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“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” – Bill Gates The process of transitioning your company from Good to Great is like that of a giant flywheel […]

“The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline…” – Jim Collins Discipline is the common denominator that runs through all three stages of making the leap from Good to Great. Stage One is Disciplined People, Stage Two is Disciplined Thought, and finally, stage three is Disciplined Action. Don’t confuse the […]

“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” – Isaiah Berlin In his Good to Great study, Jim Collins says that foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity – this leaves them scattered, diffused, and inconsistent. Hedgehogs on the other hand, simplify […]

“Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.” – Jack Welch Once a Level 5 Leader has finished getting the right people on their team, they focus Stage Two of making the leap from Good to Great – Disciplined Thought. This starts with facing the brutal facts […]

“The old adage ‘People are your most important asset’ is wrong. People are not your most important asset. The right people are.”– Jim Collins In order for a "good" company to transition into a "great" company, they must have a culture that embodies Disciplined People. Step One is to have a Level 5 Leader at the reins. Step […]

“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.” – Andrew Carnegie Richard's Software Development Company was floundering. He suspected that it was his own leadership, but he wasn't quite sure how to self-diagnose much less fix the problem. As he worked through Jim Collins […]

“Don’t find fault, find a remedy.” – Henry Ford So many companies find themselves themselves plodding along simply defining success as “not going out of business.” It doesn’t have to be this way, but since so many direct competitors find themselves in the same position, no one ever questions anything. However, when one of these […]

“My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things.” — Bill Gates In the first post of this series, we discussed how over 200 million Americans make New Year’s Resolutions, and how only about 8% of them actually see them through to the end. We talked about a […]

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” – Pablo Picasso Daniel’s squishy goal of “finish my novel,” had just been reenergized by connecting with his “why.” As discussed in our […]

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche Daniel’s New Year’s goal to “finish his novel” was too squishy. As we discussed in the last post, a squishy goal is not really very measurable – it’s too abstract, and doesn’t have any clearly defined steps. Another reason […]

Daniel is a aspiring young author. He has countless outlines and story ideas, but between his work obligations, and time with his family, he has little time to finish the novel he’s been working on. While making his list of goals for the New Year, he lightly scrawled down the words “finish novel.” He’s written […]

Charlie’s inner introvert cringed when his buddy invited him to a networking event. That was three years ago. Today, Charlie begins every day during the week attending networking events all around town. What changed? How did Charlie go from dreading having to engage with strangers to ordering his entire schedule around it? Simple – without […]