Flight of the Buffalo: Soaring to Excellence, Learning to Let Employees Lead

As a thirsty person seeks out a water fountain, I've learned to seek out experiences. I deliberately put myself in new situations.

I also came to realize that my first reaction is usually wrong.

Keep the two levels of ownership separate. Keep the responsibility for performance with the performer, and the responsibility for empowering with the leader.

Thinking incrementally is an American disease. We learned it early in life. Our parents were always admonishing us, “Try a little harder. You're almost there. Just a little bit more.” The mentality was reinforced in the classroom: “Eighty-eight percent is almost an A. Study just a little bit more and I'm certain that you can get it.”

Our measurement of great performance was to have the highest selling price and the highest market share.

I had to learn how to listen and really hear. I had to learn to work with others and trust them. I had to learn to appreciate their contributions as much as or more than my own. I had to learn the value of learning and how to systematically accomplish it.

There are always a thousand reasons not to do what ought to be done. There is only one reason to do it: because it is the right thing to do. The right thing to do always means choosing the morally correct alternative. Ask yourself, “Could I explain my actions on 60 Minutes and be believed?” Only take those actions that could be defended and believe

The Person Doing the Work Must Own the Responsibility

Knowledge is nothing without action. Nothing changes until you do something. What you do will directly determine what you learn.

I established a system called scan, clip, and review. We borrowed it from John Naisbitt and from the CIA. In academic circles it's called content analysis. It's simple and works like this: Everyone in the company scans ten periodicals he or she does not normally read each month. These range from highly technical journals to such popular periodicals