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Cultivating High Performance

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Submitted By mariavergis
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Cultivating High Performance

In larger organizations, how do you sustain the high performance magic that seems to come naturally in a well-managed entrepreneurial environment?
A number of years ago, I got a call from my friend Jack. Jack had started his own company and by the late 90s he had built a very successful $40 million business. It had grown very quickly and was profitable -- but Jack had begun to feel uneasy.
As we discussed his concerns, Jack's first words were "it just isn't fun anymore." When I replied -- "who said it's supposed to be fun"-- there was a long silence on both ends of the phone. The comment was intended half in jest, but we were both struck by its implications. It wasn't long before we had framed the question that would occupy our discussions for months to come: As a company grows, does it have to stop being fun?
Our early discussions focused on the point at which it stopped being fun for him. Although Jack could not identify the precise point at which it began to change, he clearly knew when he was enjoying it most. Despite the usual life and death struggles of an early stage company, he felt that the early years were the most fun. I can remember his words clearly, "Without a doubt," he said, "those were the most trying times -- but they were best times as well."
Having had a similar experience some years earlier in a company I built from a business plan, I knew exactly how Jack felt. We too had grown rapidly and were very profitable, but my unease was caused by something else. We had built our business through an intentional focus on continuous innovation. We were involved in a rapidly growing industry and we were constantly out in front of our customers in meeting their needs. Innovation propelled us to the dominant position in our market.
But as we approached $50 million in revenue, I sensed that we had lost the innovative edge

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