Valeria Fugante\’s Blog

Preface

In this report you will find the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” apply to the book Good to great. How a company can go from being good to being great, and how the 7 Habits of effectiveness Stephen Covey proposed in his book are applied in seeking that achievement.

THE BOOKS INTEGRATION

Chapter 1: “GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF GREAT”

Can a good company become a great company and, if so, how? Or is the disease of “just being good” incurable?

Those two questions inspired Collins with a group of collaborators to perform a five-year research into the inner workings of good to great companies.

The project contained 4 phases:

1) The Search, they selected eleven good to great companies, that shared the same basic pattern (such as fifteen year cumulative stocks return t or below stock market, punctuated a transition point, then cumulative returns at least three times the market over the next fifteen year)

2) Compared to what?, they asked themselves what did the good to great companies share in common that distinguished them from the comparison companies? For that they divided the selection in two: direct companies (companies in the same market and opportunities but didn’t go from good to great) and unsustained companies (companies that shifted from good to great but didn’t maintain)

3) Inside the Black box, they collected data, made interviews and analyzed all the information. With the data in hand they began a weekly research-team debate, reading article, analysis, interviews, and the research coding. They made empirical deductions out from the data. They stepped into really interesting facts: celebrity leaders who ride in from the outside where negatively correlated with taking a company from good to great, the opposite happened with CEOs promoted from inside the company. They found no systematic pattern linking specific forms of executive compensation to the process of going from good to great. Strategy was not a differential key factor. Good to great companies putted their focus on what not to do and what to stop doing. Technology did not cause the transformations, in case it accelerated it. Merger and acquisitions played no role. They paid attention to managing change, motivating people, or creating alignment. Some reported to be unaware of the transformations at the time. The companies were not in great industries.

4) Chaos to concept, in order to develop the conclusions in the book they had to do an iterative process of looping back and forth, developing ideas and testing them against the data, revising the ideas, building a framework, etc. they went from chaos to concept.

Then the author gives an overview of the framework of concepts and a preview of what’s to come in the rest of the book:

*Level 5 Leadership: the good to great leaders “seamed to become from mars”. Self-acting, quiet, reserved, even shy, they are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

*First Who… Then What: those leaders first got the right people on the bus, the wrong out, and the right on the right seats; then they figured on where to drive it.

*Confront the brutal facts (Yet never lose faith): Stockdale Paradox: you must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.

*The hedgehog concept (Simplicity within the three circles): Just because something is your core business does not mean you can be the best in the world at it. And if so, then your core business cannot form the basis of a great company, It must be replaced with a simple concept that reflects deep understanding of three intersecting circles.

*A culture of discipline: when you combined a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.

*Technology accelerators: good to great companies never use technology as the primary means of igniting a transformation. Yet, paradoxically, they are pioneers in the application of carefully selected technologies.

*The Flywheel and the doom loop: in the good to great transformation there was no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. The process resembled relentlessly pushing a giant heavy flywheel in one direction, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.

*From good to great to Build to last: the author proposes here the following process line: Good to Great concepts, Sustained Great Results + Build to Last Concepts= Enduring Great Companies.

The timeless “physics” of GOOD TO GREAT: in this title the essence of the book is described: “This book is about how you take a good organization and turn it into one that produces sustained great results, using whatever definition of results best applies to your organization.”

The integration of the two books in this chapter

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind. In the phase of search there was the research for information to develop the investigation, in order to be able to do such a search they had to know exactly what they wanted to achieve with the investigation. It was a group of people working on the project, so they had to internalize habit 4, 5 and 6 to be able to function as a group: with a Win/Win philosophy, all together working towards their goals (Habit 3), in putting together the information and elaborating the ideas, they had to listen to each other and understand each one point of view (Habit 5); because it is in understanding the other when we learn and are able to make ourselves be understood. It’s the only way a group can function, through mutual understanding and synergy. Synergy allows us to open our minds to new possibilities, new alternatives; that together with emphatic listening made this experience came through.

In the second phase, they made the research to compare different kind of companies we see the organization and scheduling, the effective management present in Habit 3. Also in this phase the work group had to reevaluate their thinking about corporate greatness, this shows that they found a mistake in their pre-concepts and modified instantly, that enlarges their circle of influence and is part of being proactive (Habit 1).

In the third phase we can see the Habit 6 synergy, also the mutual understanding again (Habit 5), the self-awareness (Habit 1), all together on their weekly research-team debates, where they putted together the information collected, made an analysis of it. Collins itself made a presentation to each group, drawing potential conclusions and asking questions, that shows the leadership and doing the right things (Habit 2). The facts they came across also shows the internalization of the seven Habits: celebrity leaders who ride in from the outside where negatively correlated with taking a company from good to great, the opposite happened with CEOs promoted from inside the company, we can see here the synergistic way of thinking, proactive nature, the effective leadership and self management, the exercise of independent will and how being from inside the company gave them a different perspective, asking themselves what not to do and what to stop doing, they gained interpersonal leadership, empathic communication and creative cooperation (Habits 6, 7).

The fourth phase of their research speaks out Habit 7: is the integration of all of the Habits together, they went from chaos to concept. Collins first became self-aware of the need to understand how all the companies he studied went from good to great (HABIT 1: be proactive), and he first set a goal: find out what did the good to great companies share in common that distinguished them from the good companies (Habit 2: Being whit the end in mind), he putted together a group of collaborators in order to start the search (Habit 3: Put first thing First) delegating tasks, identifying roles and goals, scheduling, adapting. They made wrong assumptions and mistakes, they were able to realized that and change (Habit 1). They started this project working in six persons groups, with the end in their minds, and the mentality of all working towards that end, not competing in getting the best results (Habit 4: Think WIN/WIN), because the individual best results had not place here, the only great result was the research that made the book came through. With the information researched, Collins made reports and analysis, and had weekly meetings with each group where they discussed the reports and analysis performed by Collins, that showed real effective interpersonal communication (Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood), effective interpersonal leadership (Habit 4), and synergistic communication (Habit 6: Synergy). All of these describe the steps into going from chaos to concept, and why this last phase is the connection off all Habits, into Habit 7: they could create a concept because Collins had clear the principles of leadership and management and together with his group of collaborators, developed the principles of interpersonal leadership, empathic communication and creative cooperation; that allowed them to finally get the concept they were looking for.

That is as far as the investigation goes. In each chapter overview there are also correlations with the seven Habits.

*Level 5 Leadership: the kind of leader that turn good companies into great ones are the ones proactive (Habit 1), self-effacing, blend of personal humility and professional will, characteristics gain by self-awareness, principle center life, and mission statement development (Habits1 and 2).

*First Who… Then What: most of the leaders, as we already sow, came from inside the companies, so they first got the right people and putted them in the right places, and then developed a new vision and strategy. This is an example of being with the end in mind (Habit 2), putting the first thing first (Habit 3); first getting the right people, then developing the vision and strategy; they knew the people, and to achieve greatness they had to put the right people in the right places, it is useless to try to make a change without having the correct “tools”, the result would be even worse than the problem we were trying to solve in the first place. This reflects not only effective leadership, but also effective management, and concentrating in the important activities (Habit 3).

*Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith): you must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties is a clear statement of being with the end in mind (Habit 2); only that way we can pass the difficulties, and learn from them, not let them stop us. AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, that’s the ability to change restraining forces into driving ones (Habit 6), by seeking mutual benefit (Habit 4), empathic listening and seeking a common place of comprehension (Habit 5) and the synergy of interaction (Habit 6), that how they were able to face the problems immerse in the change and in the daily activities.

*The hedgehog concept (Simplicity within the three circles): replacing the core business of a company when it doesn’t work, takes a deep understanding of the intersection of three factors: what are you deeply passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what drives your economy engine. The intersection of this three circles is in correlation of the intersection of the three circles that defines Habits: Knowledge: what we want to do and why we do it = what you can be the best in the world at; desire: the want to do = what are you deeply passionate about, skill: how to do it = what drives your economy engine. So, the transition from good to great require transcending the course of competence, it takes to achieve the seven Habits all together to get effectiveness, not only in the core business, but also in the general aspects of the company.

*A Culture of Discipline: to get a culture of discipline is necessary to achieve self-awareness (Habit 1); to exercise the independent will (if the right people is in the right place, they will use that will to be self discipline to work effectively, because they are working towards a common goal (the Win/Win thinking), (Habits3 and 4); to choose interdependent synergy to develop an entrepreneurship ethic, that’s how a great performance is achieve (Habits 6 and 7).

*Technology Accelerators: the great companies are the pioneers in the applications of carefully selected technologies, but the change never is based in the application of that technology. That is also part of the effective management and leadership, making the right things (Habits 3), the accessories follows. When all the company is based in seeking the mutual benefit, all parts falls in the right place.

*The Flywheel and The Doom Loop: in the good to great transformation there was no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. The same happens with achieving the 7 Habits to become a Highly Effective Person, it takes a process that must be performed one step at the time, and must be lived daily.

The timeless “physics” of GOOD TO GREAT: here again we can find the correlativeness with the 7 Habits, neither the two books where an invention of the respective authors, Covey just put into seven habits facts of life, he realized along his experience. Collins, on the other hand, made a research, and exposed it as facts to go from a good to a great company. That’s why both books are valid no matter the time period they are being read or the economy context in which are being applied.

Chapter 2: "LEVEL 5 LEADERSHIP"

Why Collins and his research team focus on Level 5 Leaders? Because every good to great company in their research had Level 5 leadership during the pivotal transition years.

Some of the Level 5 leader’s characteristics are: an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will, self-effacing individuals who display the fierce resolve to do whatever needs to be done to make the company great. They channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company, they are incredibly ambitious, but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.

Level 5 refers to the highest level in a hierarchy of executive capabilities that Collins identified in his research:

Fully developed level 5 leaders fully embody all five layers of the pyramid.

Level 5 leaders are study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless. Their key trait is: ambition first and foremost for the company and concern for its success rather than for one’s own riches and personal renown. They want to see the company even more successful in the next generation, that’s why they seek the best successors and give them the best knowledge they can.

In contrast, leaders of good companies, concerned more with their own reputation for personal greatness often failed to set the company up for success in the next generation (usually they set their successors up to failure or chose weak successors, or both). They are often “I-centric”, instead of talking of “we” referring to their companies; they talk about their accomplishments instead of referring at them as companies accomplishments.

Level 5 leaders hardly ever talk about themselves, and don’t take credit for the companies’ successes, if not in terms of workgroups. They are seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results.

They are not just about humility and modesty. It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination to do whatever needs to be done to make the company great. They are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce results and make the company great.

Collins and his group of research do not support the idea that you need an outside leader to come in and shake up the place to go from good to great. In fact, going for a high- profile outside change agent is negatively correlated with a sustained transformation from good to great.

Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly.

Collins concluded that potential Level 5 leaders exist all around us, if we just know what to look for, and that many people have the potential to evolve into Level 5.

The integration of the two books in this chapter

We can see in some of the characteristics of Level 5 leaders clearly the ones present in Habits 1, 2 and 3: personal humility, self-effacing (self-awareness; Habit 1; principle center life; Habit 2), they do whatever it takes to make the company great (proactive nature; Habit 1; understanding of destination; Habit 2), channel their egos into a larger goal of building a great company (plan ahead, selecting goals; Habit 3), they are incredibly ambitious, but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves (mission statement, Habit 2; effective self management; Habit 3). We can clearly see that level 5 leaders have achieved private victory and independence. They are principle center people, with the clear idea of what is their ultimate goal (begin with the end in mind Habit 2), with effective self management, and a very proactive nature, all the characteristics of the first 3 Habits Covey defines as “achieving private victory”; well these leaders have gain it.

Level 5 leaders are study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless. Their key trait is: ambition first and foremost for the company and concern for its success rather than for one’s own riches and personal renown. They want to see the company even more successful in the next generation, that’s why they seek the best successors and give them the best knowledge they can. This shows the Win/Win thinking and seeking mutual benefit (Habit 4). They are not only concerned by their own welfare, but by the company’s as well, prioritizing the company’s success. The good leaders think Win/Loose, they only care for their own success, and forget about the company’s future great results in that path.

Level 5 leaders hardly ever talk about themselves, and don’t take credit for the companies’ successes, if not in terms of workgroups. They are seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results. They are able to do so by seeking understanding and by delegation, only a person able to understand the other can make himself be understood, and has to inspire openness; through that and by synergistic communication and work, they are able to function as a group, and that’s probably why they talk in terms of workgroups and on terms of themselves (Habits 5 and 6).

In the last two paragraphs we can see the practice of the habits of public victory, so in the concept of Level 5 leadership we find the seven habits all.

Chapter 3: “First who… then what”

The executives who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured where to drive it. If they figured out first what, people might join the company because of the direction it was taking, but, if the company changes directions in the way, those people would bring conflict. That’s why always they should figure out who the right people is, because those people is going to change direction together with the company.

Another key point is the degree of sheer rigor needed in people decisions in order to take a company from good to great.

In general good to great companies built deep and strong executive teams, many of the good companies followed a “genius with a thousand helpers” model. The towering genius, the primary driving force in the company’s success, is a great asset; as long as the genius sticks around.

Regarding incentive system, they found that the good to great executives received slightly less total cash compensation ten year after the transition than the good companies. Not that executive compensation is irrelevant. Once you’ve structured something that makes basic sense, executive compensation falls away as distinguishing variable in moving an organization from good to great. It is related with the “First Who” principle. If you have the right executives they will do everything within their power to build a great company, not because of what they will “get” for it, but because they simply cannot imagine settling for anything less. Their moral code requires building excellence for its own sake. The good to great companies understood a simple truth: the right people will do the right things and deliver the best results they’re capable of, regardless of the incentive system.

Good to great companies are a tough place to work. But they are not ruthless cultures, they’re rigorous cultures. To be rigorous, not ruthless means that the best people need not to worry about their positions and can concentrate fully on their work. There are three practical disciplines for being rigorous rather than ruthless: 1-when in doubt, don’t hire, keep looking; 2-when you know you need to make a people change, act; 3-Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.

The integration of the two books in this chapter

In this chapter we can see Habit number 3: Put First Thing First. When Collins and his research group explained that the good to great companies first choose the right employees is a clear example of them applying Habit 3: they realized the important thing to do and put it in the first place.

These also shows an effective management , prioritizing the important but not urgent activities, those which gives time to plan ahead and help to prevent crisis, it is better to take the time to evaluate who the right people is and then prioritizing the destination.

Having in mind what they wanted to achieve (Habit 2), great companies could understand the importance of prioritizing the important activities, and also choosing the right people, and therefore just then begin planning their destination.

Regarding the incentive problems, the good to great employees always give their best regardless the incentive plan because it’s a matter of principles for them. This shows they are principle center people (Habit 2), they are self-aware and therefore they always give the best of themselves.

The great companies are rigorous, not ruthless; that means that the best people need not to worry about their positions and can concentrate fully on their work. This is also related with Habit 2, the principle center people only concentrates on giving the best results. On the other hand the company knows their destination (Habit 2), so they know to prioritize the best people giving them the biggest opportunities, that’s why the employees only have to focus in their work, they know the rest comes along.

Chapter 4: “Confront the brutal facts (Yet never lose faith)

According to Collins’ investigation the breakthrough results come about by a series of good decision, diligently executed and accumulated one on top of another. Good to great companies did not have a perfect track record. But on the whole, they made many more good decisions than the good companies. Even more important, on the really big choices, they were remarkably on target. This happened because 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, frame of reference for all decisions.

When you start with an honest and diligent effort to determine the truth of the situation, the right decisions often become self-evident. And even if all decisions do not become self-evident, one thing is certain: You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts.

There is nothing wrong with pursuing a vision of greatness. After all, the good to great companies also set out to create greatness. But, unlike the good companies, the good to great companies continually refined the path to greatness with the brutal facts of reality.

Regarding the Leaders, the moment a leader allows himself to become the primary reality people worry about, rather than reality being the primary reality, there is a recipe for mediocrity, or worse. This is one of the key reasons why less charismatic leaders often produce better long term results than their more charismatic counterparts. For those with a strong, charismatic personality, it is worthwhile to consider the idea that charisma can be as much liability as an asset. The strength of personality can sow the seeds of problems, when people filter the brutal facts from leaders. Leaders can overcome the liabilities of having charisma, but it does require conscious attention.

The truth must be heard in a great company. Leaders must create a climate where the truth is heard and the brutal facts confronted. To create that climate Collins’ offers basic practices: Lead with questions, not answers; engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion; conduct autopsies, without blame (look for the roots of problems); build “red flag” mechanisms (turn information into information that cannot be ignored).In confronting the brutal facts, the good to great companies left themselves stronger and more resilient, not weaker and more dispirited. Collins’ invites to practice Stockdale Paradox: retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties and confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

The integration of the two books in this chapter

The breakthrough results achieve by a series of good decision diligently executed and accumulated one on top of another, this shows the ability to work as a group, interpersonal synergy, seeking new alternatives and changing their “rocks in the way” (restraining forces) into learning and “mountains to climb and succeeds” (driving forces) (Habits 6, 4 and 2). That also is a reflection of proactivity and principle center companies, which takes the good as much as the bad and turn it into valuable information and plan of action to go forward (Habits 1 and 2).

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, frame of reference for all decisions. They began with the goal of succeeding at the end (Habit 2) so they could confront the brutal facts of reality and became stronger.

The truth must be heard in a great company. Leaders must create a climate where the truth is heard and the brutal facts confronted. They have to value the differences (Habit 6), and have in mind a Win/Win philosophy, seeking mutual benefit (Habit 4), that speaks of an effective leader, and right employees that feel comfortable participating in the company. That’s also why charismatic leaders often don’t get great results; because of their charisma people tend to keep the reality from them, so the empathic listening fails (Habit 5).

Collins’ invites to practice Stockdale Paradox: retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties and confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. This is clearly the Habit 2 postulate: Begin with the end in mind, they have a clear vision of where they want to go, and with that in mind they can overcame whatever problem they might step into.

Chapter 5: “The Hedgehog Concept”

The Hedgehog Concept is based on Isaiah Berlin’s essay, and basically divides people in two kinds: the hedgehogs (simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything), and the foxes (pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity; never integrate their thinking into one overall concept or unifying vision). Hedgehogs understand that the essence of profound insight is simplicity. They see what is essential and ignore the rest.

Those who built good to great companies where hedgehogs. They used their hedgehog nature to drive toward what Collins calls the Hedgehog Concept for their companies. Those who led good companies tended to be foxes, being scattered, diffused and inconsistent.

A Hedgehog Concept is a simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of three circles: what you can be the best in the world at, what drives your economic engine and what you are deeply passionate about.

Every company would like to be the best at something, but few actually understand what they actually have the potential to be the best at and what they cannot be the best at, And it is this distinction that stands as one of the primary contrast between the good to great companies and the ones that remained good or worse. Just because something is your core business, and you been doing it for decades, does not mean that you can be the best in the world at it. And if you cannot be the best in the world at your core business, then your core business cannot form the basis of your Hedgehog Concept. A Hedgehog Concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best, an intention to be the best; it is an understanding of what you can be the best at.

The Hedgehog Concept requires a severe standard of excellence. It’s not just about building on strength and competence, but about understanding what your organization truly has the potential to be the very best at and sticking to it. The good companies stuck to businesses at which they were “good” but could never be the best, or worse, launched off in pursuit of easy growth and profits in arenas where they had no hope of being the best.

Each good to great companies built a fabulous economic engine, regardless of the industry. They were able to do this because they attained profound insights into their economics.

What drives your economic engine can be quite subtle, sometimes even unobvious. According to Collins you have to ask yourself: If I could pick one and only one ratio, profit per x, to systematically increase over time, what x would have the greatest and most sustainable impact on your economic engine? This single question leads to profound insight into the inner workings of an organization’s economics.

Throughout the good to great companies, passion became a key part of the Hedgehog Concept. You can’t manufacture or motivate people to be passionate. You can only discover what ignites your passion and the passions of those around you.

It took about four years in average for the good to great companies to clarify their Hedgehog Concepts. Getting a Hedgehog Concept is an inherently iterative process, not an event. The essence of the process is to get the right people engaged in vigorous dialogue and debate, infused with the brutal facts and guided by questions formed by the three circles. Collins found one useful mechanism for moving the process along: a device that he called Council. The Council consists of a group of the right people who participate in dialogue and debate guided by the three circles, iterative and over time, about vital issues and decisions facing the organization.

The integration of the two books in this chapter

The Hedgehog Concept is based on Isaiah Berlin’s essay, and basically divides people in two kinds: the hedgehogs and the foxes. Hedgehogs understand that the essence of profound insight is simplicity. They see what is essential and ignore the rest. This is in correlation to begin with the end in mind (Habit 2). Those who have a clear understanding of the destination, focus their efforts and abilities in achieving them (the hedgehogs), those who doesn’t have a clear destination cannot focus only on that and pay attention to several things and cannot achieve what they should achieve, simply because they don’t know.

A Hedgehog Concept is a simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of three circles: what you can be the best in the world at, what drives your economic engine and what you are deeply passionate about. This has a big similarity to the three circles that define a habit:

What you can be the best in the world at, is in correlation with the knowledge element of a habit, which indicates what to do and how to do it. Even if you have the knowledge it doesn’t mean that you are doing the right thing, it could be something you are good at, but it doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do.

Each good to great companies built a fabulous economic engine, regardless of the industry. They were able to do this because they attained profound insights into their economics. It is related to the skill element of a habit. It’s to have the ability to deep understand how to do it.

You can’t manufacture or motivate people to be passionate. You can only discover what ignites your and their passion. This is related with the desire element of a habit, it’s what really gives you satisfaction in doing it. It fulfills your deepest desires and passions.

The Council that Collins suggests consists of a group of the right people who participate in dialogue and debate guided by the three circles, iterative and over time, about vital issues and decisions facing the organization. This Council has to apply the Win/Win philosophy to be able to work seeking the best for the company, it also has to apply Habit 5, seek first to understand and then to be understood, otherwise each member would try to impose their point of view and wont pursuit the company welfare.

A Hedgehog Concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best, an intention to be the best; it is an understanding of what you can be the best at. (Habit 2: understanding the destination).

Chapter 6: “A culture of discipline”

Entrepreneurial success is fueled by creativity, imagination, bold moves into uncharted waters, and visionary zeal. As a company grows and becomes more complex, it begins to trip over its own success. What was once great fun becomes an unwieldy ball of disorganized stuff. Lack of planning, lack of accounting, lack of systems, and lack of hiring constraints create friction. Problems surface. The companies begin to hire MBAs and processes, procedures, checklist, and all the rest begin to sprout up like weeds. What was once an egalitarian environment gets replaced with a hierarchy. The exciting start-up transforms into just another company, with nothing special to recommend it. The cancer of mediocrity begins to grow in earnest.

According to Collins’ research what is important is to build a culture of discipline. This means building a culture of discipline around the idea of freedom and responsibility, within a framework. Fill that culture with self-disciplined people who are willing to go to extreme lengths to fulfill their responsibilities (this self-discipline people don’t need to be managed, so the company can focus in managing the system, not the people). Do not confuse a culture of discipline with a tyrannical disciplinarian. Adhere with great consistency to the Hedgehog concept. Create a “stop doing list” and systematically unplug anything extraneous.

Besides discipline people, those people need to have discipline thoughts. This is needed to confront the brutal facts of reality, while retaining resolute faith that you can and will create a path to greatness. Finally there is discipline action. People in the good to great companies become somewhat extreme in the fulfillment of their responsibilities.

The good to great companies have level 5 leaders who built an enduring culture of discipline; the good companies have level 4 leaders who personally disciplined the organization through share force. Discipline is essential for great results, but discipline action without disciplined understanding of the three circles cannot produce sustained great results.

The good to great companies at their best followed a simple mantra: anything that does not fit their Hedgehog Concept, they would not do. They would not lunch unrelated business. They will not make unrelated acquisitions. They would not do unrelated joint ventures. If it doesn’t fit, they just don’t. The more an organization has the discipline to stay within the three circles, the more it will have attractive opportunities for growth. The challenge becomes not opportunity creation, but opportunity selection.

The leaders of the good to great companies, made an extensive use of a “stop doing” list (as much as of the “to do” lists). They displayed a remarkable discipline to unplug all sorts of extraneous junk. The good to great companies institutionalized the discipline of “stop doing” through the use of a unique budget mechanism, and through it determine which activities best support the Hedgehog Concept.

The integration of the two books in this chapter

By building a culture of discipline around the idea of freedom and responsibility, within a framework, good to great companies are complying with Habit 2, because they know their people is principle center people, and assume personal leadership, taking responsibilities without consuming too many management time.

Fill that culture with self-disciplined people (this self-discipline people don’t need to be managed, so the company can focus in managing the system, not the people). This is reflection of an effective self-management (Habit 3), as much of the people as of the organization. That is a good way to seek mutual benefit as well (Habit 4), if everyone has the self-discipline and self-management it takes they are going towards the same goals.

But we must not confuse a culture of discipline with a tyrannical disciplinarian. The good to great companies choose an interdependent synergy to develop an entrepreneurship ethic (Habit 6 and 7), there was no need to force people to be discipline, they choose to be discipline by themselves.

Collins invites to create a “stop doing list” and systematically unplug anything extraneous. It is part of putting the first thing first (Habit 3) focusing in the important but not urgent activities which allow to plan ahead and prevent crisis.

The good to great companies at their best followed a simple mantra: anything that does not fit their Hedgehog Concept, they would not do. They would not lunch unrelated business. They were able to do so because they began with the end in mind (Habit 2) Recognizing their destination they managed to never lose the correct path.

Chapter 7: “Technology Accelerators”

Technology-induced change is nothing new. The real question is not: What is the role of technology? Rather, the real question is: How do good to great organizations think differently about technology?

In every good to great case, Collins found technological sophistication. However, it was never technology per se, but the pioneering application of carefully selected technologies. Every good to great company became pioneer in the application of a specific technology.

When used right, technology becomes an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it. The good to great companies never began their transitions with pioneering technology, for the simple reason that you cannot make good use of technology until you know which technologies are relevant. And those are the ones that link directly to the three intersecting circles of Hedgehog Concept.

The pioneering application of technology can be seen as just one more way in which the good to great companies remained disciplined within the frame of their Hedgehog Concept. Conceptually, their relationship to technology is no different from their relationship with any other category of decisions: discipline people, who engage in discipline thought, and who take discipline action. If a technology doesn’t fit squarely within the three circles, they ignore all the hype and fear and just go about their business with remarkable degree of equanimity. However, once they understand which technologies are relevant, they become fanatical and creative in the application of those technologies.

According to Collins study technological change does not play the principal role in the decline of the once-great companies. Technology is important, you can’t remain a laggard and hope to be great. But technology by itself is never a primary cause of either greatness or decline.

The integration of the two books in this chapter

In this chapter we can see that if we have the goal we want to achieve in mind, the rest falls in part by itself. In the case of the good to great companies, they did not follow technology, technology followed them. The reason for this is that as they had the end in mind, the results they wanted to achieve clarified (Habit 2), and they were able to organize themselves.

That’s also an explanation of why the good to great companies often had the best and most improved technology, mainly because they were not focusing on technology, but in their Hedgehog Concept, so like that focus on their goal they were able to introduce the best technologies into their progress. This also shows the ability of putting first things first (Habit 3), as organized companies; they exercised an effective management which allowed them to achieve first greatness through their Hedgehog Concept, accelerated by the technology they implemented.

This is merely the implementation of any habit element: discipline people, lead to discipline thought, which leads to discipline action. So there was no need to base the path to greatness in the wrong concept of technology, but they found the way to put technology at their service.

Brief Definitions

The content of the human mind can be classified into five categories:

1. Data: symbols
2. Information: data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to "who", "what", "where", and "when" questions
3. Knowledge: application of data and information; answers "how" questions
4. Understanding: appreciation of "why"
5. Wisdom: evaluated understanding.

Russel Ackoff, in he’s theory indicates that the first four categories relate to the past; they deal with what has been or what is known. Only the fifth category, wisdom, deals with the future because it incorporates vision and design. With wisdom, people can create the future rather than just grasp the present and past. In order to achieve wisdom we must move successively through each one of the categories.

Achieving wisdom

Data is raw. It simply exists and has no significance beyond its existence (in and of itself). It can exist in any form, usable or not. It does not have meaning of itself. Data represents a fact or statement of event without relation to other things. Ex: It is raining; or we have to pay to our suppliers $10.000.-

Information is data that has been given meaning by way of relational connection. This "meaning" can be useful. Information embodies the understanding of a relationship of some sort, possibly cause and effect. Ex: The temperature dropped 15 degrees and then it started raining; or we purchased 4 new laptops, so now we have to pay our suppliers $10.000.-

Knowledge is the appropriate collection of information, such that it’s intent is to be useful. Knowledge is a deterministic process. When someone "memorizes" information (as less-aspiring test-bound students often do), then they have amassed knowledge. This knowledge has useful meaning to them, but it does not provide for, in and of itself, an integration such as would infer further knowledge. For example, elementary school children memorize, or amass knowledge of, the "times table". They can tell you that "2 x 2 = 4" because they have amassed that knowledge (it being included in the times table). But when asked what is "1267 x 300", they cannot respond correctly because that entry is not in their times table. To correctly answer such a question requires a true cognitive and analytical ability that is only encompassed in the next level. Knowledge represents a pattern that connects and generally provides a high level of predictability as to what is described or what will happen next. Ex: If the humidity is very high and the temperature drops substantially the atmospheres is often unlikely to be able to hold the moisture so it rains; or as we purchased 4 new laptops we are in debt with our suppliers, and we have to pay them $10.000.-, it includes a 6 month founding and 2% monthly interest.

Understanding is an interpolative and probabilistic process. It is cognitive and analytical. It is the process by which I can take knowledge and synthesize new knowledge from the previously held knowledge. The difference between understanding and knowledge is the difference between "learning" and "memorizing". People who have understanding can undertake useful actions because they can synthesize new knowledge, or in some cases, at least new information, from what is previously known (and understood).

Wisdom is an extrapolative and non-deterministic, non-probabilistic process. It calls upon all the previous levels of consciousness, and specifically upon special types of human programming (moral, ethical codes, etc.). It invites to give us understanding about which there has previously been no understanding, and in doing so, goes far beyond understanding itself. It is the essence of philosophical probing. Unlike the previous four levels, it asks questions to which there is no (easily-achievable) answer, and in some cases, to which there can be no humanly-known answer period. Wisdom is therefore, the process by which we also discern, or judge, between right and wrong, good and bad. Wisdom is a uniquely human state, or as I see it, wisdom requires one to have a soul, for it resides as much in the heart as in the mind. Wisdom embodies more of an understanding of fundamental principles embodied within the knowledge that are essentially the basis for the knowledge being what it is. Wisdom is essentially systemic. Ex: It rains because it rains. And this encompasses an understanding of all the interactions that happen between raining, evaporation, air currents, temperature gradients, changes, and raining; or purchasing computers implies a money distribution, if we don’t have the cash will have to finance the debt and it surely imply interest as well.

If we don’t understand Knowledge, can we achieve wisdom?

A Gene Bellinger, Durvay Castro, Anthony Mills example explains it:

“Consider the following:

• I have a box.
• The box is 3′ wide, 3′ deep, and 6′ high.
• The box is very heavy.
• The box has a door on the front of it.
• When I open the box it has food in it.
• It is colder inside the box than it is outside.
• You usually find the box in the kitchen.
• There is a smaller compartment inside the box with ice in it.
• When you open the door the light comes on.
• When you move this box you usually find lots of dirt underneath it.
• Junk has a real habit of collecting on top of this box.

What is it?

A refrigerator. You knew that, right? At some point in the sequence you connected with the pattern and understood it was a description of a refrigerator. From that point on each statement only added confirmation to your understanding.

If you lived in a society that had never seen a refrigerator you might still be scratching your head as to what the sequence of statements referred to.

Also, realize that I could have provided you with the above statements in any order and still at some point the pattern would have connected. When the pattern connected the sequence of statements represented knowledge to you. To me all the statements convey nothing as they are simply 100% confirmation of what I already knew as I knew what I was describing even before I started.”

So, even when we known what a box is, what a light is, what a kitchen is, what food is, what cold is (data), and we receive all the information together making sense: “It, that has food in it, a light comes on, etc”, if we never seen a refrigerator before In our life, or know what a refrigerator is, we won’t achieve wisdom. The same happens with any other thing in our lives, in other to achieve real knowledge, and the achieve wisdom, we have to inform ourselves in those aspects and themes we don’t understand, otherwise, we won’t be truth to ourselves and will never reach effectiveness in any aspect of our lives. In this example, the correct attitude should be telling our interlocutor: I’ve never seen a refrigerator before in my life. Let me get instruct myself about it and then, give me the information back”. The same happens when a manager gets a sales report and a revenue report and a purchase report, if he cannot understand the information, he won’t be able to achieve knowledge regarding he’s area or company, even less to achieve understanding to make a decision into the future with that knowledge.

Personal input

In order to achieve wisdom and knowledge in our lives we have to be able to understand the difference between each concept, and to face our limitations and skills. That is the only way will have a good and effective performance at what we do, no matter which aspect we might be considering (personal, at a job, at a university, etc). Achieving knowledge and wisdom is the correct way to be sure we are not doing the things right, but what is more important we can be sure we are doing the right things.

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."

Albert Einstein

All in one graphic:

References:

- Russell Ackoff, systems theorist and professor of organizational change, author of the book “From data to wisdom”

- Gene Bellinger, Durvay Castro, Anthony Mills, paper published “Data, information, knowledge and wisdom”

By Stephen Covey

Report by Valeria Fugante

Personal impression of the book and the task assigned

The task: On my very first day at Sothworks, instead of giving me a big folder with company policies or asking me to start working on excel sheets and reports, Alejandro gave me a book and ask me to make a report about it for the next afternoon.

At first I did not know what was pretended of me, and I must admit I was a bit scared, but in a good way, because this was something new, nobody ever before in any company I worked at gave a book on personal and professional growth.

The first thing I’d chosen to do is to read all the critics at the beginning of the book to get an idea of what the book was about.

The book: As I read the book I found myself with encountered feelings and impressions. But it gave the opportunity of at least try to see there are better ways of looking at our lives, our jobs, our obligations, more effectively, to be able to grow personally and professionally, to make commitments, to establish deep interpersonal relationships, to understand the others and be understand in a real way, to gain that effectiveness trough all of that and much more.

I also found myself discussing the book and authors quoted on them with my friends, and coworkers. To better understand the psychology implicit on the book. Personally I think Argentinean society is more a freudianian than a behavioral society, but discussing the book with a friend of mine that is a psychologist made me realized that both behavioral and freudanian theories are not deterministic, they both imply time and lot of work to seek a result, that simply explanation my friend gave me, made me realized that that’s what the book is about, to be able to open our minds and work hardly every day to gain effectiveness by living by the Seven Habits. The changes in us will not be easy, they won’t be reached overnight, it will demand patience and time, and the willing to apply this philosophy changing our paradigms.

THE BOOK’S BRIEF

Foreword

Since first publication word has change, challenges have change not only in magnitude, but also in different in kind. SO, IS THE BOOK RELEVANT?, Will it be relevant in the future? According to Covey the greater and more difficult our challenges are, the more relevant the habits become. This is because the problems and pain are universal and increasing.

“(…) success in any endeavor is always derived from acting in harmony with the principles to which the success is tied.”

Fear and insecurity: “Independence is an important, even vital, value and achievement. The problem is, we live in an interdependent reality and our most important accomplishments require interdependency skills well beyond our present abilities”

I want it now: “But the principle of balancing the need to meet today’s demands with the need to invest in their capabilities that will produce tomorrow’s success is unavoidable”. These apply to any aspect of a person’s life.

Blame and victimism: “Wherever you find a problem, you will usually find the finger-pointing of blame” (…) “Show me someone who is humble enough to accept and take responsibility for his or her circumstances and courageous enough to take whatever initiative is necessary to creatively work his or her challenges…”

Hopelessness: “The contrasting principle of growth and hope throughout history is the discovery that” I am the creative force of my life”.

Lack of life balance: “The balance and peace of mind are not produce by the modern culture says, they follow the person who develops a clear sense of his or her highest priorities and who lives focus and integrity towards them”.

What’s in it for me?: “The greatest opportunities and boundless accomplishments of the Knowledge Worker Age are reserved for those who master the art of “we”. True greatness will be achieved through the abundant mind that works selflessly- with mutual respect, for mutual benefits”

The hunger to be understood: “The principle of influence is governed by mutual understanding born of the commitment of at least one person to deep listening first”

Conflict and Differences: The idea in this topic is that against a difference of criteria between two people they should not find a lower common denominator between them, on the contrary they should use the principle of creative cooperation, developing ideas and solutions to problems that are better than the original issues they were considering.

Personal Stagnation: This topic takes the four dimensions of the human been: BODY-MIND-HEART-SPIRIT, and specifies in each one the difference between culture (what society imputs in us) and principle (what it should be, what we gain while ageing)

“TO LEARN AND NOT TO DO IS REALLY NOT TO LEARN”

In this chapter Covey gives an overview of what you must expect from the book, he gives a contrast against what the society expects from us in each situation, how it expects us to react in the different situations we have in front of us, what are our typical reactions and actions; and gives a brief look to what should be the correct way of looking at things to success and be in peace with ourselves.

INSIDE-OUT

“We must look at the lens through which we see the world, as well as at the world we see, and that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.” (…) “We began to realize that if we wanted to change the situation, we first had to change ourselves. And to change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.”

Personality ethic and Character ethic: the first is based on “the society way of what is correct, success as a function of personality”, and character ethic is based on that there are basic principles of effective living and people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.

You can use the Personality Ethic to get by and to make favorable impressions through charm and skill and pretending to be interested in other people hobbies, but is trough Character Ethic that you really become a principle centered person.

Power of a paradigm: Paradigm: way to see the world, but in the perception, understanding, interpreting.

The more aware we are of our basics paradigms, maps or assumptions, and the extent of which we have influenced by our experience, the more we can take responsibility for those paradigms, examine them, test them against reality, listen to others and be open to their perceptions, thereby getting a larger picture and a far more objective view.

The power of a paradigm shift: if we want to make relatively minor changes in our lives, we can perhaps appropriate focus on our attitudes and behaviors. But if we want to make significant, quantum change, we need to work on our basic paradigms.

Seeing and Being: being is seeing in the human dimension. What we see is Highly interrelated to what we are. We cannot go too far to change our seeing without changing our being and vice versa. The power of paradigm change is the essential power of quantum change, whether that shift is an instantaneous or a slow and deliberate process.

The principle-centered paradigm: Although people may argue about how these principles are defined or manifested or achieved, there seems to be an innate consciousness and awareness that they exist. (…) Correct maps will infinitely impact our personal and interpersonal effectiveness far more than any amount of effort expended on changing our attitudes and behaviors.

Principles of growth and change: It is simply impossible to violate, ignore or shortcut this development process. It is contrary to nature, and attempting to seek such a shortcut only results in disappointment and frustration. (…) Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education. (…) to relate effectively we must learn to listen. (…) Perhaps a sense of possessing needs to come before a sense of genuine sharing.

The Seven Habits-An overview

Habits are powerful factors in our lives (…) daily express our character and produce our effectiveness… or ineffectiveness. (…) can be learn and unlearn. But also know it isn’t a quick fix. It involves a process and tremendous commitment.

“Habits” Defined:

Knowledge: theoretical paradigm: what we do and why we do it. Desire: motivation: the want to do. Skill: how to do it. By working those three we can break through to new levels of personal and interpersonal effectiveness.

The Maturity Continuum: habit moves us from progressively on a Maturity Continuum from dependence to independence to interdependence. Dependence is the paradigm of you: I blame You for the results. Independence is the paradigm of I: I can choose. Interdependence is the paradigm of we: we can do it.

Life is, by nature, highly interdependent. To try to achieve maximum effectiveness through independence is like trying to play tennis with a golf club – the tool is not suited to the reality.

Effectiveness defined: Effectiveness lies on the balance: the P/PC Balance: P stands for the production of desired results. PC stands for production capability, the ability or asset that produces.

Three kinds of assets: Physical, financial and human (which controls the first two)

Keeping in balance P and PC makes a tremendous difference in the effective use of physical assets. Our most important financial asset is our capacity to earn. If we don’t continually invest in improving our own PC we severely limit our options. In the human area, the P/PC Balance is equally fundamental, but even more important, because people control physical and financial assets.

Organizational PC: when people fail to respect the P/PC balance in their use of physical assets in organization, they decrease organizational effectiveness and often leave others with dying geese.

The P/PC balance is particularly important as It applies to the human assets of an organization: the costumers and the employees. The PC principle is to always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.

The P/PC balance is the very essence of effectiveness. It’s validated in every area of life. We can work with it or against it, but it is there. It is a lighthouse. It’s the definition and paradigm of effectiveness upon which the Seven Habits are based.

HABIT 1: BE PROACTIVE

The first important thing to understand this Habit is to understand the concept of “Self-awareness”: ability to think about your very thought process. (…) This is why we can evaluate and learn from others’ experiences as well as our own. This is also why we can make and break our habits.

There are three social maps to explain the nature of man: Genetic determinism, what you inherit trough your DNA; Psychics determinism, what your parents did to you while raising you; Environmental determinism, someone or something in your environment is responsible for your situation). Each one of these maps is based on the stimulus/response theory: the basic idea is that we are conditioned to respond in a particular way to a particular stimulus.

But the human endowment of self-awareness to discover a fundamental principle about the nature of man: Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose. (Viktor Frankl).

The habit of proactivity: it means you have the ability to choose your response, that as human beings we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.

BE proactive – have the initiative to seize opportunities and solve problems in an increasingly self-reliant way (instead of being reactive) circle of influence and circle of concern: enlarge and magnify the circle of influence by a positive energy and proactivity. Whether a problem is direct, indirect or no control, we have in our hands the first step of the solution. Changing our habits, changing our methods of influence and changing the way we see our no control problems are all within our Circle of Influence. If you make a mistake: solve it and instantly learn from it, that is part of the being proactive and enlarges your circle of influence.

HABIT 2: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know were you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

To begin with the end in mind is based on the principle that all is created twice. There’s a mental or first creation and a physical or second creation to all things.

Habit 2 is based on principles of personal leadership, which means that leadership is the firs creation. Leadership is not management. Management is the second creation, but leadership has to come first. “Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things” (Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis).

The most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focuses on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.

In order to write a personal mission statement, we must begin at the very center of our Circle of Influence, that center is the comprised of our most basic paradigms, the lens through which we see the world. Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security (represents the personal strength or lack of it), guidance (your source of direction in life), wisdom (your perspective in life) and power (the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish something). Those four factors are interdependent.

We can center our life in different aspects: marriage, friends, enemy, money, work, etc. But by centering our lives on correct principles, we create a solid foundation for development of the four life-support factors. The principle don’t change, our understanding of them does. By centering our lives on timeless, unchanging principles, we create a fundamental paradigm of effective living. It is the center that puts all other centers in perspective.

As a principle centered person, we see things differently. And because we see things differently, we think differently, we act differently. Because we have a high degree of security, guidance, wisdom and power that flows from a solid, unchanging core, we have the foundation of a highly proactive and highly effective life.

Writing your mission in terms of the important roles in your life gives you balance and harmony. It keeps each role clearly before you.

Family mission statements: by writing a family mission statement you give expression to its true foundation. This mission statement becomes its constitution, the standard the criterion for evaluation and decision making.

Organizational mission statements: an organizational mission statement (one that truly reflects the deep shared vision and values of everyone within that organization) creates a great unity and tremendous commitment.

HABIT 3: PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST

Habit 3 is the physical creation. It’s the fulfillment, the actualization, the natural emergence of Habits 1 and 2. It’s the exercise of independent will toward becoming principle-centered.

You can become principle-centre day-in and day-out, moment by moment, by living habit 3, by practicing effective self-management.

By habits 1 and 2 you gain leadership, it is based on a philosophy. Management is the breaking down, the analysis, the sequencing, the specific application, the time-bound left-brain aspect of effective self-government.

In addition to self-awareness, imagination, and conscience, independent will is the fourth human endowment that really makes effective self-management possible. It is the ability to make decisions and choices and to act in accordance with them.

Effective management is putting fist things first. While leadership decides what “first things” are, it is management that puts them first. Management is discipline, carrying it out.

The time management matrix is divided into four kinds of activities: Urgent, Not Urgent, Important and not important. Urgent means it requires immediate attention and important has to do with results. We react to urgent matters. Important matters that are not urgent require more initiative, more proactivity. We must act to seize opportunity, to make things happen. By putting our focus in activities that are important but not urgent our “crises” and “problems” that becomes urgent activities will be reduce because we will be planning ahead, doing the preventing things to keep situations from developing into crises in the first place. To achieve this we need to meet six important criteria: coherence (harmony, unity and integrity between vision and mission, roles and goals), balance (in our lives), focus on the important but not urgent matters (dealing with prevention rather than prioritizing crises), a people dimension (having effective people to subordinate schedules), flexibility (the schedule should be our servant not our master) and portability (our organizer should be portable so important data is always within reach).

To be Self Managers of important activities, we have to develop four key activities: identifying roles, selecting goals (important results to accomplish in each role), scheduling (schedule the time to achieve them) and daily adapting (prioritizing activities and responding to unanticipated events). Long term organizing: Mission statement-roles-goals. Weekly organizing: Roles- Goals-plans (schedule or delegate).

We can increase the P and PC by delegation. If we delegate to time, we think efficient. If we delegate to people we think effectiveness. Delegation means growth, both for individuals and organizations. When a person sets up and works with and through people and systems to produce the desired results, that person becomes a manager in the interdependent sense. Thrust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people. But it takes time and patience, and it doesn’t preclude the necessity to train and develop people so that their competency can rise to the level of trust.

HABIT 4: THINK WIN/WIN

Whether you are the president of a company or the janitor, the moment you step from independence to interdependence in any capacity, you step into a leadership role. You are in a position of influencing other people. And the habit of effective interpersonal leadership is Think Win/Win.

Win/Win is not a technique; it’s a total philosophy of human interaction. It’s one of the six paradigms of interaction (Win/Lose; Lose/Win; Lose/Lose; Win; and Win/Win or No Deal). Win/Win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. It means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying. It is a belief in a third alternative. It’s not your way or my way; it’s a better way, a higher way.

There is a higher expression of Win/Win: it is Win/Win or No Deal. No deal means that if we can’t find a solution that would benefit us both, we agree to disagree agreeably- No Deal. With No Deal as an option in our mind, we feel liberated because we have no need to manipulate people, to push our own agenda, to drive from what we want. We can be open. We can really try to understand the deeper issues underlying the positions. Anything less than Win/Win in an interdependent reality is a poor second best that will have impact in the long term relationship.

Think Win/Win is the habit of interpersonal leadership. This principle is fundamental to success in all our interactions and it embraces five interdependent dimensions of life: character (integrity, maturity and abundance mentality), relationships, agreements, structure and systems, and process.

Win/Win is not a personality technique. It’s a total paradigm of human interaction. It comes from a character of integrity, maturity, and the abundance mentality. It grows out of high-trust relationships. It is embodied in agreements that effectively clarify and manage expectations as well as accomplishment. It thrives in supportive systems. And it is achieved through a process.

HABIT 5: SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD

Seek first to understand, then to be understood. This principle is the key to effective interpersonal communication.

Character and communication: communication is the most important skill in life. We spend most of our waking hours communicating. Our character is constantly radiating, communicating. From it, in the long run, we come to instinctively trust or distrust a person and its efforts with us. To be really effective in the habit of interpersonal communication, we have to build the skills of empathic listening on a base of character that inspires openness and trust.

There are four levels of listening to another person: ignoring, pretending to listen, selective listening and attentive listening. And on a fifth level there is the highest form of listening, emphatic listening. It gets inside another person’s frame of reference. We look out through it, we see the world the way they see the world, we understand their paradigm, we understand how they feel. It is also risky and takes a great deal of security to go into a deep listening experience because we open ourselves up to be influenced. We become vulnerable. It’s a paradox, in a sense, because in order to have influence, we have to be influenced. That’s why habits 1, 2 and 3 are so foundational. They give us the changeless inner core, the principle centre, from which we can handle the more outward vulnerability with peace and strength.

Seek first to understand is the first step in the process of Win/Win, even when the other person is not coming from that paradigm.

Knowing how to be understood is the other half of Habit 5, and is equally critical in reaching Win/Win solutions. Seeking to be understood takes courage.

When we can present our own ideas clearly, specifically, visually, and most important, contextually- in the contest of a deep understanding of our paradigms and concerns- we significantly increase the credibility of our ideas.

Seek first to understand. Before the problems come up, before you try to evaluate and prescribe, before you try to present your own ideas- seek to understand. It’s a powerful habit of effective interdependence.

HABIT 6: SYNERGIZE

Synergy, simply defined, means that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It means that the relationship which the parts have to each other is a part in and of itself. It is not only a part, but the most catalytic, the most empowering, the most unifying, and the most exciting part. It is everywhere in nature.

The challenge is to apply the principles of creative cooperation, which we learn from nature, in our social interactions. The essence of synergy is to value differences- to respect them, to build on strengths, to compensate for weaknesses. It is to realize that people see the world, not at it is, but as they are.

When we communicate synergistically, we are simply opening your mind and heart and expressions to new possibilities, new alternatives, new options.

Synergy is almost as if a group collectively agrees to subordinate old scripts and to write a new one. It is important for people to be empathic as well as courageous, so they can gain mutual respect and understanding to move into creating synergistic communication.

Synergy is exciting. Creativity is exciting. It’s phenomenal what openness and communication can produce. The possibilities of truly significant gain, of significant improvement are so real that it’s worth the risk such openness entails.

There are some circumstances in which synergy may not be achievable and No Deal isn’t viable. But even in these circumstances, the spirit of sincere trying will usually result in a more effective compromise.

The key to interpersonal synergy is intrapersonal synergy, that is synergy within ourselves. The heart of intrapersonal synergy is embodied in the principles in the first three habits, which give the internal security sufficient to handle the risks of being open and vulnerable. By internalizing those principles, we developed the abundance mentality of Win/Win and the authenticity of Habit 5.

In an interdependent situation, synergy is particularly powerful in dealing with negative forces that work against growth and change.

There are driving forces that generally are positive, reasonable, logical, conscious, and economic. In juxtaposition, restraining forces are often negative, emotional, illogical, unconscious and social/psychological. Both sets of forces are very real and must be taken into account in dealing with change. When we introduce synergy, we use the motive of Habit 4, the skill of Habit 5, and the interaction of Habit 6 to work directly on restraining forces. We create an atmosphere in which it is safe to talk about these forces. We create new insights that actually transform those restraining forces into driving ones.

HABIT 7: SHARPEN THE SAW

Habit 7 is personal PC (production capability). It’s preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have: you. It’s renewing the four dimensions of your nature: physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional. Sharpen the saw basically means expressing all four motivations. It means exercising all four dimensions of our nature, regularly and consistently in wise and balanced ways.

The physical dimension involves caring effectively for our physical body: eating the right kind of foods, getting sufficient rest and relaxation, and exercising on a regular basis. Probably the greatest benefit we will experience from exercising will be the development of our Habit 1 muscles of proactivity. As we act based on the value of physical well-being instead of reacting to all the forces that keep us from exercising, our paradigm of ourselves, our self-esteem, our self-confidence, and our integrity will be profoundly affected.

Renewing the spiritual dimension provides leadership to our life. It’s highly related to Habit 2. The spiritual dimension is our core, our center, our commitment to our value system. It’s a very private area of life and a supremely important one. It draws upon the sources that inspire and uplift us and tie us to the timeless truth of all humanity. Each person finds renewal in different sources: religion, nature, music, etc. The idea is that when we take time to draw on the leadership center of our lives, what life ultimately all about, it spreads like an umbrella over everything else. It renew us, it refreshes us, particularly if we recommit to it.

Most of our mental development and study comes through formal education. But when we finish it we tend to leave the studies, we spend our time watching TV. Wisdom in watching TV requires the effective self management of Habit 3, which enables us to select the informing, inspiring and entertaining programs which best serve and express our purpose and values. The same happens when it comes to books, quality literature can expand our paradigms and sharpen our mental saw, particularly if we practice Habit 5, and seek first to understand. Writing is another powerful way to sharpen the mental saw. Organizing and planning represent other forms of mental renewal associated with Habits 2 and 3.

While the physical, spiritual, and mental dimensions are closely related to Habits 1, 2 and 3 – centered on the principles of personal vision, leadership and management – the social/emotional dimension focuses on Habits 4, 5 and 6 – centered on the principles of interpersonal leadership, emphatic communication, and creative cooperation. Renewing our social/emotional dimensions can be done in our normal everyday interactions with other people. But it definitely requires exercise.

Success in habits 4, 5 and 6 is not primarily a matter of intellect; it’s primarily a matter of emotion. It’s highly related to our sense of personal security. If our personal security comes from sources within ourselves, then we have the strength to practice the habits of Public Victory.

Most people are function of the social mirror, scripted by the opinions, the perceptions, the paradigms of the people around them. Interdependent people come from a paradigm which includes the realization that they are a part of that social mirror. We can choose to reflect back to others a clear, undistorted vision of themselves. The more we can see people in terms of their unseen potential, the more we can use our imagination rather than our memory. We can refuse to label them – we can see them in new fresh ways each time we’re with them. We can help them become independent, fulfilled people, capable of deeply satisfying, enriching, and productive relationships with others.

The Self-renewal process must include balanced renewal in all four dimensions of our nature: the physical, the spiritual, the mental and the social/emotional. Although renewal in each dimension is important it only becomes optimally effective as we deal with all four dimensions in a wise and balanced way.

Balance renewal is optimally synergetic. The things we do to sharpen the saw in any one dimension they have positive impact in other dimensions because they are so highly interrelated. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People create optimum synergy among these dimensions.

The Daily Private Victory (a minimum of one hour a day in renewal of the physical, spiritual and mental dimensions) is the key to the development of the Seven Habits and it’s completely within your Circle of Influence. It’s the source of intrinsic security you need to sharpen the saw in the social/emotional dimension. It gives you the personal strength to focus on your Circle of Influence in interdependent situations (to look at others through the Abundance Mentality paradigm, to genuinely value their differences and to be happy for their success. It gives you the foundation to work for genuine understanding and for synergic Win/Win solutions, to practice Habits 4, 5, and 6 in an interdependent reality.

The upward spiral: Renewal is the principle and the process that empower us to move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement. We have to consider the unique human endowment that directs this upward movement: our conscience.

Conscience is the endowment that senses our congruence or disparity with correct principles and lifts us toward them, when it is in shape.

Moving along the upward spiral requires to learn, commit, and do, on increasingly higher planes.

INSIDE-OUT AGAIN

To build a relationship of trust and openness and to resolve dysfunctional differences in a deep and lasting way we have to work from the inside-out of our-selves. A Win/Win relationship, a deep understanding and a marvelous synergy grow out of the roots we nurture as we examine our programs, re-script ourselves, and manage our time to create time for the important but not urgent activities.

Change comes from the inside out. It comes from striking at the root, the fabric of our thought, the fundamental, essential paradigms, which give definition to our character and create the lens through which we see the world.

Some times we make mistakes, we feel awkward. But if start with the Daily proactive Victory and work from the inside out, the results will surely come.

It is in ourselves to find the wisdom to be available to pass on to our sons, coworkers, bosses this way of life, this seven habits integrity and knowledge; to be available to create new relationships while passing this knowledge, this scripts, changing them and re-scripting them in the process.

Afterword

In the afterword the author describes that the Seven Habits are not easy to be fulfill daily. We may find rocks in our way, but we have to keep trying, we may think we are about to live fully by them, in that cases we are not even close to reach them. The Seven Habits are a daily work to gain effectiveness, it is not an easy job, but as they are is in compliance with the natural laws of the world, the results will be reached, day by day.

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