Jim Symcox Reviews Six Disciplines for Excellence

Jim Symcox, a business coach, posts his review of Six Disciplines for Excellence.

Jim's assessment?

About the book's influences:

"The book’s title sounds a little like Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and the author acknowledges that books help. He also acknowledges the book’s debt to others such as Michael Gerber and Peter Senge and I would say also to Edwards Deming the quality guru too. "


Jim's summary:

"Six Disciplines of Excellence is not just a book to read, place carefully in your bookshelf and forget. Gary Harpst has written it into a tool that any business can use to successfully grow bigger, more profitable and more consistent."

"Any smallish company of between one and a hundred people will definitely benefit from buying, studying and applying the Six Disciplines found in this book. Gary Harpst has taken strands of so many different methods for improving business and cooked them up to produce a recipe for building a better small business. If you’re a small company this book can get you well down the path to a better and more profitable company and improve your own personal growth."

"So go buy it from Amazon (UK) or Amazon (USA) or Amazon (Canada) and strike while the iron’s hot!"

We're humbled Jim - thank you!

Gary Harpst Speaks About Six Disciplines With FranchiseInterviews.com

Six Disciplines offers the first enduring business excellence program, specifically designed for small and mid-sized businesses.

Six Disciplines is delivered through a growing network of local business excellence centers located throughout the U.S. The Six Disciplines Centers are independently owned and operated franchises, offering accountability coaching on the Six Disciplines Methodology, Six Disciplines System and value-added services.

Six Disciplines Franchising Corporation offers the opportunity for qualified professionals to own a Six Disciplines Center franchise.

Click here to listen to Gary Harpst, as he speaks about the Six Disciplines Franchise Opportunity with Franchise Interviews.com.

Excellence Quotes for 9/11/07

On this, the sixth anniversary of 9/11, rather than taking a political stance, we'd prefer to take a proactive, positive stance to our world situation, and offer these quotes on excellence:

"The more we sympathize with excellence, the more we go out of self, the more we love, the broader and deeper is our personality." (Edwin Hubbell Chapin)

"What is excellent, As God lives, is permanent; Hearts are dust, hearts' loves remain, Heart's love will meet thee again." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"Excellence, is never granted to man, but as the reward of labor." (Sir Joshua Reynolds)

"Those who attain any excellence commonly spend life in one common pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms." (Samuel Johnson)

"Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way." (Booker T. Washington)

"The noblest search is the search for excellence." (Lyndon Baines Johnson)

"The quest for excellence is a mark of maturity. The quest for power is childish." (Max Lucado)

"Excellence is best described as doing the right things right -- selecting the most important things to be done -- and then accomplishing them correctly, year after year." (Six Disciplines)

The Impact of Technology on Small Business Growth

Want to grow your small business? Growing your technology savvy is a good place to start, according to a survey of mid-size companies conducted by tech services firm CDW.

In fact, 48 percent of respondents to a recent survey by Baseline Magazine who described themselves as “total geeks” said their companies grew from startups to 100-employee businesses in five years or less.

BOTTOMLINE: Six Disciplines conducted similar research that supports this claim. High performing organizations give more emphasis (109 percent more!) than lower performing organizations to using technology to impact the business in strategic ways. Underlying this rating is the greater use of long-term technology plans aimed at delivering competitive advantage. Such organizations have developed a culture that figures out ways to deploy technology, not for technology's sake, but to better serve their strategy.

Succession Planning: Passing The Torch

According to this article in CareerJournal, giving up command is never easy. But it may prove especially difficult for the large number of retiring baby boomers, accustomed to working hard in a fast-paced economy.

Many aging presidents/CEOs choose to move on slowly, and want to do their part to ease the transition and shape their legacy.

Consider this:

• More than half of the 50 coaches at Marshall Goldsmith Partners LLC are seeing increased demand from senior leaders for advice on a gradual transition at small employers as well as big, according to the coaching network.

BOTTOMLINE: Succession planning, while often thought of as a CEO-only planning process, needs to be considered for every key position within your firm. Make sure succession planning becomes an integral part of your strategic annual plan.

A Reviewer Ranks Six Disciplines for Excellence In Top 5

Gary Tomlinson is president of Tomlinson & Associates, an organizational development firm in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Gary has read Six Disciplines for Excellence, and posts his review here on BusinessLeader.com.

In a separate communication, Gary indicated to us:

My favorite five books are these:

1. Good to Great by Jim Collins
2. The E-Myth Manager by Michael Gerber
3. How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life by Michael LeBoeuf
4. The People Principle by Ron Willingham
5. Six Disciplines for Excellence by Gary Harpst

I rank the “Six Disciplines for Excellence” right up there with the other four. In fact, I feel that Harpst's book is the first book I’ve read that takes the best education from the first four books and combines them into one book. As you can tell, I’m a fan of “Six Disciplines for Excellence.”

Thanks Gary!

What Makes Six Disciplines for Excellence Different?

What makes Six Disciplines for Excellence different from other business improvement books?

“Six Disciplines for Excellence is what the E-Myth Revisited wants to be when it grows up.” (David Rothacker, Rothacker Reviews)

”We interrupt our coverage of meaningless business books to review a book that made the cut: Six Disciplines for Excellence by Gary Harpst.” (Ethan Johnson, The Vision Thing)

“How does his (Harpst’s) book differ from others which also discuss business improvement? First, [unlike most other books] which focus 80% on principles and 20% on implementation, this book's content is focused 20% on principles and 80% on implementation.” (Robert Morris, Top 10 Reviewer for Amazon.com)


“Six Disciplines differs in that respect – it’s all about teaching a system of getting done the things that we all know need to be done.” (Bob Shuneman, Small Biz Matters)

“This is the type of book that each time you read it you’ll find new pearls of wisdom and – better yet – practical advice.” (Bob Schuneman, Small Biz Matters)

“What I found also fascinating is that the book was influenced by many people (the same people that I had read and liked the theories but didn't know how to act) including: Michael Porter (Competitive Strategy), Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People), Michael Gerber (The E Myth Revisited), Robert Kaplan and David Norton (Balanced Scorecard), Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline), and Jim Collins (Good to Great) to name a few. (Skip Angel, Random Thoughts of a CTO)


“This is a guidebook, with practical business advice, that if followed, will enhance your business and provide solutions to every day small business problems.” (Gary Whitehair, High Performance Business)


“Here’s what differentiates this book: it bridges concept and principles to execution.” (Sam Decker, Decker Marketing)


“But the book doesn't stop there! Therefore, there is also a Six Disciplines company that was established to help companies long-term get established and maintain using this methodology.” (Skip Angel, Random Thoughts of a CTO)

“In reading the book, I’m struck that the author spends time focusing on HOW to achieve maximum benefit from each of the six interdependent Disciplines, and not just providing a laundry list without explanation.” (Gary Slinger, Slinger’s Thoughts)

“Full of incredibly useful tools and charts -- all about how small businesses execute strategy.” (Anita Campbell, SMB Trend Wire)


“However, the power of this book is in how it integrates these time tested, common sense ideas into a useful whole.” (Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy)

“What makes this book unique, not to mention worthwhile? The book is filled with concrete examples, processes and checklists that will help a business owner in creating a successful business.” (Trevor Hall, Servant-Leadership Blog)

“I've read and participated in many 'best practice' methodologies over the years. Unfortunately most are skewed towards theory, with minimal attention to practice and implementation. Gary Harpst is the direct opposite.” (David Daniels, Business & Technology Reinvention)

“The approach is current and I love that it ties technology and systems with strategy. Most importantly this book is about execution.” (David Daniels, Business & Technology Reinvention)

”Overall, I found this book to be well-organized, yet a slow read because my brain kept exploding with ideas while reading selected units.” (Ethan Johnson, The Vision Thing)

”And that is indeed what sets this book apart from more typical business book fare: Gone are the grandiose declarations and cheeky labels.” (Ethan Johnson, The Vision Thing)

“Instead, this is meant to read more as a how-to manual. Not so much “read”, as “used.” (Ethan Johnson, The Vision Thing)

“Harpst's book is the first book I’ve read that takes the best education from (Good To Great, E-Myth Manager, others) and combines them into one book. As you can tell, I’m a fan of “Six Disciplines for Excellence.” (Gary Tomlinson, Tomlinson & Associates)

BOTTOMLINE: Read Six Disciplines for Excellence.

Company Founders and Organizational Performance

USA Today posted an interesting article about how founder-led companies perform better than their non-founder-led counterparts, with a 15-year stock price appreciation of 970% vs. the S&P 500 average of 222%.

While most business leaders will not be surprised by this finding, it's a finding that has been of interest to the investment community.

What are the reasons?

• Company founders have a deep, emotional, passionate connection to the business, which contibutes to them becoming great leaders
• Company founders typically have deep industry knowledge
• Company founders typically have risked a considerable amount, and have a large financial stake in the success of the business
• Company founders tend to take the long-term view
• Company founders tend to learn from their mistakes and rarely make the same mistakes twice

Annual Planning To Improve Business Performance

The Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce and Six Disciplines Northwest Ohio are sponsoring an executive workshop for established businesses that are not satisfied with the status quo.

You will learn how to align your organization and your management team to develop a practical plan for improving your business, and more importantly, to execute it company-wide, every
month, quarter and year.

While many business leaders are successful at growing their businesses, they struggle to consistently deliver long-term results. This is symptomatic of a gap between a company’s annual plan and its execution.

When: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 8:00 a.m. - Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30 to 11:30 a.m. - Seminar

Where: The Toledo Club, 235 14th Street, Toledo, OH 43604

Presenter: Scott Gray, Partner & Certified Business Coach, Six Disciplines Northwest Ohio

Guest Speaker: Brian Roth, President & CEO, TRUFAST, LLC

Cost: $50 for Chamber Members, $65 for Non-Members

To Register: Contact Marsha Schroeder, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, at 419-243-8191 ext 228 or marsha.schroeder@toledochamber.com - visit http://www.toledochamber.com/

Six Disciplines Radio Interview With Eric Kurjan

Listen to this MP3 radio interview from WFIN Radio, as Eric Kurjan talks about Six Disciplines and what benefits it brings to his small and mid-sized business clients in Northwest Ohio.

Eric is the President of Six Disciplines Northwest Ohio, located in Findlay, OH.

Building An Enduring Organization

Thinking holistically about your business -- how to make all of its components, people, processes, policies, key measures, assets and strategies work together to meet the promises made to customers and other stakeholders in a repeatable and predictable fashion - is KEY to pursuing lasting business excellence.

Warning signs that prevent leaders from building an enduring organization include:

• Critical business processes are missing or poorly defined (e.g., strategy, planning, measurement, execution, learning, leadership development, recruiting, training, etc.)
• Processes aren't measured, so there's no way to evaluate the effectiveness of new ideas
• Team members don't understand the measures that are critical to company performance - or their own
• Trended data to support long-term learning are either absent or inadequate

Time Management and Execution

According to Rich Fredricksen, principal of the execution consulting firm, Paiva•Fredricksen Group:

“longer hours, constant connectivity, more meetings, multitasking, a 24/7 mentality and a global economy are making it more of a challenge for leaders to stay focused on strategy, much less execution which is the key to productivity.”

And....

A Harvard Business Review article entitled “Beware the Busy Manager,” states up to 90% of managers squander their time in all sorts of ineffective activities, while only 10% spend their time in a committed, purposeful, and reflective manner.

BOTTOMLINE: Some general guidelines for leaders looking to conquer the “busy manager” syndrome, according to Fredricksen are: “prioritize your work, simplify, work from detailed metrics, provide clarity, focus on execution, and think.”

Look for an in-depth discussion of both time management and execution in CEO's Gary Harpst's upcoming new book "Execution Revolution."

Managing Alignment as a Process

Harvard professors Robert S. Kaplan and colleague David P. Norton (the Balanced Scorecard creators) offer a key points with their essay on "Managing Alignment as a Process."

Their book, "Alignment: Using the Balanced Scorecard to Create Corporate Synergies" tells how to see alignment as a management process.

The essence?

"The alignment process, much like budgeting, should be part of the annual governance cycle. Whenever plans are changed at the enterprise or business unit level, executives likely need to realign the organization with the new direction."

"Using these eight checkpoints as a point of reference, an organization can measure and manage the degree of alignment, and hence the synergy, being achieved across the enterprise. Organizations that master this process can create competitive advantages that are difficult to dislodge."

BOTTOMLINE: In Six Disciplines for Excellence, Discipline III. Align Systems is all about continual alignment. Achieving alignment is not a event. It is an on-going battle that's part of what it means to pursue enduring business excellence. If we, as business leaders don't learn how to align resources with company goals, the free market...will.

The Art of Execution

Guy Kawasaki offers one of his most famous articles in the September issue of Entrepreneur Magazine entitled "The Art of Execution."

It's interesting to me how in-synch his recommendations are, relative to the methodology outlined in Gary Harpst's top-rated organizational learning book "Six Disciplines for Excellence."

Read Kawaski's entire article here.

The Future CEO

The August 20th edition of Business Week magazine featured an excellent cover story on “The Future of Work.”

In this special double issue, they discussed how we will master technology, manage companies, and build careers in the era of the global 24-7 workforce.

This special report also discusses “The Five Faces of the 21st Century Chief.” It predicts that the “generalist” CEO will give way to the “specialist” CEO, and predicts five specialist CEO types that will be in the greatest demand:

• The BRAIN … May be algorithm geniuses, coding prodigies, or merely credentialed scientists or designers. CEOs in touch with their inner geeks will be a much sought-after breed.
• The AMBASSADOR … CEOs with explicit business experience in emerging markets of China, India, Russia, Brazil and Dubai.
• The DEALMAKER … Those able to both sell off non-core assets and go toe-to-toe with private equity players on big acquisitions will be in heavy demand.
• The CONDUCTOR … Future companies will have to form alliances with outsiders and turn to networks of innovators for new ideas. More cooperation and creativity across divisions will also be necessary. This CEO will have to orchestrate everyone to play in the same key.
• The CASTING AGENT … As Boomers retire, the talent wars will become fierce. CEOs who can retain the best people and deploy them adeptly will be hot commodities.

BOTTOMLINE: As our future workforce changes, so too will the skills required by company leadership. A systematic approach to addressing an ever-changing and increasing series of challenges is what is needed. An enduring business excellence program such as Six Disciplines could be the answer for organizations that have such intentions.

Small Business Audio Podcasts

Anita Campbell, over at Small Business Trends, has once again provided a huge service, as she posted a very comprehensive list of over 100 sites that offer small business audio podcasts.

Categories of podcasting sites include:

• Leadership and Management
• Marketing and Sales
• Operating a Small Business
• Tax and Finance
• Startups and Starting a Business
• Home Based Business
• Small Business Technology
• Business Opportunities and Franchises
• “All around” Small Business Podcasts
• Business News and The Big Picture
• Non-active Podcasts

Get your browsers and iPods ready!

Excellence Through Discipline

Kimberly Mathisen, reporter with the Chicago Star, posts her article "Excellence Through Discipline," the result of an interview she had recently with Six Disciplines CEO, Gary Harpst.

The article highlights Gary's thought leadership behind the top-rated book "Six Disciplines for Excellence."

Building Organizational Accountability

...Imagine working in an environment where all employees are fully engaged in what they do, excited about their work, accept personal responsibility for their performance and are committed to the organization.

...Envision your colleagues connected to the vision of the company, looking forward to coming to work and actually wanting to provide customers and the community with exceptional service.

Sound far-fetched?

In recent years, the Gallup Organization has stepped up its research efforts, particularly in organizational culture, management effectiveness and employee engagement.

The research has revealed three types of employees: engaged, not engaged and actively disengaged.

Their key recommendation? Companies need to build a culture based on trust, freedom, responsibility and accountability within a framework — a culture where people are willing to go the extra mile and perhaps to extreme lengths to fulfill their responsibilities.

How to build accountability into your own organization?

• Set the challenge, create and communicate a vision or goal that compels others
• Engage people in the possibilities and speak those possibilities in a clear, concise and consistent fashion.
• Create trust by leading by example, setting a positive tone by never doubting people and getting others to do versus being asked to do.
• Distribute power by sharing decision making, giving credit where credit is due and valuing innovation.
• Understand strengths and areas for development and looking for the shining eyes in the organization.
• Celebrate successes by recognizing performance and rewarding the results.

Findlay And Northwest Ohio Under Water

First, I want to thank those of you who regularly read Be Excellent, and those of you who remembered/recognized that our company Six Disciplines, LLC is located in Findlay, Ohio, USA.

Northwest Ohio, including Findlay, was recently hit by its worst flood in over 100 years, with hundreds of homes affected, and thousands displaced.

Above is a picture of downtown Findlay.

Our Corporate office is about a half mile to the east of downtown Findlay - also under water (See 2nd picture.)

Here's the story from the Toledo Blade, a newspaper covering the story.

Thank you all for your well-wishes, as we work to get Findlay cleaned up and put back together.

All the best!

Skip

Creating Your Individual Plan (IP)

The real challenge in business is not how to get people to work harder. Instead, it's figuring out how to get a larger percentage of the potential ability of each person's daily activities to be aligned with the priorities of your company.

Working smarter, not harder.

When each team member spends 1-2 hours per quarter developing their own Individual Plan (IP) that reflects how their activities aligns with company goals, the process becomes more clear.

The actual creation of quarterly IPs force team members and their team leaders to communicate with each others about their priorities. It builds and teaches accountability. (Sounds obvious - but it happens a lot less than we imagine.)

BOTTOMLINE: Developing written IPs every quarter for every team member helps people to understand how they improve company performance and improves team member satisfaction. In essence, this single step is at the core of the process for achieving enduring business excellence.