10 Ways to Grow Your Business

As most of you are aware, I am a huge fan a Jim Collins, business author of Good to Great.  During a recent Fortune Leadership Summit in Atlanta, Jim listed 10 items necessary to become a ‘growth company’:

1- Change "what" questions to "who" questions

For example, hiring great people may seem like a routine task, the fact remains that many companies do a very bad job of hiring. The "great" companies all appeared to hire "great" people without specific roles (the What). That is, they did not create positions and then fill them.  Instead, they found great people (the Who) and asked them to stumble around the organization until they found the best use of their skills.

2- Double your Question to Statement Ratio

Check your questions to statements ratio and set a goal of doubling it in the next year. Most people seem to be more interested in being interesting than being interested. So, begin by focusing on probing and intelligent questions and become more interested in the person you are communicating with, than yourself.

3- Embrace the "Stockdale Paradox"

The Stockdale Paradox is named after admiral Jim Stockdale, who was a United States military officer held captive for eight years during the Vietnam War. Stockdale was tortured more than twenty times by his captors, and never had much reason to believe he would survive the prison camp and someday get to see his wife again.  Stockdale said,  “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”

What the optimists failed to do was confront the reality of their situation. They preferred the ostrich approach, sticking their heads in the sand and hoping for the difficulties to go away. That self-delusion might have made it easier on them in the short-term, but when they were eventually forced to face reality, it had become too much and they couldn’t handle it.

Stockdale approached adversity with a very different mindset. He accepted the reality of his situation. He knew he was in hell, but, rather than bury his head in the sand, he stepped up and did everything he could to lift the morale and prolong the lives of his fellow prisoners.  In other words, retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties. AND at the same time…You must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

4- Discover your "Hedgehog"

Clearly define what are you are both passionate about and best at doing. Once you find your hedgehog, then you apply focus and a laser-beam like precision to your goals. You ignore what other companies might see as an ‘exceptional opportunities’ because these projects did not fit with what you do best.  Continue to define and refine your hedgehog over time to produce extraordinary results.

5- Be clear your Core Values, Purpose, and BHAG

Commit to a set of core values that you will want to build your enterprise on, without changing them, for 100 years. For example the manufacturer Honda, has a 100 year Business Plan.

Set a 15 to 25-year Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). This is a goal that is concrete enough, and ambitious enough, to guide your company’s progress for years. Sam Walton (Wal-Mart) set his BHAG to “make my little Newport store the best, most profitable in Arkansas within five years.” He continued to set BHAGs, which continued to get larger and more audacious, as his company grew.

6- Establish a 20 Mile March

Commit to a “20-mile march” that you will bring you to your Big Hairy Audacious Goal. If you’re on a 2-mile march, says Collins, you don’t bolt 30 miles ahead when the weather is good. Even when the weather is bad, you don’t sit inside and complain – you still have to make 20 miles every day.  The 20-mile march is a metaphor for the milestone that you can reach day-in and day-out.

7- Create a "Stop Doing" list

Start by making a list with two columns.  The left column, are those things you “Are Doing” and the right column are those things you want to “Stop Doing”.  Assign a value to each activity and those activities which are lower value and lower skill delegate to someone else or delete.

8- Turn-off electronic gadgets one day every two weeks

Turn off your all your gadgets and create regular ‘white space’ for clear uninterrupted thinking.  In today’s environment, when have you set time in your schedule for strategic planning with NO interruptions.

9- Focus on getting a huge return on your next "Luck Event."

Both great and mediocre companies encounter the same amount of luck, good and bad. What matters, is how well they’re able to capitalize on the luck.  Have you turned your bad-luck events into a big part of what makes your company great? Or, are you squandering your good-luck events?

10- Strive to be useful

Ask yourself the question, “Would the world miss you if you/your company were gone?”