Bus Members...

From time to time I compelled....drawn to... revisit some of the Jim Collins materials (website and book). In some ways it revitalizes me...in some ways it depresses me because I feel like some folks still "just don't get it..."

Take this excerpt from article by Jim Collins titled: "Good to Great and the Social Sectors."

Yet a finding from our research [key word here folks, research...not an opinion or hypothesis] is instructive: the key variable is not how (or how much) you pay, but who you have on the bus. The comparison companies in our research—those that failed to become great—placed greater emphasis on using incentives to “motivate” otherwise unmotivated or undisciplined people. The great companies, in contrast, focused on getting and hanging on to the right people in the first place—those who are productively neurotic, those who are self-motivated and self-disciplined, those who wake up every day, compulsively driven to do the best they can because it is simply part of their DNA.

Don't get me wrong...I believe as well as most that compensation is a KEY ingredient in motivation (no, not always #1) but the point being made here is that it doesn't matter how much you pay someone who doesn't care or isn't committed...it won't make your Org. better. A core concept for success once again is ...."Getting the right people on the bus!"

I find so much satisfaction in reading and hearing that concept...frankly because I firmly believe it's central towards becoming the best you can be. If you settle for something less...well...then you are....settling for something LESS. I know of companies that believe and LIVE the "Good to Great" concepts...and honestly they are some of the finest companies I know of....hmmm, maybe something to that....

I leave you today with a question: Are you, "...productively neurotic, ...self-motivated and self-disciplined, ...(do you) wake up every day, compulsively driven to do the best (you) can because it is simply part of (your) DNA." ???

TAFN