"Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

[jimmifli]

"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:

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Companies-Leap-Others/dp/0066620996

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.

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?

[justasportsfan]

Re: "Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

Nice find! Problem is, some people here have already determined that Marv and Co. are clueless in their first year.

Based on what transpired in their first year, you can't say they failed just yet but if you dare say, the jury is still out on whether Ralph hired the right guy and Marv hired the right coach after one year, you're either a homer or a Marv kiss ass.

[YardRat]

Re: "Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

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.

Yes, I think the concept is valid and, yes, I think the Bills are following it.

If I read the latter part of your post correctly, you're insinuating the organization is making a mistake by having a defensive and offensive system in place and then filling the personnel needs to fit the system, and I disagree with that.

The 'system' is just a basic template, with flexibility to adapt based on the individual's skills while sticking to the rough outline.

You have a better chance for success by having at least a basic outline (the systems) and then tweaking it to take advantage of the 'disciplined' people you bring in to work under the guidelines.

[mikemac2001]

Re: "Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

Nice find! Problem is, some people here have already determined that Marv and Co. are clueless in their first year.

Based on what transpired in their first year, you can't say they failed just yet but if you dare say, the jury is still out on whether Ralph hired the right guy and Marv hired the right coach after one year, you're either a homer or a Marv kiss ass.

Hey! im a marv kiss ass

[Jan Reimers]

Re: "Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

When you first take over a team and inherit players from the previous regime, about all you can do is fit a system or systems to your players.

But once you do the research and decide what systems work best - in this case, in the NFL - you take 2 or 3 years and select the players that will be most successful in your chosen systems.

That's what Marv and company appear to be doing.

[Jan Reimers]

Re: "Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

To elaborate a bit more, football is the ultimate team game. Both the offense and the defense require 11 men on the field pulling together.

If you try to assemble the very best players from free agency or the draft, you are more than likely to get a mishmash of guys who would be great - but in a number of different systems. That's a big part of the Redskins' problem, i.e., they keep bringing in bigtime players who don't mesh.

New England and the Colts are just the opposite. They bring in coachable, motivated guys who have the ability to play - or are willing and able to adapt to - the coaches' systems.

[Statman]

Re: "Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

"Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

What, for failure case studies?

[jimmifli]

Re: "Good to Great" applied to the Buffalo Bills

What, for failure case studies?

Well, the last decade would be a great example of failure case studies.