Be Ambitious (Cedrics_Pics)

Great organisations are based on timeless fundamentals that have enabled them to survive and thrive.  Big business are experts in self-improvement and development.

So why are we so often lost on a personal level?

We crave new methods for founding ideas, stimulating growth, and assisting personal development without knowledge of the core features that distinguish success.

An idea:  Why don’t we apply what great companies use for ourselves?

Jim Collins and Jerry Poras spent six-years evaluating exceptional companies (such as 3M & Disney) to unearth the core reasons as to why they are exceptional and published Good to Great and Built to Lastwith the findings.

A number of the underlying guiding concepts explored by Collins and Poras can be applied to our own personal growth and development with potentially amazing results

Four of the timeless fundamentals of great companies:

Big Hairy Audacious Goals:

BHAGs stimulate progress.  A BHAG is a form of vision that is set to act as a clear catalyst.  A BHAG is usually a broad and inspiring dream, with a finish line that you can aim up at and be truly inspired by.

Some examples of organisational BHAGs:

Google: Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Nokia: Connecting 5 billion people by 2015.

Amazon: Every book, ever printed, in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds.

I smile when I read these BHAGs. They motivate, excite, and build momentum.

Your own personal BHAG should intersect your passions, and give you a best-in-the-world attitude.  It’s not just another long term goal.  It needs be huge.  It has to be hairy-scary and dashing.  Too important to be impulsive.  More like a Mt. Everest.  Publishing a book is fairly hairy – but a bit more audacious would be to become the leading expert in your passionate interest.

A great example: Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett want to be the greatest philanthropist’s America has ever seen.  It’ll be tough with Bill and Melinda Gates clear challengers, but what an aim.

Experimentation:

Try a lot of things and keep what works.  Experimenting stimulates progress.  Try stuff out, give things a go.  Learning things outside your area of expertise but that you have an interested in can come in handy in all sorts of ways.    Read my post on why lighting lots of fires or committing action to a few interesting projects can open up new and unexpected paths.

It’s widely known that Google allows workers 20% of their time to work on things they’re really passionate about.  All sorts of ventures have been born from this time allowance (check out the Labs for more).  Change is not just embraced, but demanded.

Good enough never is:

Relentless self-improvement stimulates progress.  There’s nothing wrong with having shortcomings (I’ve got plenty..!), but you have to do the best you can.  If you’re not working on improving from your last experience, you’re spinning your wheels on the ground.

Don’t be seduced by ‘good enough’.  Good enough doesn’t stand out.  It’s tough to be perfect, but you can be heroic rather than just ok.  Dare to be different.  Be remarkable and outstanding. Be a Purple Cow.

Develop a core ideaology and align your values to it:

Visionary companies are guided by a core ideology, core values and a sense of purpose beyond just making money.  On a personal level, developing your own core ideaology gives a strong sense of identity and helps align your values.  Consider your own most important values and write them down.  Construct your own ideaology or manifesto based on those values and your passions.  Make it something to be pursued zealously, just like 3M’s dedication to innovation, and use it as a guiding force for generations.

An emphasis on ethical standards is a common theme for great companies: staff are inspired by the ideals and give more; the companies reap payoffs in the long term from grateful recipients of their honourable reputations.  Look beyond – ‘get lots of customers at big profit margins’ and think about your values and humanity.  Your ideaology will serve to guide you.

I’d love to hear your thoughts – have you got a big old shaggy BHAG you’d like to share or feel inspired enough to start applying these core distinguishing methods of improvement?

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