Good to Great: Pushing on the Flywheel Requires Focus

It’s been a while since I blogged about Good to Great, but one of the concepts has been really hitting home recently. In the book, Collins relates much of the work done by the good to great companies to pushing on a flywheel. They settled on a goal and then persevered until they achieved it. He relates this to pushing on a flywheel when at first nothing at all seems to happen. After many pushes, it starts to move, almost unnoticeably. After pushing a lot more, it starts to spin pretty well. The great companies keep pushing until it spins almost on its own so that additional pushes serve only to keep it going.

In some respects, the cliché “Don’t give up” might summarize the flywheel concept. They aren’t parallel concepts, however, unless you are doing the right things to push on the flywheel. Sometimes, you may need to step back and switch tactics before pushing again. It becomes easy to stop pushing when results aren’t readily seen or when they aren’t as good as we think they ought to be. It might be tempting to change directions or simply quit pushing. However, it is important that we continue to push toward the goals in our plans. Don’t grow weary. Don’t get distracted. Don’t pull the plug unless new information indicates that you should. Keep pushing on your request for zoning variances, on your target consumer market, or on your employees to improve. The disciplined persistence will almost always pay off. Indeed, that is exactly what frequently differentiates the successful and unsuccessful businesses.

A former student’s experiences clearly bear out my point. She has worked for years to convince the ownership and management of the family business to make a significant change in how they market their products. She planted the thought maybe 10 years ago, arguing that commodity production wasn’t going to be as profitable as direct marketing their products. Over time, the family transitioned more of their produce into their farm market and diversified their production. They then brought on expertise in marketing to make the farm market even more successful. Other family members got involved in marketing, not just in production. This approach served the business well as residential neighborhoods popped up around them, gobbling up land that had been in farms like theirs. She viewed these new homeowners as potential customers.

She’s still pushing! They are working with zoning authorities to gain approval on a new market, where more products will be sold. The family plans to expand the bakery enterprise as well as some of the traditional types of products they have grown. Pushing is getting easier as family members and employees buy into the vision and success builds on success. That’s the whole concept.

Although pushing on your flywheel can get tiring, keep doing it. The rewards are worth it.

Becoming Great: First Who, Then What

A few weeks ago, I started blogging about Good to Great. There, I wrote about the importance of the leadership that business owners/managers provide. So called "Level 5 Leadership" is critical, but a leader can't lead unless there's people to be led. So now let's take a look at what Collins has to say about the people you hire.

The research findings showed that the great companies first got the right people on board and the wrong people out before deciding on what they were going to do. They may have had a general notion of what direction they wanted to go, but the specifics needed to be determined by the people on board.

So, what makes someone the "right" or "wrong" person? First, they have a passion for the success of the business. This may lead to personal gain (i.e., higher income) for them but that is secondary to the drive they have to succeed. Second, they get along with others in the business. This is made easier if they share a passion for success, but moving forward with destructive friction is a killer. On the other hand, constructive friction, brought on while the team is trying to find the best step forward, can help the business move forward together. Third, they obviously need to have the proper technical knowledge, but it's more important that they have the ability to learn and adapt, applying that knowledge to various situations that come along.

The benefits of having the right people on the right spots in your business (even if there is only one or two spots) are huge! But it takes discipline to make it happen. Collins indicates that the great companies were rigorous about this. They would remove someone not in the right spot and, if they weren't the right person for any spot in the business, fire them. This is made easier if everyone puts the success of the business first. It is also easiest when that rigor is applied first to the ownership and then trickles down to the bottom levels of the organizational chart.

Collins gives three practical ways to apply this rigor in your business.

1. If there are doubts about a candidate, don't hire them. It starts first by keeping the wrong people out of the business. Don't settle just to fill a position.
2. When you know a personnel change needs to be made, do it. He says on page 56 "Letting the wrong people hang around is unfair to all of the right people."
3. Put your best people on the biggest opportunities, not the biggest problems. If possible, get rid of the problems but always take on the best opportunities with your best people.

Whether you are a dairy farmer, a food manufacturer, a CSA owner, or other type of food or agricultural entrepreneur, these fundamentals should be applied to your business. Your management team and employees are key elements of your business. Be sure they are the right people to move forward with in 2010 and following years as you move your business toward greatness.