Great by Choice (Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen): Chapter 01: Thriving in Uncertainty

The first line of the book tells us that we cannot predict the future, but we can create it. Life is tumultuous, uncertain, but so what? Are you going to quit and complain? Or will you rise to the challenge and adapt?

Jim Collins appears to be a curious fellow. His books are written in response to pressing burning questions that he's trying to answer for himself and his students. 

And the question he and his co-author are trying to answer through this book is quite profound: "Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not?"

It sounds like the intention of Great by Choice is to equip entrepreneurs to prepare for the uncertainty we deal with in business. Not just the uncertainty of day to day operations, but the uncertainty of catastrophic events that happen without warning. 

How do we build successful companies in turbulent times? 

This question seems to be relevant not just for companies, but for individuals as well, considering that AI is threatening most, if not all, intellectual jobs. 

So, how do we prevail when we don't know what's coming next and what problems it will create in its wake?

What distinguishes great organizations, those that prevail against extreme odds, in unpredictable and unstable events, from those that falter and fail?

True to his traditional writing style, Jim Collins compares the winners and losers over a given period of time. He helps us understand why and how the winners won, and why and how the losers lost. And in so doing, he hopes we will adopt the habits of the winners ourselves so we can claim victory when we stand toe to toe with extreme forces that are trying to disrupt our lives and businesses. 

The companies (and its leaders) needed to meet 3 basic criteria

to be eligible for inclusion:

1. Enterprise sustained truly spectacular results for an era of 15+ years relative to its industry and relative to the general stock market. 

2. The enterprise achieved these results in a particularly turbulent environment, full of events that were uncontrollable, fast-moving, uncertain, and potentially harmful. 

3. The enterprise began its rise to greatness from a position of vulnerability, being young or small at the start of its 10X journey. 

I can relate to being vulnerable and in danger of extinction before the company even has a chance to do anything meaningful. I'm in that very position right now. Talk about timeliness. So, if I'm teachable, then maybe this book will be the salvation I need. 

Let's keep reading. 

What the authors wanted to discover is not what the great companies had in common, but they had in common that the mediocre companies did not. 

Jim and Morten begin by dispelling common myths about what makes companies great. 

1. Successful leaders in turbulent times are not bold, risk-seeking visionaries. They are more disciplined, more empirical and more paranoid. 

2. Innovation distinguishes 10X companies in a fast-moving, uncertain and chaotic world. Both 10X companies and their comparisons were innovative almost to an equal measure.

3. A threat-filled world favors the speedy. On the contrary, 10X leaders figure out when to go fast and when not to. 

These are just a few of the untrue beliefs about what makes great companies. 

After reading this book, you should feel a sense of calm because you'll be better prepared to face any storms life will throw your way, and you'll have an increased understanding of what it takes to survive, navigate, and prevail in times of uncertainty. 

They close the chapter by quoting Peter Drucker, who said, "The best - perhaps even the only - way to predict the future is to create it."

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