Just finished Jim Collins’ latest work, Great by Choice. Astounding! I love his work, and this is sure to engage you as well. I just finished the audiobook version, and his narration is the best of any business book I’ve listened to.
The book challenges assumptions about how great companies operate in chaos. What he calls 10X companies (those that deliver much greater returns than competitors) have several characteristics that fly in the face of conventional wisdom:
10X companies don’t always make faster decisions. Sometimes they let events unfold to gain more clarity IF waiting will not cause undue risk.
10X companies are relentless in their paranoia (see Andy Grove’s book, Only the Paranoid Survive). Yet they also are creative in approaching markets.
10X companies are not necessarily more innovative than their comparison firms. They are more disciplined in execution.
10X companies don’t have better luck, they have better Return on Luck, defined as the ability to capitalize upon whatever luck (good or bad) that they receive. You can’t control luck, but you can prepare yourself – and your company – for it.
Many other great insights. A must read for any business leader.
For a more complete review, go to Leading Blog.