Jim Collins is one of our favorite business authors. His book Good to Great has literally redefined how business is done. Jim began his session by reminding the Catalyst audience, primarily a young audience, that not all times in your lives are equal. Some matter more than others, and this one matters a lot. It is time to be great. The overall message Jim Collins gave was that good is the enemy of great, and greatness is a function of discipline and choices.

Discipline of the flywheel

Most great overnight successes don’t come overnight. They are the result of one more “turn of the flywheel,” one more try. And then success breaks through seemingly overnight. In a twist of his usual concepts, Jim went on to examine how those who used to be great, became less great. How did they fall? It is not generally through complacency, or laziness, but from overreaching. We fall because of the undisciplined pursuit of more.

The number one sign that you have overreached your greatness: you grow beyond your ability to have the right people in the right spots on the bus. First find your people, then grow. this is called the Who Principle.

Jim discussed the turbulent times we find ourselves in, and reminded us that no one can predict the future. If you can’t predict it, you can’t really plan for it. Therefore, you need to focus instead on finding people who have the ability to adapt and change to an unstable environment. People first, then grow.

Next the session turned to a look at leadership types, specifically what Jim calls Level 5 leaders, those who lead the very best companies. The level 5 leaders all possess one distinguishing characteristic: they are humble. They have a burning passion for their company, their mission, but it is not about them. If it is about you, you will not build something great. Churches in particular often become dependent on a charismatic, powerful leader, but the distinguishing characteristic of a great church is that the work will go on without the personality.

The final concept Jim taught is the one that leapt off the notebook page to me: create a Stop Doing List. It’s like a To Do list, ony quite obviously different. What do we need to stop doing?

The big idea: Core values must never change. But don’t confuse values with practices. “Every generation needs to create its own practices to passionately exemplify eternal values.” Values remain, practices change.

Assignment list from Jim Collins:

  1. Go to jimcollins.com and use the diagnostic tool there: everything on the site is free!
  2. Answer these questions: How many key seats are there in your organization? How many are filled with the right people? What are your plans to get that number to 100%?
  3. Get young people in your face: this keeps your practices up-to-date.
  4. Who will you allow to be your mentors? Do you have any unintended or undesirable mentors?
  5. Build a council.
  6. Don’t try to be interesting, be interested.
  7. Take time to think — turn off electronics. Give yourself “white space” days. Work is infinite and will always fill up time. Time is finite. Use it wisely to think.
  8. How do I commit myself to something for which I have so much passion that i am willing to endure the pain of achieving it?

There followed a question and answer time with Andy Stanley, during which Jim elaborated on several key points. One of them that stuck out to me was this: you don’t have a job or a title, you have a responsibility. How you accomplish your responsibilities is up to you.