{"id":5804,"date":"2019-12-20T21:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T01:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=5804"},"modified":"2022-03-17T15:55:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T19:55:44","slug":"stop-doing-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stop-doing-list\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Stop Doing” List: Better for Business Than a To-Do List?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is a “stop doing” list? Why is it an essential tool for business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A “stop doing” list is a list of things you or your company are not <\/em>going to do. It’s a counter-intuitive technique for maintaining an organization\u2019s discipline from Jim Collins’s book Good to Great<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll cover the benefits of the \u201cstop doing<\/em>\u201d list and why it can be more effective than a \u201cto-do\u201d list, from Jim Collins’s Good to Great<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Benefits of the \u201cStop Doing\u201d List<\/strong>
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Companies as well as individuals are inclined to create \u201cto-do\u201d lists\u2014tasks and goals they hope to accomplish in the future.

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Good-to-great companies make \u201cto-do\u201d lists as well, to be sure, but they <\/strong>also make \u201cstop doing\u201d lists<\/em><\/strong>.

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Faithful and rigorous use of the three circles and the fanatic pursuit of the resultant Hedgehog Concept<\/a> mean that some actions of the company\u2014those that lie outside the three circles\u2014will become obsolete<\/strong>. This is why you need “stop doing” lists.

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Hence budgeting becomes a question not of allocating funds to all existing departments and initiatives, but rather deciding which functions of the company contribute to the Hedgehog Concept and which don\u2019t. If an activity doesn\u2019t serve your Hedgehog Concept, you should stop doing it<\/em><\/strong>. Put it on your “stop doing” list.

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Darwin Smith, CEO of Kimberly-Clark, for example, had a revolutionary \u201cstop doing\u201d list. He quit releasing annual earnings forecasts, because he saw them as detrimental to his long-term vision.  He did away with job titles<\/a> (except in cases where the outside world demanded them), because he perceived that managers were sapping resources based on title rather than need. And, most important, he stopped producing paper<\/em>, switching the company\u2019s core business over to consumer goods in accordance with his Hedgehog Concept. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “Stop Doing” List Creates a Disciplined Company<\/strong>
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With a Level 5 leader<\/a>, the right people<\/a>, and a Hedgehog Concept in place, creating a culture of discipline<\/a> becomes a matter of nudges rather than shoves. A “stop doing” list can help a company go from good to great.
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As a general definition, discipline in an organization means a fanatical devotion to hedgehog thinking\u2014the use of the three circles for any action and constant referral to the Hedgehog Concept.<\/strong>

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In practice, a disciplined culture features four attributes:

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