Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

by Verne Harnish

Mark Zuckerberg’s personal development priority in 2015 was reading a book every two weeks, exceeding by two the number of books (24/year) Topgrading author Brad Smart found separated A-player executives from B and C players.

This sequence describes the life cycle of most businesses as they move up the S-shaped curve of growth. The key to scaling this curve: 1. Attracting and keeping the right People; 2. Creating a truly differentiated Strategy; 3. Driving flawless Execution; and 4. Having plenty of Cash to weather the storms.

To scale up a business from a handful of employees to something significant (i.e., build a company that has a chance to both put a “dent in the universe” and dominate its industry), our tools and techniques focus on three deliverables: • Reduce by 80% the time it takes the top team to manage the business (operational activities) • Refocus the senior team on market-facing activities • Realign everyone else (onto the same page) to drive execution and results