Discipline

I’m at a conference for work.  It’s a business conference where the focus in “Front End Innovation.”  The keynote speaker this morning was Jim Collins who’s written several books including “Good to Great.”  He is a great thinker & “business scientist” – he loves asking questions and studying data.  I found his talk very interesting, and there were several personal implications I walked away with which I thought I’d share.

DISCIPLINE was the most interesting principle.  He wrote a new book called “Why the mighty fall.”  It’s very relevant right now – he talks about tumultuous, difficult times and why some succeed and some fail.  What he found was, the key differentiator was discipline, people who are disciplined in good times are revealed as great in times of trouble.  Discipline enables you to be prepared for what you can’t predict. 

I feel like this is my new season.  I came out of a season of Rest, and I feel like the new season I’m being called into is Discipline.  I was reading a book called “Celebration of Discipline” which I’ve never finished.  My life lacks discipline.  Interestingly, Jim Collins found that often company’s goals are over-reaching, swinging big for home runs, instead of consistent, base hit after base hit.  He went as far as to say that mediocrity is driven by chronic inconsistency.

So, Discipline.  I don’t get excited about this.  It doesn’t sound fun.  But then, he brought it home for me when he connected Discipline & Freedom.  I’m VERY interested in freedom, so my ears perked up.  Collins said that the big win is marrying DISCIPLINE WITH CREATIVITY.  He believes that when you create a disciplined framework, freedom and creativity are enabled.

I need to think through ways to bring consistency and discipline into my life to 1) enable creativity, which leads to freedom and 2) to prepare me for what I can’t predict. 

Anybody interested in sharing some disciplines in their life?

Collins shared one he recommended – many people have “To Do” lists, but he thought the power was in a “Stop Doing” list.  Interesting, huh.