Greatness Is A Conscious Choice – SwitchMONDAY, OCTOBER 19TH, 2009
Verne Harnish joined us today with some terrific insights. One of our coaches reminded me of the reason why when we worked with Robert Bloom to create Positioning Systems Inside Advantage I immediately fell in love with Bob’s idea to make ours “Strategic Discipline.” It’s the embodiment of what we help our clients create and there are two quotes from Jim Collins [author of Good to Great, Built to Last, and How the Mighty Fall] that reinforce the importance of this. Jim Collins stated, “A culture of discipline is not a principle of business; it is a principle of greatness.” And, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline”
Verne as always is on the cutting edge speaking how in this global marketplace the perfect time zone to be in is Europe and the main reason he moved to Barcelona, Spain. Europe splits the time zones between East and West allowing you to communicate in a nice balance in morning and evening in Asia and the United States. He also spoke about how many leaders should not be in the position they are in. Leadership once a business gets to a certain stage should frequently not be left in the hands of the person who created the business since the rules of building and sustaining a business are different then growing it. It’s one reason he’s relinquished many of his leadership roles and why Bill Gates ceded his leadership role as well.
He previewed the book Switch for us by Chip Heath, co-author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. [ Switch won’t be available until February] The essence of the book is that big problems don’t need big solution; rather they are frequently solved by simple smaller solutions. He cited the situation in Viet Nam where children were starving of malnutrition. No one could figure out a cure, and it was feared it would take a great deal time and money to overcome it. One young researcher decided to study a few healthy children in the same villages where many more were starving of malnutrition. [This is a great idea that is presented in a book Verne had asked Gazelle Coaches to read two years previously The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry] The researcher discovered what these healthy children were eating that provided them with protein and fiber that allowed them to avoid the undernourishment that others were suffering from. By including several mothers who were feeding their children the right sustenance, with the majority that weren’t they were able to bring the entire population to feed their children better and reverse the severe cases in a short time. The details of this story are fascinating, and I’ll leave them for the book, however Verne feels the book will be ground breaking and have a great impact on how people begin to think through and solve problems.
Jim Collins is the first speaker tomorrow and I will provide some of his insights in my blog tomorrow evening.
Finally one of the speakers tomorrow is a Gazelles client who just happens to provide business and corporate rewards programs. If your searching for a reward for a theme that will excite and motivate your team as well as possibly your clients and build teamwork and get you to know them on a much deeper level, explore their website, Wide Open Adventures. It’s terrific idea for reaching a big goal, or simply building your team or customer rapport.
Need help implementing these ideas?
Positioning Systems helps business owners and entrepreneurs transform their business. We provide the tools and coaching to help you take control of your business -- rather then having your business control you.
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