Turning Goals Into Results by James C. Collins

Turning Goals Into Results Reviews

• 
  Richard Mulholland

  Fantastic little book. I love the idea of Catalytic Mechanisms.
  
  I'm really enjoying this series by HBR Classics. Great format.
• 
  Min Choi

  What I love about this book is its sharp focus and conciseness. This tiny piece from Jim Collins is about understanding and implementing catalytic mechanisms, the processes and parameters in which companies and organizations, creatively and ferociously, keep themselves focused and accountable to their BHAG (Big-hairy-audacious-goals). It is the "crucial link between objectives and performance," meant to use unorthodox and contextualized policies, often culture-defining, to achieve their most important goals.
  
  According to Collins, he estimates, at best, only 10% of companies utilize catalytic mechanisms. He encounters so many companies that are often producing mediocre results without a clue as to why. This organizational epidemic is essentially two-sided: (1) an objective that is poorly defined or vague and (2) non-existent or incorrectly implemented processes in measuring how successful the goal is being achieved. The more common problem is the latter.
  
  Catalytic mechanisms are inherently powerful if understood and implemented correctly. Collins identifies 5 universal characteristics of a proper catalytic mechanism:
  
  1. Produces desired results in unpredictable ways.
  2. Distributes power for the benefit of the overall system, often to the great discomfort of those who traditionally hold power.
  3. Has teeth.
  4. Ejects viruses.
  5. Produces an ongoing effect.
  
  When you think about great organizations that desire and achieve great results, their foundations are built upon sturdy catalytic mechanisms. And this book is a great reminder because our natural tendency as leaders when we are not achieving is to go back and tweak the vision statement (BHAG). No, often what is more necessary is paying attention to the catalytic mechanisms that drive the organizational engine, define the organizational culture, and achieve the organizational purpose.
  
  I absolutely recommend buying this book as well as Jim Collins' other works, including Good to Great and Built to Last.
• 
  Saravanan Oumabady

  I picked up this book as soon as I saw the words catalytic mechanisms. The reason being that I have an inclination towards activities or events that serve me as a catalyst to perform better or learn more. In short, the word catalyst drove me to this book.
  After reading the article, I have learnt a few important lessons. Some of them are well known but this book cemented my reasoning for having certain BHAGs.
  1 . Goals can be audacious.
  2. When goals are audacious it is important to balance bureaucracy and freedom of action.
  3. And as the authors puts it: “Create, do not copy.” The system towards an audacious goal should be built (or re-built) organically.
  I am sticking to all five stars because I liked the authors writing and I learnt something new as I flipped through every page.
• 
  Noah Gift

  Short read, but packs a lot. Great ideas on how to accomplish goals.
• 
  Dave

  Love Jim Collins (If you have not read Good to Great..stop reading this and go find that book to read!) and love BHAGs! This was a great quick read.
• 
  Nash

  This book is extremely direct and focused to the purpose of the title. Collins doesn't waste much time in helping someone grasp/understand tips to creating a foundation for success.
• 
  Diego Cerezo

  Book in a sentence: a short book teaching a short simple lesson: BHAG's are like drawing castles in the sky, catalytic mechanisms are the foundations that make them reachable.
  
• 
  Alissa Thorne

  A short book introducing the concept of "catalytic mechanisms" that institutionalizes the behaviors that will achieve your goals. Examples include intensives such as giving customers the ability to not pay if they are not satisfied, or hard rules such as not accepting customers that are not willing to fly in for an orientation. This structure provides the "teeth" to allow organizations to stick to their lofty ideas and reach their audacious goals.
  
  A nifty idea, presented in what amounts to a blog post on audio.
• 
  Jeff Yoak

  This is one of those strange experiences where I obviously loved the thing when I read it the first time, but really don't remember why. This is good analysis on how to introduce catalytic mechanisms in an organization. Perhaps I just internalized it enough the first time that it no longer seems revolutionary. Anyway... it is an extremely brief piece and I would suggest it to anyone who is concerned with leadership.
• 
  Barnabas Rosemary

  nice book
• 
  Bartosz Majewski

  Short read about an idea in organizing enterprises. Did not particularly liked it. Meh.
• 
  Harley Fricker

  A two day read but plenty of value around understanding BHAGs!