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By Dr. David Freitas and Dr. Janet Buckenmeyer
How an [organization] reacts to technological change is a good indicator of its inner drive for greatness versus mediocrity. Great [organizations] respond with thoughtfulness and creativity, driven by a compulsion to turn unrealized potential into results; mediocre [organizations] react and lurch about, motivated by fear of being left behind. -- Jim Collins
What are the key ingredients that distinguish great organizations from good (or mediocre) ones? What separates great leaders from good leaders?
Sure, there are unsubstantiated anecdotal feelings, “conventional wisdom”, and beliefs spouted by “experts”. But why rely on unreliable disinformation when credible, data-driven, multi-year research is readily accessible?
It’s all available in Good to Great by Jim Collins. Yes, this is the national bestseller originally published in 2001. Since then, millions of copies have been sold in 17 languages. Its popularity continues, with about 300,000 copies still sold annually.
After listening to Jim’s keynote speech at a recent national technology conference, it reminded us how relevant and timeless his work is even today for schools and their technology leaders.
Here are several conceptual highlights and explanatory quotes from his book. We follow each one with our probing questions to stimulate your self-reflection. (You must read the entire book, however, to fully explore all of Collins’ elements of great organizations.)
Good is the Enemy of Great – If we settle for mediocrity or even good, that’s what we’ll get. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.
According to Collins’ research, greatness . . . is largely a matter of choice.
1) What standard of excellence have you chosen – just get the job done, good enough, good, or the best in the world?
2) Are you and your team members “comfortable” with your current situation or have you made the choice to constantly strive for meaningful and measurable “greatness”?
3) How do you know when you’re good or when you’re great? What are reliable indicators?
First Who, Then What – When we began the research project, we expected to find that the first step in taking an [organization] from good to great would be to set a new direction, a new vision and strategy for the [organization], and then to get people committed and aligned behind that new direction. We found something quite the opposite. The executives who ignited the transformation from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it.
Get the Right People on the Bus - The old adage that people are your most important asset is a myth. In a good-to-great transformation, people are not you most important asset. The right people are.
4) Are you working for the right bus company (school district, school corporation, school)?
5) Do you have the right people on your bus?
6) Do you have the right people in the right seats?
7) Do you let trusted team members occasionally drive the bus?
8) Are you willing to hand out mandatory bus transfers to those “team members” who are unwilling or unable to join you on your journey?
9) Do you lack the authority to make substantive personnel changes on your “team” (getting the right people on your bus and the wrong people off)? If yes, you’re probably a manager, not a leader. Go back to question 4 above and reflect on your (unfortunate) circumstance.
Confront the Brutal Facts – All good-to-great [organizations] began the process of finding a path to greatness by confronting the brutal facts of their current reality. When you start with an honest and diligent effort to determine the truth of your situation, the right decisions often become self-evident. It is impossible to make good decisions without infusing the entire process with an honest confrontation of the brutal facts.
One of the primary ways to de-motivate people is to ignore the brutal facts of reality. Spending time and energy trying to “motivate” people is a waste of effort. The real question is not, ‘How do we motivate our people?’ If you have the right people, they will be self-motivated. The key is to not de-motivate them.
10) Are you on auto-pilot, or are you (and your organization) seriously and completely confronting the brutal facts of your current situation?
11) Are you willing to take the risk and rancor of honestly and constructively showcasing the brutal facts? Is your popularity more important to you than doing the right thing?
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Technology Accelerators – Good-to-great organizations think differently about technology and technological change than mediocre ones. Good-to-great [organizations] used technology as an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it. Technology and technology-driven change, therefore, has virtually nothing to do with igniting a transformation from good to great. (Is integrating technology into school classrooms to transform student achievement from good to great folly?)
Technology can accelerate a transformation, but technology cannot cause a transformation.
13) Has your organization inappropriately used technology in an attempt to ignite a transformation from good to great?
14) Has your organization placed technologies in schools without appropriate professional development and support to rebuff accusations of being left behind or other public relations concerns?
15) How can technology be used to accelerate your organization’s momentum from good to great? How will you lead this conceptual revolution?
A Culture of Discipline – Sustained great results depend upon building a culture full of self- disciplined people who take disciplined action, fanatically consistent with what you are passionate about and what you can be the best in the world at.
A culture of discipline involves a duality. On the one hand, it requires people who adhere to a consistent system; yet, on the other hand, it gives people freedom and responsibility within the framework of that system.
Bureaucratic cultures arise to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline, which arise from having the wrong people on the bus in the first place. If you get the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off, you don’t need stultifying bureaucracy.
16) Are you a self-disciplined leader with an unwavering dogma to a culture of discipline? Do you consistently model this value?
17) Are your team members also self-disciplined? Do you free them to do their work, yet hold them accountable for achievable results?
18) Are you willing and able to slay stultifying bureaucracies to transform your organization from good to great?
Evolving from good to great is challenging. It requires courage and perseverance. It’s obviously much easier to just maintain the status quo.
Your decision to move from good to great will display for all, however, your true character.
19) Are you willing to dramatically enhance your leadership influence by applying proven principles from credible research of great organizations as documented in Good to Great?
20) When will you answer this wake-up call?
David Freitas' email is dfreitas@iusb.edu
Dr. David Freitas has served in a number of leadership positions throughout his career including College Dean at three Universities, University Professor, University Vice Provost, Public School Teacher/Administrator, State of Illinois Teacher Certification Board Member, State Department of Education Official, and Elected City School Board Member. He is a frequent national and international presenter.
Janet Buckenmeyer, Ph.D., a former elementary school teacher, is currently Chair of the Masters of Instructional Technology Program at Purdue University Calumet. She has published and presented nationally and internationally about various topics, with a primary focus on instructional technology and design.
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