Good to Great: A Culture of Discipline

In “Good to Great,” Collins describes how an organization transforms itself from any other, to one of sustained greatness. Culture of discipline, a concept described in the book, if implemented successfully within an organization sets the great apart from the good, as Collins writes, “when you have disciplined people, you don’t need hierarchy. When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need bureaucracy. When you have disciplined action, you don’t need excessive controls. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get a magical alchemy of great performance.” This type of culture allows for creativity while still having a financial discipline. It is the perfect balance of ethics and entrepreneurship.

To create this balance, the matrix involves high and low levels of culture of discipline and ethic of entrepreneurship. Similar to the managerial grid, it is graphical depiction with four categories, each representing some high-low category. While the managerial grid discusses types of leaders, the culture of discipline matrix describes the organizations themselves. The great organizations fall into the high culture if disciple and high ethic of entrepreneurship. This system is built on a culture of people who take disciplined action within the three circles, consistent with the Hedgehog Concept. A discipline culture is not only about action. Rather it is the disciplined people, who then are involved in disciplined thought, and finally disciplined action. Results are driven by the performance of the people who engage in disciplined responsibilities. Which is why getting the right people on the bus, in the right seats is important. Getting self-disciplined people in the first place is key in successfully implementing this concept.

It is important to note that culture cannot be disciplined without first a sound establishment, meaning the right people. Once the right people are on the bus, the wrong people off the bus and the right people in the right seats, people don’t need to be managed, but rather guided and taught. This is where the idea of a freedom and responsible framework occurs. Yes, clear constraints are pivotal, but it’s only to set the expectations that then allow others to determine the best path to achieving these.

When I think about my past experiences, I cannot pin point a certain organization that successfully obtained a culture of discipline, at least not one that I have worked for. There have been those that strove to do so but did not have all the right people on the bus; there were quite a few wrong ones. Which as they tried to weed them out, suffocated the right ones with stricter rules and more micromanagement. An example that comes to mind is from a restaurant I previously worked at. I was hired on as part of the bar staff with three other existing staff members that had all been working at this organization for over eight years. One of the regular nighttime bartenders was going on a maternity leave not too long from the time I was hired and they were in need of some extra help, which is how I was able to get this job in the first place. I enjoyed my time there for the first few months working hard and learning as much as possible. Our owner was around quite often and had a very high level of expectations, always keeping everyone disciplined. They seemed to successfully create a culture of disciple with self-starting staff members, creativity and high service standards. It wasn’t until the most senior bartender, with the organization for twenty plus years, came back from maternity leave that I noticed a shift in the culture. The other bartenders started complaining to the restaurant manager that cleaning and prep weren’t getting done. Strict checklists and signage reminders quickly went up throughout the bar for all employees to adhere to. This created more work for the rest of the staff members and greatly effected moral from my point of view. After some time it just became something that was talked about and expected from this certain employee, to slack off and not be a team player.