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Lessons in business longevity from IBM

23-Jun-2011

Fortune magazine recently published an article on five lessons we can learn from IBM as they celebrate the milestone of being in business for 100 years.  Here is our take:

Dream big.

Create a compelling vision of the great company you are going to become in the future - even if it seems a million miles away from where you are right now.  Be audacious!  Set your team a goal that scares you every time you look at it.  Your firm can be the best in the world at something – so what is it going to be?  Tell the truth in advance – then stare at that statement on the wall every day and keep asking yourself, “How?” until you figure out a way to achieve it.

Create your own cult.

If you want your company to succeed long term, your workplace has to be more than “just a job” for your people.  It has to become part of their identity.  It starts with creating a set of Core Values that are unique to your firm and specify exactly the behaviors that are required of all your people.  Not the generic, bland, mealy-mouth statements that many companies pay lip service to - but real “how we do things around here” statements.  The more unique and quirky your Core Values are, and the more strictly they are enforced the better - because they will attract like-minded people, and quickly eject those that don’t fit your culture.

Take risks.

Copying your competitors won’t make you an industry leader.  You have to march to beat of your own drum.  Sometimes you have to bet the entire farm on a bold move.  Have the courage to follow your convictions and pursue a strategy you know to be right – no matter what the rest of the herd is doing.

Stand out.

Whatever you think makes you different, you need to dial up the volume even more.  Playing it safe won’t get you talked about.  As Seth Godin once wrote, “If you are not annoying some people, you are not operating close enough to the edge.  The edge is where the money is.”  What are you doing that is dramatically and meaningfully different from what your competitors do?  Be honest.  Are you really doing anything remarkable – i.e. worth remarking about?

Hire people who are better than you.

For your company to succeed long term, you need to continually upgrade the quality of your people.  Every new hire should raise the bar for the existing team.  Carefully define what an “A” Player looks like for every role - and never settle for 2nd best.  If you are a leader, have you identified who your successor will be, and are you grooming them to step into your role one day and take it to another level?  If not - you need to start now!

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