How the Mighty Fall

Recently, I read Jim Collins new book, How the Mighty Fall. While shorter than his other books, I think this is a plus. Good to Great was a solid work, but a bit academic and wordy for me. This book was much more "to the point."

the interesting part of the book is the "phases" or stages as Jim calls them, that a company goes through on the decline. In our work with companies, we have witnessed this first hand. In fact, we have tried to point out the warning signs to some of our clients only to be "brushed off." It was fascinating for us to listen to another author (one much more renowned then we ever will be) to express the same difficulty in dealing with their clients.

Stage 1 - Hubris Born of Success (we call this normal)
Stage 2 - Undisciplined Pursuit of More (we call this one "sales cures all ills")
Stage 3 - Denial of Risk and Peril (we call this one common - especially higher up)
Stage 4 - Grasping for Salvation (we call this the consultant mode because it is when we usually get called in)
Stage 5 - Capitulation to Irreverence or Death (we call this inevitable)

It would have been nice to have this work years ago when had a hospital client. We tried in vain to help them see the cliff they were headed towards. They could not see it because they looked at the map and not the road. You know the map - its the spreadsheet or dashboard that says sales are up or csat scores are up or profits are up. Too many times we see companies find out that just because your P&L says you are profitable, does not mean you are sustainable.

Anyway, we ended up "firing" that hospital client. We told them we had a reputation to worry about and they were hurting it. Our straight talking truth did not work either. They simply said, "okay." and then dashed onward to the cliff and "lemminged" off the edge. (Yes, they are gone and so is the building.)

I think the best part of this work is the fact that Jim Collins always stressed the need to have team of people looking inward and watching against the stages. Honestly, most companies could do without our service if they only listened to their customers and or employees and got off their high horses.

But thankfully for us, they do not.