Using Jim Collins’ Roadmap to Achieve Business Success

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."

-Thomas Jefferson

For nearly 30 years since I took Jim Collins’ class at Stanford GSB, I have managed my career by this motto. We agree on many things, and Return on Luck (ROL) is only one of many powerful business management concepts that Jim’s research has unveiled to me over the years. Of course, it is possible to work hard and NOT be lucky. To mitigate this risk, I personally follow many of these other principles that Jim explains in his books:

Clock Building & Time Telling — Put the people and processes in place that will build an enduring organization (introduced in Built to Last, 1994), as opposed to trendy shortcuts (betting on the next big idea) or “optics” (charismatic leadership, fancy dashboards) that may seem like they’re the ingredients of greatness but don’t carry the company through tough and uncertain times.

Level 5 Leadership — Focuses on the need to build greatness for the company, not themselves (introduced in Good to Great, 2001). Level 5 leaders embody these five levels of leadership:

1. They are highly capable.
2. They are a contributing team member.
3. They are a competent manager.
4. They are effective leaders with a clear and compelling vision.
5. They are executives that display both humility and ambition.

10X leadership — Named for the companies that beat industry averages by at least 10x (introduced in Great by Choice, 2011). Starts with Level 5 ambition that provides the core motivation toward success, then layers on the following principles that guide the organization through unpredictable and chaotic situations they are bound to encounter but cannot control (think Pandemic, Financial crisis, etc):

1. Fanatic discipline
2. Empirical creativity
3. Productive paranoia

When I work with CEOs to create growth marketing plans, it is often with the added layer of insight around what is going to make the company great – take the company to the next level – with the team discipline, processes and strategic understanding that will create a “Flywheel” (introduced in Good to Great) of success.?Re-reading Jim’s books helps keep these core business strategies front and center for me.

If like me, you struggle to keep track of all of Jim Collins’ concepts and what they mean visit his summary of concepts here or ?read my longer recap article on Medium . If you have not read his books and you are the leader of a growing company (or company that wants to grow), I highly recommend these books for your reading list. The examples and empirical evidence that backs the concepts will help you turn each one into an action plan for your own company.

The concept of building a great and enduring company is a theme revisited with every one of Jim’s books. If you are having trouble pulling together all of these ideas into an actionable plan of analysis and execution for your company, watch the roadmap animated summary (included in the revised BE 2.0 - Beyond Entrepreneurship, 2020).?It pulls together all of the concepts introduced in his books into a roadmap for success – creating the inputs that will lead to the outputs of every truly great company – superior results, distinctive impact and lasting endurance. Then review the twelve questions every company needs to ask themselves to help apply principles from across his books into an actionable plan of analysis and execution.

The core value of Jim’s concepts are that they become the markers to navigate the sea of an uncertain future. Always be aware of whether great results came from luck vs skill. If skills are present, sometimes success requires a little bit of luck. But as Thomas Jefferson says, you can increase your chances of luck with hard work. And Jim Collins would probably add, "Don’t squander good luck by NOT following the Level 5 leadership principles of a 10x company."

Are you a CEO in need of a strategic partner to help you position your company for a new market -- or gain a greater handle on the essence of a contemporary marketing, sales, and operational alignment? Learn more about how I can help your business here:?https://www.chiefoutsiders.com/profile/jennifer-apy