Jim Collins’ book
Good to Great was the result of a five year study to understand what made some good companies excel and become great companies, while others stayed at a level of mediocrity or worse off just died. The book identifies the elements that made the good companies great and uses them to provide a structure that can be applied to an organization to take it from “Good to Great.”
addendum that discussed how the “Good To Great” principles applied to social sector organizations. He recognized that questions arise from leaders of social sector organizations when trying to apply the good to great principles and this supplement discusses those issues.As always when studying leadership I do it with my “Masonic Lens” and ask myself “How can this help Masonry?”
The research by Collins shows that building a great organization proceeds in four basic stages with each stage consisting of two fundamental principles. Here are the stages and my comments and opinions as they relate to the current state of Masonry.
Stage 1 – Disciplined People – Collins says organizations need “Level 5 Leadership”
Collins defines a Level 5 Leader as one that has put the success of the organization ahead of his own and has a fierce resolve to do whatever it takes to see that the work of the organization succeeds. Masonry certainly has a great number of leaders who quietly and diligently work for the cause every day and expect no great reward from it. Their reward comes from seeing Masonry progress. However, there are some leaders in our organization that believe their work requires they receive a title and the title makes them a respected leader.
Masonry needs more Level 5 Leaders.
Collins says organizations need to, “have the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the key seats before they figure out where to drive the bus.” This statement tells us that the selection of the right type of men to lead Masonry is critical and once selected, they should be performing functions that match their skills. The example in Masonry is the brother who is an excellent ritualist appointed to the lodge line who doesn’t have the people skills to lead.
Masonry needs to concentrate on leadership skills and not ritual proficiency when selecting leaders.
Stage 2 – Disciplined Thought – The two principles in stage two are “Confronting the Brutal Facts” and the “Hedgehog Concept.”
Confronting the brutal facts to Collins means having an unwavering resolve that you will prevail in the end, all the while understanding the current reality of your situation. The “Hedgehog Concept” is an organizational model that has defined what you can be the best in the world at, what you are deeply passionate about, and what drives your resource engine.
Masonry then, to start the road from good to great, needs to recognize first the brutal facts of our situation; declining membership, less participation, lack of proper leadership and little or no public perception of what we do. Second, we should get back to the business of creating Masons and not members.
Masonry needs some serious disciplined thought about what we do and at what we can be the best in the world.
Stage 3 – Disciplined Action – The principles controlling the disciplined action should come from a “Culture of Discipline” and “The Flywheel.”
Collins describes an organizational culture in which people do not have jobs they have responsibilities. They are disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought centered on what they have defined they can be the best in the world at.
Masonry seems to be short on action and needs to develop a culture of discipline.
Stage 4 – Building Greatness to Last – The principles here are “Clock Building, Not Time Telling,” and “Preserve the Core and Stimulate Progress.”
Clock building is about creating multiple generations of leaders instead of focusing on one particular leader or program. You build programs to stimulate progress not to focus on a particular period of time or leader. “Preserving the Core and Stimulate Progress” is about keeping a clear the distinction between “what we stand for,” which Collins says should never change, and “how we do things,” which he states should never stop changing.
Masonry needs to stop the use of the term “My Year,” start building clocks and stop telling time.
Jim Collins provides on his website a free, downloadable diagnostic tools to help you get started with the Good To Great framework. You should really take a look at this and be the one to start your lodge and Masonry to go from “Good To Great.”
~ (Masons Lead Better)
