Never, never, never give in!

This week I finished a sort of follow up book to Jim Collin’s Good to Great – it’s called How the Mighty Fall. In it Collins tries to track and pinpoint why some of the companies tracked in Good to Great fell so hard (Circuit City, Scott Paper, etc). He came up with 5 stages of decline.

Here’s the thing that struck me about the stages he outlines, both to the outside observer and depending on the structure of the business the inside observer can both not see the signs of these decline stages. It might be because of neglect or ignoring reality (for the insider) or it may be spinning so fast that it’s almost impossible to keep up with, but your business may be in dire straights but it’s so hard to really tell where you are at.

The stages he outlines are these:

1. Hubris Born of Success
2. Undisciplined Pursuit of More
3. Denial of Risk and Peril
4. Grasping for Salvation
5. Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death

As I stated earlier, the scary thing is that most businesses (especially within the last 5 years) can be in the first couple stages of decline, but not really know it. Or they may realize not everything is okay, but not really recognize how much trouble they are in.

The good news, in each stage Collins shows examples of both businesses that tumble all the way into demise (either through complete shutdown or sell off to another company) and those that are able to pull themselves out of the decline. Obviously the deeper in decline a business goes, the harder it is to pull out.

What did I take away from the book? First, looking through it again, I think that I need to sit down and read it again. I need to stop and think about my own businesses – how do I (if at all) fit into any of those 5 stages of decline. Second, no matter how deep in the hole you are – there is always a way out, even if the way is super slim.

In the books summation chapter, Collins states this glimmer of hope very clearly. To wrap it up he uses the example of Winston Churchill who said this at a commencement address during some of the bleakest days of WWII – “This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Inspiring. Like for many people throughout the course of the last 9 months or so, I’ve wondered if all the work that I do is worth it? Do I really want to do what it takes to make spa (or any other business for that matter) go. But I’ve steeled myself with this concept – NEVER GIVE IN. I can’t. I still have a purpose and reason for being in this. So, if you are struggling in your business or even in your own personal life – DON’T GIVE IN!

I got a t-shirt through Print Liberation kind of for fun. The more I wear it though, the more meaning it has to me – DON’T GIVE UP – in big block letters. I wear it usually once a week. It helps me to remember – don’t give in, never, never, never, never.