**Author:** Jim Collins **Topic:** People decisions in building great companies --- ## Core Idea Great companies prioritize getting the *right people* on the bus before deciding where to drive it. “Who” comes before “what.” --- ## Practical Disciplines ### 1. **When in doubt, don’t hire - keep looking** - Based on “Packard’s Law”: No company can grow revenues faster than it can attract enough of the right people. - Growth should be limited by the ability to get and keep the right people. ### 2. **When you know you need to make a people change, act** - Needing to tightly manage someone = hiring mistake. - Delay causes wasted energy, demoralization of top performers, and unfairness to all involved. - Waiting is often about *our own* discomfort or convenience, not fairness. - Quote: *“The best people don’t need to be managed.”* ### 3. **Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems** - Don’t solve for the past. Invest in the future. - Corollary: If you sell off your problems, don’t sell off your best people with them. - Example: Kimberly-Clark sold the paper mills but kept the top talent. --- ## Unexpected Findings - No correlation between executive comp and going from good to great. - “People are your most important asset” is wrong—**the *right* people are.** - “Right people” = innate character traits and motivation, not just skills or background. --- ## Notes on Turnover (“Churn”) - No difference in turnover *amount* between good-to-great and comparison companies. - But: Good-to-great companies showed a *bipolar churn pattern*: - People stayed long or left fast. - They didn’t churn more, they churned *better*. --- ## Practical Implications - Focus relentlessly on *who*, not just *what*. - Moving underperformers to better-fit roles is better than immediate firing. - Don’t try to motivate the wrong people. Hire those who already *are* motivated. - Culture follows people. Discipline in hiring and firing precedes strategy. ---