Saturday, September 4, 2010

"Good To Great" by Jim Collins

Everyone wants to have a meaningful job to have a purposeful meaning in the work force. When you find out what it is you want to do –which is half the battle in my opinion – how do you settle for doing anything less than doing just that and not making it great? You shouldn’t. Unfortunately, many people do.

When you decide to join a team, you’re deciding to work for someone who has a dream of making their company nothing short than the best it can be so if you’re a manager and someone is bringing down the team, be ruthless so they can get on with their life and you can continue bringing the right people on the team.

Jim Collins has opened my eyes and now I’m starting to ask questions of my own, but I will leave those out. Here’s what I took away from this book:

- The “bus” concept; get the right people on the bus and be rigorous. Don’t settle until you find the best candidate for the position. Once you’ve found the right people, make sure the seat you put them in is where they’ll be most effective. Oh and move them around as needed!

- The idea of creating a climate where the truth is heard and not swept under a rug. In other words:
1) You don’t always have to have an agenda ready for a business meeting. I said that’s an important factor after reading Peter Shankman’s “Can You Do That?!” book, but sometimes, having an agenda will get you no where in a meeting so get creative! In other words, I don’t take back what I mentioned in the book review I did for his book, but I don’t want to leave out the fact that I’m “on the fence” regarding agendas. Don’t be afraid to break out the white board people!! :)
2) If your employees are having a heated and healthy argument to the point where their veins are buldging out of their neck, let ‘em go at it. When you put passionate people together, beautiful things collide in the most unexpected ways!
3) When you have the right people on the bus, listen to them. Period. You did hire them for a reason!
4) Just because you’re the CEO or president or vice president doesn’t mean you’re all powerful and mighty. Maybe the way you’re running one thing in the company verses another is just not working. Allow your employees to “red flag” you because either they don’t understand what you’re saying or they understand what you’re saying, but you could possibly be putting a good idea on hold for a great idea your employee has!

- The Hedgehog Concept: I’m stealing these right outta the book.
1) What can you be the best in the world at (and equally important, what you cannot be the best in the world at)?
2) What drives your economic engine?
3) What are you deeply passionate about?

- “To Do” lists are just as important as “Stop Doing” lists.

- Technology can accelerate a transformation, but technology cannot cause a transformation.

- And I’ve saved the “best” for last:
Level 5 Leaders:
“They are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce results. They will sell the mills or fire their brother, if that’s what it takes to make the company great.” You can find that quote on page 30 of the book.

And for the road, a couple of quotes that stood out to me within the 210 pages.

Page 50:
“The right people will do the right things and deliver the best results they’re capable of, regardless of the incentive system.”

Page 62:
“No matter what we achieve, if we don’t spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect, we cannot possibly have a great life.”

I've learned quite a bit from Collins and I plan on reading "Built To Last" in time.

2 comments:

  1. Too often we focus on firguring out the 'next big thing', or inventing the coolest new product, but without the right team in place such revelations are ultimately marginalized. Took many years for me to understand that the hiring process is more important than all others. Thanks Rachel!

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  2. So true, Mark! Have you read any business/management (or within these cateogory types) books lately that you just couldn't put down and would highly recommend?
    Thanks for reading Mark! :)

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