"No matter how much you’ve achieved, no matter how far you’ve gone, no matter how much power
I don't know how it makes you feel, but to me, this is not a comforting thought.
Here are Jim Collins’ 5 Stages of Decline as he outlined in How the Mighty Fall along with some questions to consider whether you are showing any of the signs:
Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success
Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More
Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Peril
Stage 4: Grasping for Salvation
Stage 5: Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death
If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you may be showing some signs of decline.
Luckily, this does not mean that your company is doomed! Collins is very clear that his research indicates that the stages of decline are reversible. He states, “Most companies eventually fall, and we cannot deny this fact. Yet our research indicates that organizational decline is largely self-inflicted, and recovery largely within our own control” (How the Mighty Fall, p. 25).
Here is How Rhythm Can Help:
With our Rhythm Think Plan Do methodology, you will have the discipline built in to avoid or reverse some stages of decline. If you stick to a Think Rhythm and follow our process for documenting and testing assumptions for new strategies, always firing bullets before cannonballs, you will have to stay focused on a few strategies that you have pretty good data will pan out rather than falling prey to the “undisciplined pursuit of more.”
Our Plan Rhythm process helps you remain focused on your top 3-5 most important priorities every quarter that are aligned with your strategic goals so that you are not overreaching or trying to do too much and grow too fast. Keeping track of your execution on these priorities in your Rhythm dashboards weekly with Red-Yellow-Green status updates will make it difficult to spin data that should be a red flag. In Rhythm software, you can’t hide from the Reds; your team will have to face the brutal facts and make adjustments when you are tempted to "deny the risk and peril.”
Rhythm dashboards will help you remain accountable to your 20 mile march, and your coach can help you stay disciplined rather than seeking a silver bullet. Getting in a Think Rhythm where you regularly step outside of the day to day operations of your business and think strategically and following our process to think about external opportunities and threats with your team every quarter will help you stay in a rhythm of being “productively paranoid” and perpetually considering what could go wrong and how you can prepare to avoid or reverse the stages of decline.
Good luck!