Today I promise to be very brief, and you should pray for me that I keep my promise. Agreed?
I would like to simply share with you some information from a book entitled From Good to Great, by Jim Collins. This book is a result of extensive research about 1,435 big companies, with about 21 research associates, covering several years. The book provides clues as to why some companies make the leap from good to great, while others don’t. This is one of the most profound books on entrepreneurship I have read, and I candidly think you should get one copy and read it too, if you care, or if you are interested in making your company great. Though this research was principally based on US companies, many of these companies are global corporations so not simply US companies.
I request that you don’t brush off what is contained in this research results, due to reasons such as the companies being US based, or the companies being large corporations and yet your enterprise is one tiny thing. You could have many reasons to excuse yourself. Many business or enterprise principles remain applicable to enterprises in various locations and of different sizes. In any case, the large global enterprises you see today were once small and medium scale enterprises (SME’s) just like yours. You might find one or two good principles that can guide decision making in your enterprises as you work to grow and develop them over the years.
If you have already read this book, this information might not be new or shocking to you, but not everybody has read this book. One important message in this book is that good is the enemy of great, and the majority of businesses cannot move to become great companies because they are good. This is where the problem is. So, what are the findings about the so-called great companies anyway? What are the clues that can guide entrepreneurs to build great businesses over time? What is the shocking information that seems to defy normal thinking and assumptions about great companies? Let me quickly go through them below.
Remember, I promised to be brief and I don’t like breaking my promise. I have simply KISSed (Kept it Short and Sweet). We could go into long discussions regarding the above points, but I think you do well to take them seriously until further notice. Don’t blame me; these are research findings though I think I largely agree with the points. I respect this. If I were able to carry out a similar research to disapprove these guys, possibly I could nullify some of the points with empirical data. Since I can’t, let me simply promote these ideas for now. Not so?
Later,
The Wise Entrepreneur