The third principle from the book Good to Great, by Jim Collins, is that companies/organizations which move from good to great, and stay there, are willing to confront the brutal facts of their environment/cultural/abilities, yet not lose faith. “The good-to-great companies displayed two distinctive forms of disciplined thought. The first, … is that they infused the entire process with the brutal facts of reality. The second, . . . is that they developed a simple, yet deeply insightful, fame of reference for all decisions. . . . You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts.” (69,70)
The focus of this principle is to not allow or accept a tepid evaluation which denies reality. By that I mean to continue to say how wonderful we are or how well things are going, when in reality there are indications that things are not going so well. Most would call this “rocking the boat.” This type of willingness to confront the brutal truths of the organization and it’s environment/culture/abilities and not loose faith is a rare commodity. The ability to stick one’s head into the sand and ignore the obvious negatives has allowed many organizations to quietly drift into a stagnant, placid pond.
Collins writes: ” In confronting the brutal facts, the good-to-great companies left themselves stronger and more resilient, not weaker and more dispirited. There is a sense of exhilaration that comes in facing head-on the hard truths and saying. ‘We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail.'” (81)
This principle is one of the most difficult for many leaders to accept. The resistance either stems from the unwillingness to admit that some part of what has been implemented is simply not working, or the inability to even see the negatives. Both are caused by pride. Confronting the brutal truth takes a certain amount of humility.
