Author, consultant and lecturer Jim Collins has been called by Fortune magazine “Perhaps the most influential management thinker alive.”  His classic book Built to Last has been a fixture on the Business Week best-seller list for more than six years and has been translated into 25 languages.

In his latest book Great by Choice Mr. Collins explores the qualities that helped companies achieve success in an environment characterized by change, uncertainty and even chaos.

The organizing metaphor of the book is the story of Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott, the two men who set out separately with their parties in October 1911 to become the first explorers to reach the South Pole.  Amundsen and his team won the race by 37 days – Scott and his party tragically perished on their return trip.

Collins asks “Why did one achieve spectacular success while the other failed even to survive?”  His research concludes that the successful business leaders he studied behaved very much like Amundsen while the unsuccessful business leaders were much more like Scott.

The key difference was Amundsen’s commitment to “consistent progress” – to march 20 miles daily – conserving energy in good weather and pushing on relentlessly in bad weather.

We discover that being a “20-mile marcher” turns the odds in our favor for three reasons:

  1. Builds confidence – in one’s ability to perform well in adverse conditions
  2. Reduces risk – limits the likelihood of catastrophe when you’re hit by turbulent times
  3. Exerts self-control – in an out-of-control environment

 

Putting the Ideas into Action

In a changing, uncertain, chaotic business environment, employees look to leaders for stability.  Consider  a few ways managers can use reinforcement, reward and recognition to not only engage, align and motivate – but to promote confidence that your “20-mile march” (plan) will lead to success:

  1. Be certain everyone understands where you’re going (goal) & what you’re looking for (behaviors)
  2. On a daily basis, reinforce behaviors that are aligned with what you’re looking for
  3. Reward individuals & teams who are making consistent progress toward the goal
  4. Recognize and celebrate the “model” individuals and teams that achieved the goal

Your reinforcement, reward & recognition plan need not be expensive – but to be effective is must be consistent.