The forth lesson from Good to Great by Jim Collins  is discipline!  Collins was researching what made good companies become great companies.   It turns out that having self-disciplined staff was key.  Great companies had self-disciplined people on board.  They were not trying to impose discipline on undisciplined people!  As we have seen in an earlier post great companies had the right people on the bus.  People with the self-discipline to confront the brutal facts of reality.  People with the self-discipline to continue searching until they understood their ‘Hedgehog Concept’ (see previous post for an explanation).  That means the discipline to stay within the three circles (do you know what your hedgehog is?).  The three circles are: 1. passion 2. what you can be the best at and 3. what you can make money at.  The problem is that it is hard to say no to great opportunities which are not in the three circles.  You have to have the discipline to say no to these opportunities.  Steve Jobs of Apple also had the same dilemma.  According to Jobs “people think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on.  But that’s not what it means at all.  It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.”  To say no takes tremendous discipline.  Finally great companies and their employees were able to take disciplined action. That is the discipline to do whatever it takes to become the best.

Stop Doing Lists

Interestingly great companies made as much use of  ‘stop doing lists’ as ‘to-do lists’.  Success did not come from doing more and more!  Success came also from stopping to do the wrong things.

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

Jim Rohn

Summary

In summary discipline is key to success for companies and also for individuals.  Disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and then taking disciplined actions.  A key aspect of discipline is to remain true to your hedgehog concept.  That means saying no to other good ideas.  That means having a not to do list as much as a to-do list.

Best Wishes,

Tom

PS I have learned so much from this chapter of the book – I certainly need more self discipline and adherence to my own personal hedgehog.  How about you?  You can read more about not to do lists here.  More lessons from the book next week.  In the meantime have a look at Jim Collins’s website for further information and resources.

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