The book Good to Great by Jim Collins was the result of a research study Jim and a team of researchers did on why some large companies are great while others are not. Although their study was around large companies the book contains many lessons for the small business owner.
For example they found that the great companies, of which they only found eleven from the hundreds they researched, were fanatical about getting the right people “onto the bus”before they embarked on their journey. And in doing so they followed three key principles:
Principle 1: When in doubt, don’t hire ‘ keep looking.
Principle 2: When you know you need to make a people change act now!
Principle 3: Put your best people on the biggest opportunities not the biggest problems.
A culture of discipline; that’s what Collins and his team found was prevalent in these eleven great companies. But, do not confuse the culture of discipline with the discipline of a tyrant. And do not confuse the culture of discipline with the discipline of bureaucratic hierarchies. No, this does not mean that you rule with an iron fist and it does not mean that you must populate your organization with MBA organizational theories. Good-to-great companies are rigorous, not ruthless.
One of the remarkable disciplines of these eleven great companies was their ability to say NO! How difficult this is in the small business world. How difficult it is to turn down an opportunity to make money even if the opportunity is far removed from our business’s unique ability. Much of our work is keeping our clients focused on delivering what they do best to a client base that loves and respects them. To quote Jim Collins: “The real question is, once you know the right thing, do you have the discipline to do the right thing and, equally important, to stop doing the wrong things?”
