How to be Rigorous

Three practical disciplines for being rigorous rather than ruthless from Good to Great.

1. When in doubt, don't hire -- keep looking.
2. When you know you need to make a people change, act.

Your point about "getting the right people on the bus" as compared to other companies is dead on. There is one corollary that is also important. I spent a lot of time thinking and talking about who sits where on the bus. I called it "putting square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes."... Instead of firing honest and able people who are not performing well, it is important to try to move them once or even two or three times to other positions where they might blossom.

3. Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.

Indeed one of the crucial elements in taking a company from good to great is somewhat paradoxical. You need executives, on the one hand, who argue and debate -- sometimes violently -- in pursuit of the best answers, yet, on the other hand, who unify fully behind a decision, regardless of parochial interests.