Great by Choice (Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen): Chapter 02: 10Xers

"Victory awaits him who has everything in order - luck people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck." 

Ronald Amundsen, The South Pole

Better preparation leads to better luck, is the lesson I'm picking up from this quote. 

Kinda reminds me of that quote by the person who said if they had five hours to chop down a tree, they would spend the first four hours sharpening his axe.

In this chapter, Jim Collins compares and contrasts two teams that ventured/explored towards the south pole in 1911. 

Roald Amundsen, who was quoted in the chapter quote, and his team, reached the south pole successfully and returned home safely. His counterpart, Robert Falcon Scott, and his entire team reached the south pole a month later, and died on their way back. 

Amundsen, the winner, had conditioned himself to prepare for the worst. He wasn't one to take the easy way out. He didn't value luxury and convenience all that much. Instead, he stretched far outside his comfort zone before it was necessary so that he would be adequately equipped if and when he faced a dreadful situation.

He did things like eating raw dolphin meat in case he found himself stranded someday, spending time with eskimos so they would teach him how to survive the extreme conditions in the south pole, and riding a bicycle for over 2000 miles to test his physical endurance. He imagined every conceivable disaster that could happen on their trip to the south pole and prepared for each one. 

His philosophy? You don't wait until you're in an adverse situation before you start preparing. By then it's already too late. You want to prepare beforehand so that when things turn against you, you're not caught by surprise. You can handle it with ease.

Scott, on the other hand, preferred leisure and luxury. He used motor sleds, which had not been tested in such extreme conditions, and that was his downfall. He and his team had to haul their own sleds for most of the journey, resulting in them reaching the south pole very late, on adverse weather conditions, and facing horrendous storms on their return trip, which led to their demise.

Jim lists several other differences between Amundsen and Scott, which all point back to the same conclusion: Scott was underprepared - he failed to plan adequately, he had no back up plans, and that's why his team failed so miserably, eventually losing their lives. 

Amundsen was a preparation ninja - he had back up plans on top of back up plans, and that's why his team triumphed.

Amundsen presumed that bad things would happen, and he prepared for them. Scott, I'm guessing, was a positive thinker, relying on positive intentions to carry him home. Kinda makes me question the new age wisdom of think positive and trust the universe to deliver you home. How about prepare for any eventuality and give yourself a fighting chance?

Jim Collins points out that it's different behaviors, not different circumstances that led to these two vastly different outcomes. 

This chapter is about the different leadership styles of the winning companies in Jim's study versus the losing companies. He calls his winners 10Xers.

Jim dispels some of the more common myths about what makes a great leader. Instead, they offer us a paradox of control and non-control. Understanding that the business environment is tumultuous and no one can control nor accurately predict external forces. On the other, just because you can't control or predict these circumstances doesn't mean you have to throw in the towel. Your environment is a contributing factor to your success, nit a determining factor. You have to accept full responsibility for your outcomes. 

Jim introduces us to the 10x leadership diagram. He claims 10x leaders embody three distinct characteristics, 1. Fanatic discipline, empirical creativity, and productive paranoia, fuelled by level 5 ambition. 

First thing we learn, as Jim shares the story of Progressive Insurance's battle with the stock market in 1998, is that you don't have to always bow to outside pressure. Sometimes you have to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions. 

Lewis' response is, to Jim Collins, a form of great discipline. Discipline, he says, is consistency of action, consistency with values, consistency with long term goals, and it requires the inner will to do whatever it takes to create a great outcome, no matter how difficult. 

In his words, "10Xers weren't just disciplined; they were fanatics."

Look at the empirical data before making any serious decisions. don't look to other people, for they too are lost sheep. Don't loom to so called experts, who knows what truly motivates their recommendations? Instead, let the evidence speak. Empirical in this context means assesing all available options, relying upon direct observation, conducting practical experiments, instead of following conventional wisdom.

Think of all possible scenarios of risk, peril, misfortune, catastrophe and attacks that could befall you, and start planning how to overcome them in casebthey come to pass. 

How can you and/or your company survive for the longest time possible with the least amount of provision?

The authors make an example of Bill Gates who lost almost 300 million net worth when a so-called nightmare memo leaked out to the press. This memo was filled with potentially disastrous scenarios that Microsoft could run into which could surely ruin the company. 

However, the purpose of the memo wasn't just to scare away shareholders and employees, it was to think of possible solutions to each of these nightmare scenarios. That's it's not just paranoia, but productive paranoia.  

You don't relax when you start to see a little success. You press harder and cement your progress. 

Be vigilant in both good times and bad.

Use paranoia, not to create panic, but to inspire action and to cement your lead. Be like Amundsen, and prepare for any eventuality. Have back up plans on top of back up plans.

They think beyond themselves. Their ambition is to make their company successful more than to enrich themselves. They create succession plans that allow the company to continue to flourish beyond their tenure.

The personalities of these 10X leaders stretched across the full spectrum, from dull and boring to fun and flamboyant, yet they all cared more about the success of their respective companies than their own personal success. 

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