Good To Great

I recently finished reading the well-known business success book Good To Great. The author and his staff did a tremendous amount of research to determine factors that separated good companies from great ones. This book contained some profound insights and answers to the question that surprised me:

1. The leaders of the really great companies did not have egos. They were humble. Companies led by egomaniacs were always limited in their success because the ego would sooner or later get in the way of making the right decisions.
2. Great and enduring success doesn't coming from having a dynamic, marquee-name leader. It comes from having a humble yet determined leader who quietly pursues smart alternatives over many years.
3. When the leaders of the truly great companies were asked what was the key to their success, a surprising number of them responded, "Luck."

And my favorite quote from the book: "When you have disciplined thought, you don't need bureaucracy. The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline--a problem that largely goes away if you have the right people in the first place."

Burning the Jail Down

My son Michael loves to play with fire. One day I caught him disobeying and lighting fires around the yard and too close to the neighbor's house. I was very alarmed by this and pulled him aside.

"Michael, do you know what would happen if you played with fire and burned somebody's house down?"

"What?" he asked sheepishly.

"You'd get arrested and they'd put you in jail."

He looked me right in the eye, deadly serious, and without hesitation responded, "Fine, then I'll burn the jail down."