we could think of. We fired every shot we had, and we still fell. You can't blame us for not trying." They fail to see that leaders atop companies in the late stages of decline need to get back to a calm, clear-headed, and focused approach. If you want to reverse decline, be rigorous about what not to do.
STAGE 5: CAPITULATION TO IRRELEVANCE OR DEATH
The longer a company remains in Stage 4, repeatedly grasping for silver bullets, the more likely it will spiral downward. In Stage 5, accumulated setbacks and expensive false starts erode financial strength and individual spirit to such an extent that leaders abandon all hope of building a great future. In some cases the company's leader just sells out; in other cases the institution atrophies into utter insignificance; and in the most extreme cases the enterprise simply dies outright. The point of the struggle is not just to survive, but to build an enterprise that makes such a distinctive impact on the world it touches (and does so with such superior performance) that it would leave a gaping hole—a hole that could not be easily filled by any other institution—if it ceased to exist. To accomplish this requires leaders who retain faith that they can find a way to prevail in pursuit of a cause larger than mere survival (and larger than themselves) while also maintaining the stoic will needed to take whatever actions must be taken, however excruciating, for the sake of that cause.
GREAT BY CHOICE
http://onegriphigher.com/books-im-reading/great-by-choice-by-jim-collins/
Chapter 1: Thriving in Uncertainty
“We can not predicted the future. But we can create it.” This chapter uses empirical to debunk several entrenched leadership myths.
Myth 1 – Successful leaders in a turbulent world are bold, risk-seeking visionaries Contrary Finding – Great leaders a. identify what works, b. find out why, c. build on proven foundations
Myth 2 – Innovation distinguishes successful leaders in fast moving, uncertain and chaotic environment Contrary Finding – Innovation is not as important as the ability to scale innovation
Myth 3 – A threat filled world favors the speedy Contrary Finding – Fast is a good way to get killed. Great leaders know when go fast and when not to.
Myth 4 – Radical change on the outside requires radical change on the inside Contrary Finding – Great leaders react less to the changing world. Selective , strategic change trumps reactive change.
Myth 5 – Great organizations with tremendous success have a lot more good luck Contrary Finding. – Luck is not the key, how you hand good or bad luck is what matters.
Chapter 2 – 10Xers
“Victory awaits him who has everything in order – luck people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck.” Ronald Amundsen (explorer, first man to the South Pole) This chapter begins with an incredible comparison of Amundsen and Scott, the two explorers who where vying to be the first man to the South Pole. Collins summarizes Amundsen’s preparation as follows: “You prepare with intensity, all the time, so that when conditions turn against you, you can draw from a deep reservoir of strength. And equally, you prepare so that when conditions turn in your favor, you can strike hard.” Collins then lays out the framework for the book, identifying that in each case, the leaders of the 10X companies had “Level 5 Ambition” (a reference from a previous Collins book Good to Great) as the anchor surrounded by: Fanatical Discipline – Keeps the leader on track Empirical Creativity – Keeps the leader vibrant Productive Paranoia – Keeps the leader alive Discipline Defined: consistency of action, consistency with values, consistency with long term goals, consistency with performance standards, consistency of method, consistency over time. Self Discipline: Having the inner will to do whatever it takes to create a great outcome, no matter how difficult. Level 5 Leadership: Deflect Attention Maintain a Low Profile Lead with Inspiring Standards
Chapter 3 – Fanatical Discipline:
20 Mile March “Freely chosen, discipline is absolute freedom.” Ron Serino This chapter introduces the 20 Mile March, one of the central analogies of the book. Essentially, this is the idea that a slow and steady pass permits a person to accomplish a lot by disciplining themselves to accomplish a small strategic amount each and every day regardless of the circumstances. Elements of a Good 20 Mile March: Performance Markers – lower bounds of acceptable achievement Self Imposed Restraints – upper bounds of acceptable achievement Tailored to the Enterprise – targeted to the mission Lies WithinYour Control to Achieve – Not dependent on luck Goldilocks Timeframe – not to short or too long… but just right Self Imposed – not externally imposed or copied from another Achieved with Consistency – Good intentions count for nothing The 10Xer’s mantra for missing a 20 Mile March: “There is no excuse, and it is up to us to correct for our failures, period.” Why 20 Mile Marchers Win: It builds confidence in the ability to perform well in adverse circumstances It reduces the likelihood of catastrophe when hit by turbulence It helps exert self control in an out of control environment Great Quote: “We are ultimately responsible for improving performance. We need blame circumstance, we never blame environment.” Beat the Odds – Arizona Education Study: Beat the Odds Schools
Belief 1: Don’t blame students for not learning. Have the strength to take responsibility. Beat the Odds Schools
Belief 2: Don’t think the solution is “out there”. If students aren’t learning, the school needs to change. Beat the Odds Schools
Belief 3: Don’t let any students lag behind. If every student in every classroom isn’t learning, the school isn’t doing its job.
Chapter 4: Empirical Creativity – Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs Stay One Fad Behind:
The CEO of the 10X company Stryker, John Brown, lived by the mantra that it is best to be just “one fad behind.” Innovation is overrated, stealing and replicating what works is the key to long term systematic success. Threshold Innovation: You have to be able to innovate to a certain extent. However, over innovation will prevent success. It is better to replicate the innovators after proven successful.
Linking the Framework: “Innovation without discipline leads to disaster.”
Bullets then Cannonballs: Collins introduces another anchoring analogy at this point, drawing on naval warfare tactics. he explains that empirical creativity is based on a disciplined approach to determining what works. Essentially, organizations must take small risks (bullets) to determine what works. Once they find a series of successful targets, they can replicate with larger aspects of the organization (cannonballs). “After the cannonball hits, you continue 20 Mile Marching to make the most of your big success.” Bullets: Low cost, low risk, low distraction Cannonballs: High cost but low risk if following effective bullets
Chapter 5: Productive Paranoia – Leading Above the Death Line
This chapter begins with the incredible story of David Breashears and his quest to document the climbing of Mount Everest with an IMAX film. This story has many overlying similarities with the Amundsen story of the South Pole expedition. Cllins uses this story to introduce several key aspects of the concept of Productive Paranoia. The chapter title, Leading Above the Death Line refers to the planning and practice required to succeed at high altitude at the task Breashears undertook.
Three Core Practices of Productive Paranoia:
Build reserves and buffers to prepare for unexpected events before they happen
Understand bound risk and manage time based risk
Zoom in the zoom out, remaining hyper-vigilant to sense changing conditions and responding effectively
Thinking First: Great leaders think first, event when they need to think fast!
Prioritizing the Essentials: Nothing else matters until we get this done, and done right.
Variable Value of Time: “Not all time in life is equal. Life serves up some moments that count much more than other moments
Chapter 6: SMaC (Simple, Methodical and Consistent)
SMaC Recipe: a set of durable operating practices that create a replicable and consistent success formula. They must be specific, methodical and consistent. These are not a strategy, culture, core set of values or tactics. The are a simple list of things you do… Consistently!
Chapter 7: Return on Luck
“Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, wold you capture it? Or let it slip?” Marshall Bruce Mathers III, “Lose Yourself” This chapter is a fascinating and empirical look at the impact of luck on a wide range of organizations. The essential findings are that all organizations experience luck (both good and bad) with similar frequency. The difference between 10Xers and the rest are how they respond to luck. Basically, those who are prepared for luck and can capitalize on it when good and ride it out when bad, succeed. The chapter ends with a great summary of the entire book on pages 174 and 175.
Epilogue: Great by Choice
“One should… Be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.”
“Greatness is not primarily a matter of circumstance, greatness is first and foremost a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”
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