Obviously McFarland is correct in emphasizing the
differences in these nine breakthrough companies. In an
age when so much attention is placed on high-tech businesses,
these nine companies represent real diversity. But
McFarland is quick to point out that the nine companies
also shared certain characteristics, and these were the
same characteristics that helped propel the companies
out of their entrepreneurial stages. It’s these characteristics
that he devotes the majority of his book to, and
along the way he includes stories illustrating how the
nine companies are sterling examples of embracing the
ideas and practices that lead to a breakthrough.
Characteristics of Success
McFarland follows a tried-and-true formula in the
business-book genre of dedicating single chapters to each
broad point he is trying to make — in this case, the
characteristics of success he found surfacing again and
again in the breakthrough companies.There are eight
such chapters discussing the various characteristics, and
McFarland does an admirable job of weaving in company
tales — of both success and failure — to illustrate his
points. If storytelling is the best way to communicate a
message, then McFarland is on the right track here, as he
includes many first-rate examples of how the nine breakthrough
companies dealt with growth and setbacks.
These stories are often told in voices of the companies’
various leaders or other high-ranking employees, and
they carry the weight of real-world experience.
By way of example, one characteristic of breakthrough
success that McFarland consistently finds in the nine
companies is something he calls “crowning the company.”
Simply stated, this means putting the interests of the
firm above all other interests.The “crown,” as it were,
must be given to the company as a whole, not to a single
individual, such as the founder or current CEO.Too
many company leaders,McFarland writes, after achieving
some level of success, make this success all about themselves.
It’s one reason why some companies never break
through the entrepreneurial barrier.
McFarland describesThe Staubach Company of Dallas,
Texas, as an organization that truly grasps the concept of
crowning the company.The name Staubach may be familiar
to many readers, even if they have never heard of the
company,which was founded by the former NFL quarterbackand pro football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach.
Although Staubach had an illustrious career as a star athlete
in both college,where he won the HeismanTrophy in
1963, and in professional football,where he quarterbacked
the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories,
McFarland notes that Staubach’s offices are conspicuously
absent of practically anything related to his football career.
“It’s because we’re building something here that is bigger
than Roger Staubach,” the former quarterback says.