One of the truths at the heart of popular business guru Jim Collins’ research is that it is disciplined people, disciplined thought and disciplined action that helps an organisation move from Good to Great. This is strongly reinforced by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers - which claims to uncover the secrets behind people’s success.

One of the key facts he comments on is the 10,000 hours rule  - based on German research on high quality musicians. They demonstrated with violinists that those who practised for eight thousand hours by the time they were 20 were good - those that practised for 10,000  hours were world class. This research was followed up with pianists yielding the same results. Later research reinforced the 10,000 hours rule with chess players, ice skaters, fiction writers, composers etc. Gladwell shows The Beatles got to be world class through 10,000 hours of live playing and practice together. Bill Gates did an incredible 10,000 hours of computer programming  by the time he dropped put of Harvard and set up his own software company. Clearly, talent and personality link in here - to give the drive to do all that practising. But the essential point from Gladwell’s research is that great performance is not an accident - people have worked at it.

Gladwell also looks at a list of the 75 richest people in world history - 14 are American men born between 1832 and 1839. This was an incredible time of opportunity and growth and these men used their vision and talent to great advantage.  Another group emerged in the 1950’s - well positioned to lead the IT revolution. So we have people with well honed skills and abilities who are able to take best advantage of the opportunities that come their way. Gladwell goes on to talk about matching these “advantages” with the ability to work with others

“No one - not rock stars, not professional athletes, nor software billionaires and not even geniuses - ever makes it  alone”

So how does this link to leadership and the challenges of facing change in the 21st century? To a degree Gladwell’s first book The Tipping Point gives some interesting pointers here. When does a change or trend become contagious? We have the recent case of British Airways trying to get staff to accept no wages for a month - will that remain an isolated incident or will every firm be doing it?  What habits will change over the coming years - will crime increase? Will everyone stop taking foreign holidays? Leaders need to watch for the signs - to observe when a trend suddenly becomes the accepted norm. 

That then leads to the question, does Gladwell give any clues on leading change in challenging times? He points us to look at those who have had their 10,000 hours of practice in leading change - those who have been successful either in leading extensive transformations in recent years, but also those who have mastered the process of handling change in past times of crisis and turmoil. Those who lead now - people born in the 1960’s and 1970’s - may be about to start a long period of honing their skills during times of change, innovation, more effective working. Their ability to emerge from this period as world class deliverers of change will depend on how much practice they get in shaping the future, how they find and utilise the talent and change experience around them and bringing people with them.

A few years ago, my good friend David Stanley died. Prior to his death, David had been a Director at Caret and it was a real joy (if challenging!) to work with him.  One of his favourite pastimes was to identify and challenge orthodoxies in a team, business, or industry.

Recently, I thought of David as I read Mark Stevens’ book Your Management Sucks. In it he says:

 “The overriding message of this chapter is to challenge conventional wisdom. Look closely, and you’ll see that what is often deemed to be the smart thing is actually stale thinking masquerading as the truth. It is a set of assumptions that have gone unchallenged by creative minds for years and gather a presumption of absolute/time-tested/unassailable truth; precisely because they have worked their way into so many minds they are deemed to be fact.  But all they really demonstrated is staying power”

So, what is it in your organisation or in your individual ways of working that could benefit from the David Stanley Treatment?

I am enjoying reading Daniel Pink’s book,

A Whole New Mind: Why Right –Brainers Will Rule The Future. 

In the early parts of the book Pink says:

“I have lived with my brain for forty years now, but I’ve never actually seen it.  I’ve looked at drawings and images of other people’s brains.  But I don’t have a clue as to what my own brain looks like or how it works.  Now’s my chance”.

For some senior managers Pink’s words would be true of their unique strengths and talents as well as their mind.  If you have not already come across Pink’s book, I would urge you to get a copy.

“Invent best practice.”  ”Let action precede strategy.”  “Throw a whole lot of mud at the wall and see how much of it sticks.”

This is the advice of Peter Sheahan, the globally renowned expert in workplace change with a client list that reads like a prime time ad break (and all at the tender age of 28!). His book ‘Flip: How to Succeed by Turning Everything You Know on its Head’ flies refreshingly in the face of conventional thinking by highlighting the powers of counter-intuitive business strategies. ’Flip’ includes lessons on embracing change and succeeding in an ideas economy from ‘flipstars’ such as Richard Branson, Google and Nintendo.  

There are some intriguing concepts here, such as:

• Powerlessness, not power, corrupts
• Style is substance
• To get control, give it up
• Fashion is function
• Feelings are the most important facts
• The soft stuff is the hardest stuff, and the hardest to get right

But the overriding message is clear: “The only way you won’t be relevant in the future is if you keep doing exactly the same thing as you’ve done up until today.”

For business leaders, communication is really important. It can also be hideously difficult to get right. It was for this reason that the Heath brothers’ book, Made to Stick, piqued my interest.

(more…)

The book Boss Talk comprises a series of interviews with twenty of the world’s top CEO. It’s a compilation put together by the editors of the Wall Street Journal.

(more…)

“When there’s a gap between someone doing her job and doing the right thing, then management has failed”.

Seth Godin

No I am not swearing. Honest! “The No Asshole Rule” is actually the title of a new wonderful book by someone I really rate. The person is Robert Sutton who is a professor of management science at Stanford University where he collaborates with Dave Ulrich.

(more…)

John Zenger and Joseph Folkman’s research into leadership is really exciting stuff. They have looked into what it takes for a leader to move from being a good leader to a great or extraordinary one. Their conclusions in The Extraordinary Leader draws on data from over 200,000 individuals who have rated over 25,000 leaders to show how leaders can go from being good to being great, from being average to being extraordinary.

(more…)

Beyond Authority is the title my friend Julia Middleton has given to her book which is just hot off the press. (Julia is Chief Executive of Common Purpose www.commonpurpose.org.uk) Along with some others, Julia invited me to contribute to the book and this is something I was only too happy to do. More importantly, Julia argues that the work of leadership requires that we operate beyond given authority.

(more…)