Strategic Discipline Blog

“The flywheel fits within a framework of principles we uncovered through more than a quarter-century of research into the question of what makes a great company tick.”

~Jim Collins, Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great 

In A Map – The Journey from Good To Great we shared the steps Collins shares in Turning the Flywheel on how to build a Good to Great company.

DISCIPLINE

“A culture of discipline is not a principle of business; it is a principle of greatness.”  ~ Jim Collins

How do you create/establish Discipline within your business?

As we explained in BIG LIE #3 – Myth of Self Discipline, The One Thing explains: In a discussion about success, the words “discipline” and “habit” ultimately intersect. Though separate in meaning, they powerfully connect to form the foundation for achievement—regularly working at something until it regularly works for you. When you discipline yourself, you’re essentially training yourself to act in a specific way. Stay with this long enough and it becomes routine—in other words, a habit. So when you see people who look like “disciplined” people, what you’re really seeing is people who’ve trained a handful of habits into their lives. This makes them seem “disciplined” when actually they’re not. No one is.

The Reality: You don’t need to be a disciplined person to be successful. You can become successful with less discipline than you think, for one simple reason: success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.

We call our approach to business success Strategic Discipline.  It is powerful because it harnesses the forces of habit and compounding.

Establishing a Winning Habit means following these three simple rules:

1. Priorities: Determine your #1 Priority. Achieve measurable progress in 90 days.
2. Metrics: Develop measurable Key Performance Indicators. 
3. Meetings: Establish effective meeting rhythms. (Cadence of Accountability) Compounding the value of your priority and metrics

Once your leadership team begins to meet weekly (with a meaningful agenda), the pattern begins to reinforce and compound itself.  The value of establishing your One Thing Priority as we shared in Without Top Priority “Whirlwind” Wins establishes clarity within your organization, and achieves formidable progress.  Momentum builds, confidence grows, which energizes your team.

Discipline has a negative connotation to many of us.  Yet anyone who has started and maintained a habit knows, once you establish it, you do it subconsciously.  In time not to do it feels wrong.

”We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle

Soon it seems you almost can’t get out of the way of your success.

Winning Teams, successful business and people follow this habit to gain success.

You don’t need to change your business as much as you think.  You just need to establish the proper habits, then focus on the Right Things.

If you’re searching for a winning formula, a method that works, and someone who knows how to navigate your business for future growth, please call 319-393-2565 or email me at dwick@positioningsystems.com.

Growth demands Strategic Discipline.

How can you build an enduring great organization? 

You need disciplined people, engaged in disciplined thought, to take disciplined action, to produce superior results, to make a distinctive impact in the world.

Discipline sustains momentum, over a long period of time, to lay the foundations for lasting endurance.

It’s the framework for Good to Great:

• Stage 1: Disciplined People
• Stage 2: Disciplined Thought
• Stage 3: Disciplined Action
• Stage 4: Build Greatness

A winning habit starts with 3 Strategic Disciplines: Priority, Metrics and Meeting Rhythms.   Forecasting, accountability, individual, and team performance improve dramatically.

Meeting Rhythms achieve a disciplined focus on performance metrics to drive growth.

Positioning Systems helps your business achieve these outcomes on the Four most Important Decisions your business faces:

Positioning Systems helps mid-sized ($5M - $250M) business Scale-UP. We align your business to focus on Your One Thing!  Contact dwick@positioningsystems.com to Scale Up your business! Take our Four Decisions Needs Assessment to discover how your business measures against other Scaled Up companies. We’ll contact you.

Next Blog – Packard’s Law

In Good to Great, Jim Collins shared Packard’s Law.  It is in alignment with Collins theory of First Who, Then What.  One of my customers is hiring two leadership positions for his growing business.  Do you know what questions to ask, and how to find the Right People for your business? Next Blog how to find the Right People