Write Good and Great on the board Good is the enemy of great. Can a good company become a great

company and, if so, how?

A vast majority of good companies remain just that – good, but not great.

Short overview of Good to Great company research. 21 people (teams of 4-6 at a time) 5 years “We identified companies that made the

leap from good results to great results and sustained those results for at least 15 years.” ◦ Most companies never achieve

greatness.

Itʼs strictly based on numbers and statistical base results. They asked the question of what systematically distinguished good to great companies? Always asking the question, “Whatʼs different?” We can always ask the question, “What separateʼs us from someone else?” This is what Jim Collins and his research group found different about those great companies.

1. Not so much larger than life celebrity leaders. Ten of Eleven good-to-great CEOʼs came from inside the company.

2. Executive Compensation. No such thing within these companies. Youʼre going to do what you love and be great

at it regardless of how much money you are getting paid.

3. Strategy doesnʼt separate. Both sets of companies had well-defined strategies, but there is no evidence that they spent more time on either. Football is still football – itʼs still blocking and tackling.

4. Focus. These companies focused on what not to do and what to stop doing rather than what to do to become great. ACU Soccer 1st loss of season

5. Technology. It can accelerate but cannot cause a transformation. Social Media example.

6. Mergers. Donʼt think that two mediocrities joined together make a one great company. The Miami Heat

7. Good-to-Great companies paid NO attention to managing change, motivating people, and creating alignment. These problems solve themselves in transition.

8. No tagline, no launch event. Greatness is not an event itʼs a process.

9. Perfect Situation. Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice.

What type of Leadership is needed? Level 5. The leaders that take companies from

good to great do not share the personalities of high profile leaders

Instead they are self effacing, quiet, reserved and sometimes even shy

They are a blend of personal humility and professional will

For example Lincoln and Socrates rather than Patton or Caesar

Focus on first who, then what. Good-to-great leaders do not set a new

vision and strategy first Instead they get the right people on the

“bus”, the wrong people off the “bus”, and then the right people in the right seats

After this is accomplished then they figure out where to “drive it”

“Most importantly, people are not the most important asset, the right people are”

Confront the brutal facts, never lose faith. STOCKDALE PARADOX “You must maintain unwavering faith

that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.”

The Hedgehog Concept To go from good-to-great requires

transcending the curse of competence Just because something is a core

business doesnʼt mean that you can be the best at it.

If you cant be the best at the core business, then it cant be the foundation for a great company

Culture of Discipline All companies have a culture, some

have discipline, but few have culture of discipline: ◦ When there is disciplined people,

you donʼt need hierarchy ◦ Disciplined thought, you donʼt need

bureaucracy ◦ Disciplined action, you donʼt need

excessive controls Combine culture of discipline with

entrepreneurship you get a great performance

Technology Accelerators Good-to-great companies use

technology as the primary means of igniting transformation

However, they are pioneers in the application of “carefully selected technologies”

Good is the enemy of great. What is systematically different between

the “good” and the “great” companies? Leaders are more like Lincoln and

Socrates than Patton or Caesar.