Surprise, Surprise
One distinguishing aspect of The Breakthrough Company
is McFarland’s willingness to share some of the surprising
results he and his team found while conducting their
research. He writes that this was the most enjoyable part
of his five-year study and believes that some of these surprises
are significant contributors to a breakthrough
company’s success.
As mentioned earlier, the need to take risks on occasion
is one of the characteristics that contributes to a
company’s rise above the entrepreneurial stage. It might
logically be assumed that entrepreneurs, who are willing
to invest what is often a life’s savings into a business, are
by nature risk takers.Wrong assumption, according to
McFarland. He writes that his team’s analysis of more
than 250 CEOs indicated a range across the entire spectrum
when it came to approaching risks. Some leaders
were quite receptive to taking a big chance, others less so
and some not at all.And if developing brand-new, neverbefore-
seen products is an indication of risk,McFarlandfound that 71 percent of new companies are actually
imitating already existing services or products — not the
stuff of a gambling personality.
McFarland includes a list of surprises at the end of
each chapter as it pertains to the subject at hand. He
labels these surprises “grapefruit squirts,” a somewhat
clunky term that most likely won’t grow on the reader,
but business book authors do have a tendency to search
for catchphrases and McFarland is no different. In any
case, his lists of surprises account for some of the most
intriguing parts of the book.Take for example that every
breakthrough company McFarland investigated shared at
least one story of how a single individual — oftentimes
several levels down from the CEO — recognized a need
for change and pursued this change until senior management
took notice.Or how many company leaders
viewed adverse times as opportunities for making their
companies stronger.Many breakthrough leaders worried
more about keeping their companies sharp and focused
during the good times than during the bad.