Jim Collins - Live in London, 28th Feb - my thoughts

“All roads lead to Rome. And Rome is people. It begins with people. Always people” Jim Collins

Personal development is something that we all need to take control of. It should be planned and scheduled, organised and structured. I don’t want to pretend that this is the case with me, however! I probably fall into the category that many of us occupy, where personal development is an after-thought once we have completed our extensive to-do list, returned that call, relied to that email. So, it was left to a fellow acolyte of Jim Collins’ body of work to suggest that we see him live when he came to London.

And so, we did. Today. His seminar in London organised by the Growth Faculty was the first time he had spoken outside of the USA for more than a decade and was incredibly well attended. In it, he further developed some of the ideas and concepts established in his multi-million selling books – Built to Last, Good to Great, How the Mighty Fall – and brought a more holistic, practical view to some of his research.

What struck me once more, was how much of his extensive business research and data typically returns to the central theme of people. People, people, people. Yes, strategies are important, as is understanding the true economic drivers of your business. Often, during the Q&A with the audience, Jim returned to theme of the “flywheel” – how does your business operate; what are the steps to success that you can influence? But people are at the apex of the challenge to create an enduringly successful, great company.

I’ve mentioned the Bus concept on plenty of occasions in past blogs. Getting the right people on the bus (and even mini-buses) is key. It was reiterated that “people are NOT the most important asset – the RIGHT PEOPLE are the most important asset”. And during the Q&A session, someone asked the question that many in the auditorium were thinking (including me):

·      How do great companies recruit the right people?

Frustratingly, but not surprisingly, Mr Collins was not willing (or maybe not able) to offer the silver bullet answer. However, it made it clear that assessment of FIT was critical. I would expand this: to get the right people to build the culture that you are looking to create, you need to have clarity of purpose and an understanding of the culture that you want to develop. Culture is strategy and talent can deliver on that.

But more interestingly, Jim then developed his thoughts further. Not only do you need to be good at assessing fit, you need to become good at getting rid of people who don’t fit, plus get good at keeping people for a long time of those who do fit. “Be rigorous, not ruthless, in people decisions.”

Jim shared seven simple questions to ask yourself about deciding to invest in someone, or to replace them. This may seem unduly negative but it is part of the talent management cycle and a precursor to recruiting the right people. And the simplicity of these questions is such that you can (dare I say it) self-coach yourself to the answer. Hence what I wanted to share them with you. They are as follows:

1.    Are you beginning to lose other, really good people? One bad apple can rot the whole barrel.

2.    Is it a values, will or skill problem? Skills can be trained: will can be coached: values either exist or they don’t.

3.    Do they see it as a job or a responsibility? Do they take ownership and care about the outcome, or do they perform the perfunctory requirements outlines on their job spec?

4.    What is the person’s relationship to the window or the mirror? When things go wrong, do they look in the mirror and hold themselves accountable, or do they look out of the window and blame others/circumstance/the market?

5.    Has your confidence in this person gone up or down in the last year? Do they get it? Or did they get it, but no longer?

6.    Is it a bus problem, or a seat problem? Have you got the right person sat in the wrong seat?

7.    How would you feel if they walked in now and quit? At a loss or relieved?

Jim said that he has his own test for this approach: he calls every person he has ever fired on their birthday to wish them many happy returns. The litmus test to your rigour and behaviour is whether that person takes the call! By being thorough and consistent in this approach, you will develop a bus full of the right people, and many more mini-busses besides.

There were many more examples of people being a central theme to Jim’s work and would heartily recommend anyone to pick up one of his books to explore in more detail, and many of the principles he explores are relevant to proactive career management, recruitment and coaching. No wonder I tend to wax lyrical. And yes, I am likely to return to these subjects in other blogs.

I’ll leave you with a final quote from Mr Collins and invite you get involved in the conversation by sharing your views and thoughts.

“Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” 

Mark.