(Book) Good to Great

Good to Great Summary

As the title suggests, this is a book about how companies go from being only ok, to becoming great.  The author starts with a lot of information regarding how they picked their companies and how they scientifically gathered data.  To sum up as quickly as possible.

Leaders who think long term, get people who care about a concept to join their company, then think extremly hard about a solution.  They then start pushing everybody in the same direction of the solution over a long period of time.

  • Level 5 Leaders
    • Have quite resolve, and persistence, are not charasimatic leaders
    • Willing to cut off an arm to save a body
    • Setup successors for success, companies don't fail when they leave
    • How to become level 5?
      • First who, then what, they get the right people on the bus, the wrong off
      • Think hard about the right direction
      • Don't hire anybody if they can't find the right person
      • Put good people on opportunities, not problems
  • Discplined thought
    • Confront brutal truths; this wont work, need to lop off the arm, change direction completely
    • Kroger kept researching and researching for what consumers wanted
    • Admit you don't know, the right people on the bus will help solve the big questions
    • How
      • Lead with questions not answers
      • Dialog and debate the answers to questions
      • Conduct autopsies without blame
      • Build red flags into their systems
  • The Hedgehog Principal
    • The Hedgehog has one basic defnece that always works, foxes always are trying new things and failing
    • The hedgehog looks for a single unifiying principal so solve problems
    • A venn diagram...
      • What can you be the best in the world at? (can be a small segment, best pharmacy in the midwest)
      • What drives your economic engine, what can you do that has the highest return
      • What are you passionate about
  • A Culture of Discipline
    • Startups go from a focused idea, to buracracy as they grow
    • How
      • Freedom and responsiblity for the right people - manage the system not the people
      • Fill roles with disciplined people willing to go above and beyond (the right people on the bus)
      • Self discipline, not dictatorship
      • Adhere to hedgehog concept, stay focused on goals
    • Effective technology won't lead to success, success leads to effective technology
    • Don't follow others (dot com bust), stay on track with what makes sense financially
  • Flywheel and Doom Loop
    • Picture a 1000 lb flywheel, start pushing and it hardly moves, over time it's weight carries itself
    • Get everybody pushing the same direction on the flywheel
    • Doom loop: motivate the unmotivated people and change the direction you're pushing the flywheel
    • Searching for breakthrough is the doom loop, earning breakthrough is the flywheel
    • Avoid fads, inconsistency, confront brutal truths early,