Epilogue and Frequently Asked Questions

Team 2:James StarihaMichael Mullin

Michael JohnsonElizabeth Allen

Joshua Zamarron

GREAT BY CHOICE

Epilogue

Epilogue

“One should…..be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise” F. Scott Fitzgerald

View that greatness owes more to circumstance, even luck, than to action and discipline: that what happens to use matters more than what we do

EpilogueA deeply debilitating life perspective Do we really what to teach young people:

That our actions count for littleThat those who create something great are merely

luckyThat our circumstance imprisons usDo we want to build a society and culture that

encourage us to believe that we aren’t responsible for our choices and accountable for our performance

Epilogue

Research does not support thisLuck plays a role for everyone, both good luck

and bad luckOne overarching message:Greatness is not primarily a matter of

circumstance; greatness is first and foremost a matter of conscious choice and discipline

EpilogueTested key concepts like the 10xer research

study, to see if any of the concepts failed to apply in highly uncertain and chaotic environments

Found that the earlier concepts were holding up and they are confident that the concepts from all four studies increase the odds of building a great company

But do they guarantee success

Epilogue

Simply put NONothing will ever guarantee success, we never

stop learning and advancing concepts, life offers no guarantee’s

Always possible for game-ending event to occurStill, we must act

EpilogueWhat matters most is what we do when the moment

comes and your afraid, exhausted, or tempted- what choice do we make?Do we abandon our values and give inAccept average performance

The greatest leaders careAs much about values as victoryAs much about purpose as profitAs much about being useful as being successful Their drive and standards are ultimately internal

EpilogueIt is important to remember

We are not imprisoned by our circumstancesWe are not imprisoned by the luck we get or the inherent

unfairness of lifeWe are not imprisoned by crushing setbacks, self-inflicted

mistakes or our past successWe are not imprisoned by the times in which we live, by

the number of hours in a day or even the number of hours we’re granted in our very short lives

In the end, we can control only a tiny sliver of what happens to us, but even so, we are free to choose, free to become great by choice

Frequently Asked

Questions

Were any of the concepts from Good to Great, Built to Last, or How the

Mighty Fall overturned by this research?

Systematically examined relationship of 10X cases and comparisons to prior work concepts.

10X cases exemplified the prior concepts to a greater degree than comparison cases.

To what extent did the Level 5 leaders in Good to Great exhibit 10xer behaviors?

Level 5 leaders Vs. 10X leadersSimilar, less productive paranoia Working environment less extremeLevel 5: Established companies 10Xers: entrepreneurs and small businessGood to Great emphasis on humility, Great by

Choice on will.

What role does the “First Who” principle play when when leading a company amidst

uncertainty and chaos?

10Xers: Getting the right people in the right seats. David Breashears: Mount Everest Southwest Airlines: Harvard Progressive Insurance: Right people #1 strategic philosophy Amgen: 57 of 58 Intel: Robert Noyce (cofounder) assembled team before

deciding what products to make. 10X companies: cult-like cultures

Is there a relationship between the SMaC recipe and the

Hedgehog Concept from Good to Great?

Hedgehog intersection of: What are you passionate about? What you can be the best in the world at? What drives your resources or economic engine?

Consistent decisions with concept, turning the flywheel. SMaC recipe for specific action and focused direction building

flywheel momentum. Southwest high level Hedgehog concept: be the best high-

spirit, low-cost airline, steadily increasing profit-per-fuselage, with great passion for being an industry renegade.

Do you have any guidance for how to craft a SMaC recipe?

Go directly to the practical, the empirical, and when possible, the specific and concrete.

Southwest specify: “gate turns of 10 minutes” or “fly only 737s”

Intel concrete task: “Double the number of components every ten years”

What works and why? What to do and what not to do? Durable not whole sale revolution in response to changing conditions.

If the 10X concepts are universal, why didn’t they become starkly

clear in Good to Great? Poking holes and shining light into a black boxGood to Great focused on leap from mediocrity to great

results15 years of mediocre performance to 15 years of

exceptional performance.Great by choice small or start-up companies that

became great in uncertain, unforgiving, and chaotic environment

Complement each other not repeat.

If I’m not a full 10Xer, can I compensate by building a 10X team that has all the behaviors?

It’s better to focus on working as a team to implement key ideas as an entire enterprise

Commit to a 20 Mile March Fire bullets, then fire calibrated cannonballs Practice all elements of productive paranoia Adhere and selectively amend a SMaC recipe Become highly attuned to luck Ask, “What are we going to do to get a high return on this luck

(ROL)?” If your team & enterprise succeed at all of these, it will matter less

whether any single individual is a full-fledged 10Xer.

Does leading above the Death Line mean avoiding BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)?NoRoald Amundsen – South PoleDavid Breashears – IMAX camera on Everest10X leaders in the research-study companiesThe task is to pursue BHAGs and stay above the

Death Line

How is the 10X concept “fire bullets, then cannonballs”

different from the Built to Last concept “try a lot of stuff and keep

what works”?The 2 ideas overlapEssentially trying a lot of stuff = firing bulletsBut keeping what works is NOT the same thing as

making a big bet to fully exploit what you’ve learned from firing a bullet.

That’s what cannonballs are for. 10Xers follow up successful bullets with cannonballs.

What are the implications for innovation-driven economies of

your finding that 10X cases didn’t always out-innovate comparison

companies?Treating innovation alone as the silver bullet for

achieving a competitive advantage would be naïve and unwise

10X success requires: scale innovation with great consistency by blending creativity & discipline

Examples: Intel, Southwest, Microsoft, Amgen, etc.

You mention the “Genius of the AND” a few times in the text. What is it and how does it apply here?

In the Built to Last study they found leaders of enduring great companies are comfortable with paradox Having the ability to embrace 2 opposing ideas in the mind at

the same time.

“Genius of the AND” vs. “Tyranny of the OR”“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hod two

opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

– F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Genius of the AND Disciplined & Creative Empirical validation & Bold Moves Prudence & BHAGs Ferociously ambitious & Not

egocentric Severe performance standards,

no excuses & Never going too far, able to hold back

On a 20 Mile March & Fire bullets, then cannonballs

Threshold innovation & One fad behind

Cannot Predict the future & Prepare for what they cannot predict

Go slow when they can & Go fast when they must

Disciplined thought & Decisive action

Zoom out & Zoom in Adhering to a SMaC recipe &

Amending a SMaC recipe Consistency & Change Never count on luck & Get a high

ROL when luck comes

How do you respond to critics of your research finding who point to

the failings of previously great companies you’ve researched and

written about?Research is based on specific, dynastic eras of

performanceSimilar to studying the greatest sports dynasties in

historyThat some sports dynasties later cease to be

dynasties would be irrelevant to the overall analysis of what it takes to build a great sports dynasty

Can this book help companies avoid the five stages of decline

outlined in How the Mighty Fall?

The comparison cases in this study that fell from potential greatness all showed elements of stages 1 through 4 and some went all the way to stage 5.

The 10X companies concepts can be used to stay away from the stages of decline.

How did you two (Jim and Morten) begin your working partnership, and why did you do this research

project as a team? Met at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1991 Jim and his colleague professor Jerry Porras started Built to

Last research project Morton joined research team en route to receiving PhD Always talked about doing a project from the ground up Why do some thrive in the face of immense uncertainty,

even chaos, and others do not? 9/11 caused them to start their research

Do you see your book as about defining and thriving in a New

Normal?No, the premise behind this work is that

instability is chronic, uncertainty is permanent, change is accelerating, disruption is common, and we can neither predict nor govern events

Only a continuous series of “not normal” times

How widely is the question underlying this study? Do you

see it as universal? Stop and think about your own situation or organization On a scale of 1-10, rate the context in which you operate

today 1 means you face no big forces outside your control,

everything is predictable, certain, and safe 10 is just the opposite Asked a room full of people this question to raise their

hands Yes, it is relevant to every industry and every social sector

Do you see the causes of chaos and uncertainty as

primarily economic? Not entirely Economic drivers:

Increased global competition, volatile capital markets, and rapidly evolving business models

Sources of instability come from outside economics Government regulation, government spending,

unpredictable political risk, disruptive technologies, new media.

There will be entirely new disruptions and chaotic forces to come in the future.

Do you see this book as about the past or the future?

Studied the past which will benefit the future.Examined companies that had achieved

greatness in the most uncertain and chaotic industries whose principles should be applied to all companies dealing with uncertainty

My World Feels Fairly stable right now; does this apply to me?

Chapter 5 told us that what you do before the storm comes is what most determines how well you’ll do when the storm comes.

Improper planning and preparation for instability, disruption, and chaos in advance tends to lead to more suffering when the entity’s environment shifts from stability to turbulence

Do the 10X concepts apply as much to the social sectors as the Good to Great ideas?While the author’s research was conducted, they worked with leaders from a wide range of social sectors, including: education, churches, nonprofit hospitals, etc..

Just like business leaders, they face many of the same forces outside of their control such as high uncertainty, fast moving events, dangerous threats, and disruptive opportunites

Do you see this work as being primarily about navigating in times of austerity and crisis?

No. The book is not based on crisis management. Crisis management is only a subset of the overall condition of unrelenting instability and a high degree of uncertainty.

Explosive growth can as well be difficult to manage and navigate during times of uncertainty and instability Exp: Apple: Many may argue that Apple’s explosive

growth during this era and more recently after Steve Job’s Death may be the cause of their recent financial issues.

How did the 2008 financial meltdown affect your thinking for this study?

The financial meltdown only reinforced the relevance of the study question

Financial Crisis and disruption will come one after another in the future and they can non be predicted with certainty, the only thing that is known is they will come.

Are you more or less optimistic and hopeful after conducting this study?

The study shows reason for optimism and hopeOur actions are the cause for either our success

or our failure, not what the world does to usThis is very important and relates not only to our

company Amgen, but to all of our companies. Just because our companies may have made mistakes, these mistakes may be overcome to build greatness through our own actions

Thank You, Any Questions?