Thursday, September 16, 2010

Technology Accelerators

I recently finished reading Good to Great by Jim Collins. Here are my favorite quotes from Chapter 7 - Technology Accelerators.

[A company] will only become a great company if it figures out how to apply technology to a coherent concept that reflects understanding of the three circles.

Technology-induced change is nothing new. The real question is not, What is the role of technology? Rather, the real question is, How do good-to-great organizations think differently about technology? (147)

Walgreens remained resolutely clear: Its Hedgehog Concept would drive its use of technology, not the other way around. (148)

When used right, technology becomes an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it. (152)

…technology alone cannot create sustained great results.

Technology without a clear Hedgehog Concept, and without the discipline to stay within the three circles, cannot make a company great. (153)

…they emphasized other factors even more – getting people with a farmer work ethic on the bus… (157)

If you ever find yourself thinking that technology alone holds the key to success, then thinking again of Vietnam. (159)

We’re just never satisfied. We can be delighted, but never satisfied.

…motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake. (160)

No technology can instill the simple inner belief that leaving unrealized potential on the table – letting something remain good when it can become great – is a secular sin. (161)

Crawl, walk, run can be a very effective approach, even during times of rapid and radical technological change. (163)

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