Scaling up Excellence - Chapter 5

Here are some selected quotes from Chapter 5 of Scaling Up Excellence by Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao.  What you are not getting by just reading these quotes are the real life stories and examples which brings the principles to life. I know you would enjoy reading the stories and examples that go with these principles.

Chapter 5 - The People Who Propel Scaling:  Build Organizations Where "I Own the Place and the Place Owns Me"

"the capacity for effective scaling depends on both bringing in the right people (people with the right training and skills) and having people who feel compelled to act in the organization's best interests ('accountability') and who press one another to act that way too." p.139

"Many, perhaps most, organizations that scale effectively get the job done by depending less on hiring fully formed superstars and more on selecting promising people - and then teaching and motivating them to do exceptional work." p.142

7 means for identifying people who act as fif they own the place and it owns them.

1.  Squelch Free Riding

"When people feel accountable to their colleagues and customers, they feel obligated to expend extra effort and make sacrifices for the greater good." p. 150

2.  Inject Pride and Righteous Anger

"collective pride and aggressiveness . . . turn people's attention toward concerns that are larger than themselves, bind group or organization members together, and are contagious.  And they are more willing to take difficult, even personally risky, actions for the greater good." p. 155

3.  Bring in Guild-Prone Leaders

"A 2012 study suggests that when leaders are prone to feeling guilty, they are especially likely to display concern for others and to put the greater good ahead of their personal goals and glory.  ...guilt prone leaders have a strong sense of personal responsibility for their actions and are attuned to the impact of their decisions on others."  p. 159

"...guild-prone people often emerge as leaders because - to avoid feeling bad about not meeting their responsibilities or hurting others - they work hard and selflessly to help their groups and organization achieve goals."  p. 159

"...guilt-prone people are more likely to emerge as leaders and to be more effective leaders than others." p. 159

4.  "I'll be Watching You": Use Subtle Cues to Prime Accountability

5.  Create the Right "Gene Pool"

"Dearing observed that the most successful founders are prone to certain "cognitive distortions": biased, even objectively inaccurate, wasy they thin of themselves and filter information that enable them to make quicker and better decisions, bounce back from setbacks, and attract talent." p. 164

"Even when you heir the right people, the experiences and training you provide are crucial for spreading the right beliefs, behaviors, and skills.  In other words, the people make the place and the place makes the people." p. 165

"Scaling up an organization also requires constantly reconsidering the kinds of talent that you have, need, and ought to hire and incubate." p. 166

6.  Use Other Organizations as Your HR Department

7.  Hire People Prewired to Fit Your Mindset