How the mighty fall. Today I’ll be talking about the book by Jim Collins entitled “How the might fall“.
Why this book?
I like to read a variety of different books. Collins’ book, “Good to great” made a big impact on me. I still use ideas from his book. Specifically, “Getting the right people on the bus. And, getting the right people in the right seats on the bus.”
How the mighty fall is a book about companies that failed. We can learn a great deal through failure. And, I prefer to learn from the failure of others rather than my own failures.
Collins breaks corporate demise into 5 stages.
5 Stages
Stage 1 is “Hubris born of success”. A company is doing well and begins to think they are doing well because they deserve it. They are successful, not because of what they do, but because of who they are.
Stage 2 is the undisciplined pursuit of more. Focus moves toward unbridled growth. More money, more property, more influence, etc. This leads the company headlong into stage 3.
Stage 3. Denial of risk and peril. Warning bells begin to sound, but they are ignored. Collins eludes to the Titanic being unsinkable. That’s the idea in this stage.
Stage 4. Grasping for salvation. The company now realizes that things are going badly and something must be done. They hire a new CEO or strike out in a new direction. They’re like a drowning man, clutching wildly for something or someone to save them.
Stage 5. The company realizes it’s over and they capitulate to irrelevance or death.
America
Collins’ book is about corporate demise, but I see a broader application to the United States. And, unfortunately, I believe that we are in stage 4.
America has been a great country. We have led the world for generations. Somewhere along the line we began to think that our successes were deserved. We began to believe that we are great because we are America. (Stage 1 – Hubris)
We have grown at an unchecked rate for years. “We’re America! We can go everywhere and do everything! We won’t run out of anything. Every part of the world is ours to influence!” (Stage 2 – Undisciplined pursuit of more)
Alarm bells have been ringing for years. We are over spending! Our military can’t be all over the world! Our dollar isn’t worth what it used to be! Middle class Americans are struggling to pay their bills! Our country’s response has been to print more money and continue plowing ahead. (Stage 3 – Denial of risk and peril)
At the time of this writing it’s November 2024 and we have elected someone that the majority of the country believes will make us “great” again. This is stage 4. Trump is planning changes in immigration, education, health, military, trade. He seems to be going in a hundred directions at once.(Grasping for salvation – Stage 4)
Recovery
Some companies recover from stage 4 and experience a renaissance. Sometimes it’s temporary and other times there is a true, lasting recovery.
The key long lasting recovery is to discover what made your company great to begin with. Once you’ve identified what made you great you put your energies into reemphasizing those key qualities.
What made America great?
America had God-fearing, intelligent founders who spent tireless hours working on our founding documents. These documents gave us a platform on which to build the social contract that has held our country together.
Our people knew that they had to work hard. They didn’t expect things to be given to them. They did expect that the government would leave them alone.
We were ONE country and we respected each other. Americans would fight to protect each other. To be blunt, no one screwed with us, or our friends.
Lastly, we inherently knew that there was a supreme being and that we owed our life, family and property to Him.
I am hoping that Donald Trump can recapture the elements that made our country great in order to keep our country out of stage 5 – capitulation to irrelevance or death.