Great by Choice (Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen): Chapter 06: SMaC

Does rapid change mean you should go into an animated frenzy and stop doing the things that once made you successful?

No.

Instead, articulate your action plan in clear, specific language that a second grader can understand, just like the then CEO of Southwest Airlines, Howard Putnam, when the American airline industry was undergoing deregulation in 1978.

"Putnam's 10 points are easy to grasp, articulate, follow, and understand what to do and what not to do. Putnam laid out a clear, simple, and concrete framework for decisions and action. 

The recipe will evolve over time as circumstances evolve, technology advances and new laws are passed. You don't have to become rigid, just consistent. 

The authors coined the term 'SMaC Recipe'

to illustrate this level of repeatability and consistency.

A SMaC recipe tells you what to do as well as what not to do. Develop a checklist if you must so that you hit the ground running when it's time to perform. Practice and role play so that you fully grasp what's required of you. 

They give an example of David Breashears who "Created a binder with individual tabs for all facets of the expedition, including back up plans (and sometimes even back up plans for the back up plans) for everything that plausibly go wrong." 

Now, bear in mind, having a recipe is not the most important thing. Even the comparison companies have checklists and procedures. The difference maker was the level of adherence to the SMaC recipe. The 10x companies were more disciplined. And they amended they recipes with empirical Creativity and productive paranoia. 

"Change is not the most difficult part," writes Jim, "Far more difficult than implementing change is figuring out what works, understanding why it works, grasping when to change, and knowing when not to."

When facing trouble, don't first assume that your principles have become obsolete. First consider if you've strayed from your recipe. Is your recipe not working because you've lost discipline or because it's no longer adequate?

Another quote from the authors, "We've found in all our research studies that the signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change; the signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency."

Consistency, not complacency. Stick to what works, while simultaneously worrying about what might no longer work in a changing environment. 

When you continually change without entrenching yourself in one discipline, you lose momentum. You lose stature. You lose brand identity. It helps to be known for something. If you change regularly, you confuse customers, most of whom prefer reliability and stability. 

When you've assessed that change is necessary, the smart move is to dabble first, test the waters, fire bullets before firing cannonballs. In fact, you should be firing bullets long before change is necessary so that you don't panic when it's time to act, but you already have an idea of where your next big success may come from. 

Keep some of your winning formula intact until you're certain that you've made a successful change. 

The authors write, "10Xers reject the choice between consistency and change; they embrace consistency and change, both at the same time."

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