Best-selling author Jim Collins, who has become an internationally known business guru by preaching the virtues of excellence, is “obsessed with mediocrity.”
Understanding what doesn’t work is essential to discovering what does, he told community leaders gathered Thursday at the Colorado Convention Center for a conference on homelessness.
“What are the early signs that a great company is headed toward mediocrity?” he asked.
The Boulder resident, who once taught at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, said the answer is chronic inconsistency.
“The mediocre are all too willing to change,” he said.
Collins insisted that organizations use empirical data to track performance, identify weaknesses and devise a plan for excellence. Then, they must stay that course.
“What you can measure you can target,” Collins said. “And what you can target you can accomplish.”
Collins told the crowd that too often companies, nonprofits and government entities search for a “silver bullet” to solve their dilemmas.
“Pick a lead bullet and polish it so it becomes silver,” he said.
Collins has developed a near-fanatical following within the business community dating to his 1994 smash-hit book, “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.” The book spent nearly five years on the BusinessWeek best-seller list and has been reprinted more than 70 times, according to Collins’ website, www.jimcollins.com.
His star further brightened with the 2001 publication of “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t.”
Collins lives in Boulder, works from a classroom laboratory that was his childhood schoolhouse and is a rock climber.
Collins was asked to speak by Philip Mangano, executive director for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which hosted the conference. The conference focused on ways to combat homelessness and attracted 150 elected officials and community leaders from around the country.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper spoke before Collins.
Collins’ most recent work is the monograph “Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer,” which he self-published last year.
“He’s very inspiring,” said Robert Pearson, who attended the keynote and is executive director of a housing authority in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Pearson lauded Collins for his “thoughtful responses” to questions posed by the audience. Collins would let the conference hall grow silent for several seconds before answering a tough question.
His speech provoked a standing ovation. Mangano said Collins’ insights can help community leaders working to eliminate chronic homelessness.
“The principles of business are about change,” said Mangano, who was appointed to his post in 2002 by President Bush. “That can be adopted to the issues of homelessness.”
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-820-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
Best-selling author, Colorado native and consultant Jim Collins on what separates the great from the merely good in business, nonprofits and other endeavors:
“Disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and disciplined action.”
“What are the brutal facts? We’ve got to get a grip on the facts, what are the trends, what are the trendlines, how bad is it? Get a grip on the facts.”
“Obsessive use of data. I hope you will fall in love with data.”
“The good is the enemy of great.”
“Business leaders need to become more like legislators (in a situation where power is dispersed). … The ability to lead when you don’t have the power is what those in the social sector have had to do.”
“Good intentions are no excuse for incompetence.” (paraphrasing Peter Drucker)
“Get the wrong people off the bus, and get the right people in the right seats.”
