"Good to Great" is a very popular business book that lays out the criteria for an organization to go from a good one to a great one. For more on the book:
One of the key concepts from the book was:
First Who, then What.
First Who - Get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus).
Then What - Once you have the right people on the bus, figure out where to drive it.
So how does this fit the Bills? Well, we've got a lot of new people, and lost a bunch too, but my gut feel is that we are still adding the who to fit the what. In other words, we have a system and are picking our people to fill it. Instead, we should be getting great players and then figuring out a system that fits them.
Two questions for discussion:
Do you think the concept is valid?
Do you think the Bills are following it?
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner.
First Who, then What.
First Who - Get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus).
Then What - Once you have the right people on the bus, figure out where to drive it.
So how does this fit the Bills? Well, we've got a lot of new people, and lost a bunch too, but my gut feel is that we are still adding the who to fit the what. In other words, we have a system and are picking our people to fill it. Instead, we should be getting great players and then figuring out a system that fits them.
Two questions for discussion:
Do you think the concept is valid?
Do you think the Bills are following it?
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