Jim Collins on 3 core concepts leaders should embrace in crisis

“Your goal is not survival, it must be something bigger.”

– Jim Collins

As part of the Leading in Challenging Times series, we are privileged to offer insights from Jim Collins through a series of videos he created exclusively for the Vistage community. Each video contains a core Good to Great Principle tailored to help you as you navigate crisis and uncertainty.

The three core concepts Jim believes leaders should embrace in times of crisis are:

• The Stockdale Paradox (Video 1)
• Productive Paranoia (Video 2)
• Fanatic Discipline (Video 3)

He explores these concepts in the videos below. Access the Member Workbook for this video series.

About Jim Collins

Jim Collins spent 25 years studying what makes great companies tick. He is a Socratic advisor to leaders in the business and social sectors. His vigorous research in the subject led him to author or coauthor six books that have sold in total more than 10 million copies worldwide. They include Good to Great, the #1 bestseller, which examines why some companies make the leap to superior results, and Great by Choice, which is about thriving in chaos—why some do, and others don’t.

Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he conducts research and engages with CEOs and senior-leadership teams.

Video 1:

The Stockdale Paradox

“You must never confuse the need for absolute unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end with the discipline to confront the brutal facts of your current reality.”

–Jim Collins

Admiral Jim Stockdale was a prisoner of war for eight years during Vietnam, an experience he and his wife chronicled in the book In Love and War. After reading the book, Jim asked Admiral Stockdale about how he got through the experience. Admiral Stockdale said, “I never wavered in my faith, not only that I would get out, but that I would turn those years in the camp into the defining event of my life, that in retrospect I would not trade.”

Years later in his research, Jim noted that the Good to Great leaders had the same unwavering faith and the ability to confront the brutal facts of reality.

In this conversation, Jim challenges you to ask yourself:

1. How can you engage with those around you and embrace the idea that you can prevail?
2. What are the brutal facts you must confront head on about the current reality?

Video 2:

Productive Paranoia

“What is our aim? One word, Victory. Victory at all cost. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and however hard it may be.” 

–Winston Churchill

In his research into why some companies thrive in uncertainty and chaos and others do not, Jim and his co-author, Morten Hansen, identified the concept of productive paranoia. He uses Winston Churchill as an example. In 1940, Churchill faced one of the darkest times in history. He was paranoid about how bad things could get if France was defeated in the war. His goal was not survival, but reframed in the darkest days as a grander goal of victory.

In this conversation, Jim challenges you to ask yourself:

1. What should you be paranoid about in reference to “the island” you are protecting?
2. What is your version of the “25 squadrons”, the things you must protect so that you are able to survive and prevail in the end?
3. How can you keep your 25 squadrons active and fully alive? 

Video 3:

Fanatic Discipline

“We need to exert self-control in a world out of control. The more out of control the conditions are, the more disciplined you need to be.”

–Jim Collins

What differentiates companies that grow from start-ups to great companies in the most uncertain and chaotic environments from less successful companies in the same environment? Jim uses the story of two teams racing to the South Pole to illustrate how the choices you make impact results. You can let conditions determine your pace and progress, or exert self-control and fanatic discipline in a world out of control to continue to advance to your goal.

In this conversation, Jim challenges you to ask yourself:

1. What is the big hairy audacious goal towards which you are marching, the thing that defines what it means to prevail?
2. What does it mean to be “20-mile marching” right now?
3. How can you keep your people calm and on task on your 20 mile march?

Member Workbook

This year has delivered an unprecedented crisis to business leaders worldwide. At this time, it’s important for CEOs to reflect on these questions:

1. How am I being creative in these uncertain times?
2. How am I creating new disciplines during this “storm”?
3. What can I do to put the best practices in place to prevail?

Get access to the Member Workbook here.

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