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_We believe there will be no new normal. There will only be a continuous series of not normal times._

- 2011 quote from _Great by Choice._

_Great by Choice_ is THE essential read for leaders in times like this. Jim Collins $ _Good to Great, Built to Last_ $ and Morten Hansen $ _Great at Work_ $ spent 9 years researching companies that _thrived_ during global disruptive, chaotic, and extreme events.

Ahead of our exclusive[ Good to Great immersion workshop with Jim Collins in Chicago, U.S., in October 2023,](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/event.php?eventId=a1J9g0000004mRDEAY) we discuss here, here are two short summaries of this timeless and uplifting book.

[**Free Download** : 10 Leadership Qualities That Will Help Solve Challenges in 2023](https://thegrowthfaculty.ac-page.com/leadershipqualities)

_"Uncertainty is permanent, chaotic times are normal, change is accelerating, and instability will likely characterise the rest of our lives."_

Extreme, unstable forces by themselves do not undo a great company.

But _undisciplined behaviour_ does, finds 7 years of research by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen.

_Discipline_ matters.

* Great companies never relax when blessed with good luck;
  * They never wallow in despair when hit with bad luck.
  * They keep pushing for the overall goal and cause.

10X companies $those that perform at more than 10X their industry average$ _always_ have these behaviours:

*  **_Fanatic_ discipline** We're talking off the chart discipline.
  *  **Empirical creativity** Evidence from hard data before action. 
  * **Productive paranoia** Their catch cry is What if? What if? What if?
  *  **Level 5 ambition.** They channel all their energy to the cause $not their ego$.

Techniques they use:

1.  **20 Mile March** - They hit _specified performance markers_ with great consistency over a long period of time.
  2.  **Fire Bullets, then Cannonballs -** They fire bullets at new products, services, technologies - and cannonballs _only_ after a bullet hits a target. 
  3. **Leading Above the Death Line -** They have cash for bad times, avoid risks that could kill them, and are on the lookout for trouble at all times. 
  4. **SMaC $Specific, Methodical, and Consistent$ -** They stick to the recipe that works for their organisation.

Great by Choice 1 minute summary:

_Life offers no guarantees. The next Great Disruption will come, and the next one after that, and the next one after that, forever._

Great by Choice 3minute summary:

Two pairs of 7 companies were studied by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen during a 7 year period of extreme events $eg. recessions, war, 9/11$.

One _thrived_ $10X the industry average performance$. One languished.

Despite patches of terrible business conditions, the 10X companies were _so_ successful, you'd have banked up to $US12 million if you'd invested $US10,000 in any one of them over the study period $1972 to 2002$.

The pairs studied were:

* Amgen vs Genetech;
  * Biomet vs Kirschner;
  * Intel vs AMD;
  * Microsoft vs Apple $focusing on the 80s and 90s$;
  * Progressive vs Safeco;
  * Southwest Airlines to PSA;
  * Stryker vs United States Surgical Corporation $USSC$.

Chapter One: Thriving in uncertainty

The company pairs had divergent outcomes because of _different behaviours._

The 10Xers exhibited 4 key behaviours:

*  **Fanatic discipline.** 10Xers arent just disciplined, they are _fanatics_. Their behaviour fits nowhere on a normal curve.
  *  **Empirical creativity.** They look primarily to empirical evidence, rather than other people or conventional wisdom, before they act.
  *  **Productive paranoia.** They consider failure on a regular basis, maintaining hypervigilance in good times as well as bad. Theyre always asking What if? What if? What if?
  *  **Level 5 ambition.** 10Xers channel their energy into something larger and more enduring than themselves.

Chapter 2: 10Xers

_The more turbulent the world, the more you need to be a '20 Mile Marcher._

This was a distinguishing factor, to an overwhelming degree, between the 10X companies and the comparisons.

Chapter 3: 20 Mile March

The first man to reach the South Pole, Norwegian Roald Amundsen, marched about 20 miles on calm days, and about 20 miles in screeching gales.

Like Amundsen, 10Xer companies consistently achieved their own version of the 20 Mile March.

10Xers make incremental progress year after year by _consistently_ hitting specified performance markers.

* They have unwavering commitment to high performance in _difficult_ conditions
  * They hold back in _good_ conditions

He was consistent. He didnt march 40 miles on good days, nor zero on bad days.

_A method for making progress rather than getting paralysed, frozen by lifes uncertainties._

Instead of big leap innovations, 10X companies fire bullets, then cannonballs to try out new products, technologies, services, or processes.

Instead of trying to predict the future, 10Xers ask:

* _How can we fire a bullet on this?_
  *  _What bullets have others fired?_
  *  _What does this bullet teach us?_
  *  _Do we have enough empirical validation to fire a cannonball?_

10X winners were found to have innovated _less_ than the authors expected $relative to their industries and their comparison cases$.

_"They were innovative enough to be successful, but generally not the most innovative,_ they write.

Chapter 4: Fire Bullets, then Cannonballs

_The only mistakes you can learn from are the ones you survive._

10X winners always assume that conditions can change, violently and fast.

So, they exhibit 3 types of _productive paranoia:_

Chapter 5: Leading Above the Death Line

1. Extra oxygen cannisters (big margins of safety in cash reserves)

* They avoid _Death Line risk_ that could kill or severely damage the enterprise.
  * They shun _Asymmetric risk_ $those risks for which the potential downside is much bigger than the potential upside$.
  * They steer away from _Uncontrollable risk_ that exposes the enterprise to events they can't control.

2. Bounding risk

* 10X leaders obsessively focus on their objectives, and are hypervigilant about changes in their environment.

3. Zoom out, then zoom in

_The more unforgiving your world, the more SMaC you need to be._

SMaC is a recipe that forces order amidst chaos.

You set out the dos and donts $specific operating practices$ that work, and you adhere to them.

For example, in the study period, Southwest Airlines's SMaC recipe included:

*  _The passenger is our \#1 product. Do not carry air freight or mail, only small packages which have high profitability and low handing costs;_
  *  _Stay out of food services;_
  *  _Utilise the 737 as our primary aircraft for 10 to 12 years;_
  *  _Remain a short haul carrier, under two-hour segments._

Chapter 6: SMaC (Specific, Methodical, and Consistent)

_The environment doesnt determine why some companies thrive in chaos and why others dont. People do._

_Who_ luck $the luck of finding the right mentor, partner, teammate, leader, friend$ is one of the most important types of luck, say Collins and Hansen.

The real difference between the 10X and comparison cases was ROL $Return on Luck$.

* They _zoomed out_ to recognise when a luck event had happened and to consider whether they should let it disrupt their plans.
  * If yes, they threw themselves at the luck event with ferocious intensity, not letting up.

Chapter 7: Return on luck

Collins and Hansen ended their 9 year study more optimistic and hopeful than before.

_"More than any of our prior research,"_ they write in _Great by Choice_ , _"this study shows that whether we prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more upon what we do than on what the world does to us. We take particular solace from the fact that every 10Xer made mistakes, even some very big mistakes, yet was able to self-correct, survive, and build greatness."_

_If you'd like to increase your professional development why not consider becoming a member of The Growth Faculty? One membership, unlimited access to 30 live virtual_[ **_Time For Transformation_**](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/?promoCode=Blog#liveevents)[ __](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/?promoCode=Blog#liveevents)_masterclasses and the best live virtual events - PLUS year-round leadership content On Demand with videos, podcasts and book summaries. Join a community of knowledge seekers who are inspired by the best._[ **_See who's up next._**](https://growth.lightning.force.com/lightning/r/Blog_Post__c/a1d4G000004oYwKQAU/view)

Jim Collins: Great by Choice amidst the crises and chaos

How to be optimistic when extreme bad luck (inevitably) hits

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Jim Collins: Great by Choice amidst the crises and chaos

How to be optimistic when extreme bad luck (inevitably) hits

Keep informedStay Inspired

Keep informed
Stay Inspired