{"id":5958,"date":"2019-12-27T11:54:05","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T15:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=5958"},"modified":"2022-03-18T15:31:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T19:31:42","slug":"what-makes-a-business-successful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-makes-a-business-successful\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Business Successful? 6 Essential Factors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/learn-entrepreneurship-best-books-blogs-podcasts\/\">What makes a business successful<\/a>? How can you turn a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/qualities-of-a-good-business\/\">good business<\/a> into a great one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the process of analyzing and coding the various facets of the good-to-great companies and their comparisons, Jim Collins and his team were clued into key concepts by a number of surprising differences. Learn what makes a business successful, from <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/key-takeaways-from-good-to-great\/\">Good to Great<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Makes a Business Successful? Key Factors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>High-profile, celebrity CEOs brought in from the outside to whip a company into shape actually <em>hurt <\/em>a company\u2019s ability to transition from good to great.<br><br><\/li><li>\u201cStrategy\u201d\u2014that is, the formulation of a long-term plan of any kind\u2014didn\u2019t correlate with good-to-great. Both the good-to-great companies and the comparison companies had long-term strategies in place.<br><br><\/li><li>Technology was insignificant as far as <em>starting <\/em>a transition from good-to-great. It helps <em>hasten <\/em>a transformation, but isn\u2019t required for a transformation to begin.<br><br><\/li><li>Mergers and acquisitions were not a cause of greatness.<br><br><\/li><li>Good-to-great transformations weren\u2019t highlighted by a press release, announcement, rollout, or anything at all. Rather, they were the result of steady, dogged work that, to observers inside the company and out, seemed perfectly ordinary\u2014even <em>boring<\/em>.<br><br><\/li><li>The particular industry wasn\u2019t important: Some good-to-great companies specialized in unglamorous areas yet were able nevertheless to produce great results.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So how did the good-to-great companies do it? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-a-good-business\/\">What makes a company successful<\/a>? Collins provides a tidy chronological diagram that details the companies\u2019 unique traits.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Buildup Phase<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>People<ul><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/jim-collins-level-5-leadership\/\">Level 5 Leadership<\/a>: <\/em>Good-to-great companies are led by \u201cLevel 5\u201d leaders\u2014personally humble but professionally driven executives.<\/li><li><em>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/building-a-successful-team\/\">Right Team<\/a>: <\/em>Having the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hiring-the-right-people\/\">right people<\/a> on board early pays dividends down the line.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Thought<ul><li><em>Facts Over Fantasy: <\/em>Companies need to develop a culture where brutal truth is heard (but hope springs eternal).<br><br><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Breakthrough Phase<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>Hedgehog Thinking: <\/em>To think like a hedgehog, rather than a fox, is to develop a simple guiding concept for your organization.<\/li><li>Action<ul><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/culture-of-discipline-jim-collins\/\">Disciplined Culture<\/a>: <\/em>The organization from top to bottom needs to understand and adhere to the \u201cHedgehog Concept.\u201d&nbsp;<\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/use-of-technology-in-business\/\">Tech Done Right<\/a>: <\/em>Good-to-great companies never latch onto new technology for its own sake. They use tech to <em>accelerate <\/em>transitions, not create them.<br><br><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The buildup and breakthrough phases are part of what makes a business successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To head off the notion that these features can be implemented or cultivated overnight, Collins and his team came up with the <strong>\u201cflywheel\u201d analogy<\/strong>. A heavy flywheel takes an enormous amount of energy to get going\u2014but once it\u2019s spinning, it only takes a small amount of energy to keep it turning or to increase<em> <\/em>its speed. Good-to-great companies achieve their key strengths steadily and doggedly; they stay patient in the confidence that, with the right cogs in place, the breakthrough will come. Maintaining the flywheel is what makes a business successful.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The opposite of the flywheel is the \u201cdoom loop.\u201d A company that tries to revolutionize its strategy, culture, product, or process in one fell swoop is fated to fail.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Makes a Company Successful?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The great companies <strong>followed six essential factors:<br><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. Cultivating Singular Leadership<\/strong><strong><em><br><br><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Good-to-great companies have what Collins <em>et al<\/em>. call \u201cLevel 5\u201d leaders. Level 5 leaders are personally humble, almost shy, but highly driven professionally\u2014more like Lincoln than Patton.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They avoid the limelight and tend to credit exterior forces or colleagues for their companies\u2019 successes. Although they\u2019re often personally likable and inspiring, they\u2019re not usually \u201ccharismatic.\u201d<br><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their lack of ego enables them to concentrate on one thing and one thing only: <strong>the company\u2019s success<\/strong>. This is a factor in what makes a business successful.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-achieve\/\">How to achieve<\/a> it<\/em>: Collins admits that Level 5 characteristics are likely a product of both nature and nurture and so are difficult to create out of whole cloth; he also doesn\u2019t have hard data to back up any suggestions he might make. His best advice for aspiring Level 5 leaders is to follow the <em>other <\/em>precepts he outlines. That way, even if you <em>aren\u2019t <\/em>a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/level-five-leadership\/\">Level 5 leader<\/a>, you\u2019ll at least be <em>acting<\/em> like one. <br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Assembling the Right Team<\/strong><strong><br><br><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This is another factor in what makes a business successful. Good-to-great companies retain the right people <em>before <\/em>embarking on any specific program.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A good-to-great team is composed of people who care deeply about the company and will argue passionately for the decisions they believe are right (but will come together to support whatever decision is eventually reached).<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Avoid at all costs the \u201cgenius with a thousand helpers\u201d model; <strong>management teams should be composed of independent and critical thinkers, not \u201cyes people.\u201d<\/strong><strong><br><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>How to achieve it<\/em>: (1) Don\u2019t hire until you\u2019re sure you have the right person; (2) recognize when you need to make a change (whether by shifting a role or letting someone go) and act swiftly; and (3) assign your best people to your biggest opportunities rather than your biggest problems. <br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Unearthing and Facing Facts<\/strong><strong><br><br><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Good-to-great companies are evangelical about recognizing market realities and reacting in kind.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, no matter how dire the facts, they never lose faith that, eventually, they\u2019ll prevail.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The key is to be stoic yet hopeful, realistic without turning cynical<\/strong>.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>How to achieve it<\/em>: With the right management team\u2014one comprising sharp, critical thinkers\u2014the facts should never be in short supply. Leaders can encourage truth-telling by: (1) Beginning meetings with <em>questions<\/em>, not <em>answers<\/em>; (2) cultivating, rather than stifling, debate among the team; and (3) conducting clear-eyed analyses of mistakes without assignation of blame. <br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. Thinking Like a Hedgehog<\/strong><strong><br><br><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFoxes\u201d know many things and see the world in all its complexity, whereas \u201cHedgehogs\u201d know one <em>big <\/em>thing and order the world according <em>to<\/em> that thing.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A good-to-great company thinks like a hedgehog by developing a \u201cHedgehog Concept\u201d\u2014an elegant, easy-to-understand guiding philosophy based on facts\u2014that it adheres to fanatically<\/strong>. This is the fourth factor in what makes a business successful.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>How to achieve it: <\/em>A company\u2019s \u201cHedgehog Concept\u201d is derived from the answer(s) to three questions: (1) At what can I be the best in the world? (2) What is my financial engine? And (3) What am I profoundly passionate about?<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5. Maintaining Discipline<\/strong><strong><br><br><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Good-to-great companies make the jump because they constantly refer to and consistently realize their Hedgehog Concepts. Rigorous adherence to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hedgehog-concept\/\">Hedgehog Concept<\/a> saves companies from panic acquisitions or misguided projects.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good-to-great companies also lack the administrative and managerial burdens of other companies\u2014<strong>with the right people in place and an easy-to-understand Hedgehog Concept, the need for tight management or layers of bureaucracy withers away<\/strong>. Discipline <em>does not <\/em>mean a tyranny presided over by the executive.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>How to achieve it<\/em>: (1) Allow individuals freedom within a clear framework of responsibility; (2) retain self-disciplined people who are driven to produce results; (3) recognize that a disciplined culture is different from a culture led by a tyrant or disciplinarian; and (4) adhere fanatically to hedgehog thinking. A key technique for staying true to your Hedgehog Concept? <strong>Create a \u201cstop doing\u201d list<\/strong>. <br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>6. Using Technology Tactically<\/strong><strong><br><br><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For good-to-great companies, technology isn\u2019t the <em>creator <\/em>of great results but their <em>accelerant<\/em>.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rather than follow technological fads and adopt new technology for its own sake, good-to-great companies pioneer particular <\/strong><strong><em>uses <\/em><\/strong><strong>of new technology<\/strong>.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>How to achieve it<\/em>: When evaluating a new technology, the key question to ask is: How does this technology impact my Hedgehog Concept? If it doesn\u2019t, you can safely ignore it and\/or accept parity in its use; if it does, you must figure out how you can lead<em> <\/em>in the <em>application<\/em> of that technology. This is one of the final factors that determine what makes a business successful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What makes a business successful? How can you turn a good business into a great one? In the process of analyzing and coding the various facets of the good-to-great companies and their comparisons, Jim Collins and his team were clued into key concepts by a number of surprising differences. Learn what makes a business successful, from Good to Great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[67],"class_list":["post-5958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-good-to-great","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Makes a Business Successful? 6 Essential Factors - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the process of analyzing what makes a business successful, Jim Collins discovered several key factors. 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