Good to great

Question 1

How to go from a good company to a great company?

Answer 1

disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action

Question 2

Disciplined people:

Answer 2

means getting the right people and keeping them focused on excellence.

Question 3

Disciplined thought:

Answer 3

means being honest about the facts and avoid getting sidetracked.

Question 4

Disciplined action:

Answer 4

means understanding what is important to achieve and what isn’t.

Question 5

What happens when the ‘flywheel’ is up to speed?

Answer 5

A company can sustain years of breakthrough performance.

Question 6

Level 1 Leader

Answer 6

Highly Capable Individual. These are people who contribute using their skills, know-how and good work habits.

Question 7

Level 2 Leader

Answer 7

Contributing Team Member. These are people who are able to use their skills and knowledge to help their team succeed.

Question 8

Level 3 Leader

Answer 8

Competent Manager. These managers are capable of organizing their team to efficiently reach pre-determined objectives.

Question 9

Level 4 Leader

Answer 9

Effective Leaders. This is where the majority of leaders can be found. They are able to create the commitment from their team to vigorously pursue a clear and compelling vision. They’re also able to create a high-performing team.

Question 10

Level 5 Leader

Answer 10

These are the great leaders. They have the abilities of the other four levels plus a unique combination of will and humility. And it is this combination that makes them great

Question 11

The behaviors of Level 5 Leaders that set them apart include:

Answer 11

1. Paradox
2. Driven
3. Build successors
4. Share praise
5. Take blame
6. Normal people
7. Come from within the organization

Question 12

Paradox behaviour:

Answer 12

They are ambitious, but their ambition is for the organization to excel rather than themselves. At the same time, they tend to be modest about what they personally contribute and are self-effacing.

Question 13

Driven behaviour:

Answer 13

They are fanatically driven, obsessed even, to produce exceptional results on a sustainable basis. The key word here is sustainable. This isn’t the result of a one-off heroic effort.

Question 14

Build successors behaviour:

Answer 14

They build successors to be even more successful. This is in contrast to level 4 leaders who will sometimes set up their successors for failure to make themselves look good.

Question 15

Share praise behaviour:

Answer 15

They share the praise amongst the team when things go well.

Question 16

Take blame behaviour:

Answer 16

They are happy to take the blame when things go wrong. By sharing the praise and taking the blame they make their team extremely loyal and committed to them.

Question 17

Normal people behaviour:

Answer 17

They never have larger than life personalities or celebrities.

Question 18

Come from within the organization behaviour:

Answer 18

This is because their greatness comes from quiet hard-work, rather than heroic acts.

Question 19

To encourage and find Level 5 Leaders in your organization you can:

Answer 19

1. Look for great results without an individual claiming the credit. You may just already have a Level 5 Leader working for you.
2. Practice the Good to Great concepts. This will encourage the development of Level 5 Leaders.
3. Hire from within. Avoid the temptation to recruit external talent.
4. Invest in personal development, coaching and mentoring for your team.

Question 20

The benefits of putting “who” before “what” include:

Answer 20

• It’s easier to change direction because people are present because of who they get to work with rather than what they are working on.
• You won’t have to waste time and energy motivating and managing your team. They’ll be self-motivating and manage themselves.
• It gives the organization the potential to become great. A company with the wrong people can never become great.

Question 21

Principle 1 of “First who, then what”:

Answer 21

When in doubt, don’t hire – keep looking.

Great companies are prepared to grow only at the rate they can hire the right people.

Question 22

Principle 2 of “First who, then what”:

Answer 22

When you know you need to make a change in personnel, act right away.

You must let go of the wrong people. It isn’t fair on them and it’s not fair on the organization to keep them around. But a word of caution: don’t overlook the possibility that the right person might just be in the wrong position.

Question 23

Principle 3 of “First who, then what”:

Answer 23

Put your best people on your biggest opportunities.

Managing problems well can make your organization good, but only exploiting opportunities can make you great. So put your best people precisely where they can generate the biggest opportunities.

Question 24

To avoid distorting the facts you need an atmosphere where the truth is welcomed.

There are four practices to help you create this atmosphere:

Answer 24

1. Lead with questions not with answers.
2. Engage in dialog and debate, not coercion.
3. Conduct autopsies without blame and use them to learn.
4. Build red flag mechanisms.

Question 25

Lead with questions not with answers:

Answer 25

The leaders of Good to Great companies start by assuming they don’t know what is required. They ask questions until a picture of reality and its implications emerges. The continued use of probing questions slowly brings the reality to the surface.

Question 26

Engage in dialog and debate, not coercion:

Answer 26

Engage in a debate, have heated discussions, even agree to disagree, but great leaders never coerce people.

Question 27

Conduct autopsies without blame and use them to learn:

Answer 27

Things can and will go wrong. Even great companies make mistakes. Great companies don’t try to hide these mistakes. Rather, they try to learn from them. Trying to blame someone for the mistake doesn’t even enter into the conscious thoughts of Good to Great leaders.

Question 28

Build red flag mechanisms:

Answer 28

Great companies pay attention to what’s really important and ignore everything else. They build red flag mechanisms. These turn raw data into information that cannot be ignored.

Question 29

The benefits of confronting the brutal facts include:

Answer 29

• The organization becomes more resilient.
• People become excited about the chance to take on a challenge that seems impossible.
• It can create duality. One the one hand people accept the brutal facts. On the other, they maintain the faith that the company will ultimately be successful. Even if it takes many years.
• It dampens charismatic leaders. The brutal reality is more important than how a leader thinks the market should behave.
• Leaders will be fact led rather than personality led.
• It keeps motivation high. The reality is that pretending the realities of the marketplace don’t exist will sap everyone’s motivation. They’ll just be going through the motions.

Question 30

The Stockdale Paradox:

Answer 30

The Stockdale Paradox is a philosophy of duality. It involves having the discipline to confront the brutal facts about your situation. But at the same time, it involves never losing faith that you will prevail in the end.

Question 31

Hedgehog concept:

Answer 31

Companies will stick to doing what they’re best at and avoid getting distracted.

Question 32

You can find your inner hedgehog at the intersection of these three questions:

Answer 32

1. What do you feel most passionate about?
2. What can you be best in the world at?
3. What drives your economic engine?

Question 33

Culture of Discipline

Answer 33

A culture of discipline means having the organization full of people who will take action consistent with the hedgehog principle.

Question 34

To support a culture of discipline you’ll need to do five things:

Answer 34

1. Build a culture of freedom and responsibility but within a defined framework.
2. Get the right people on board. Those that have the will to achieve their responsibilities.
3. Build a strong culture, not a dictatorship.
4. Exercise extreme focus in adhering to your Hedgehog Concept
5. Create a Stop-Doing list

Question 35

The behaviors of Good to Great companies around technology include:

Answer 35

1. They view technology in light of their Hedgehog Concept.
2. They become pioneers of technology aligned to their Hedgehog Concept.
3. They use technology in unique ways.
4. They maintain a balanced view of technology.