Getting to great: just what does Jim Collins' Good to Great have to do with higher education? Plenty.

Anyone who has attended a professional conference in the fast year or so has most likely heard at least one panelist make reference to Jim Collins' recent management book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't (HarperCollins, 2001). Most of us are rightfully skeptical of the seemingly endless "management du jour" publications. Yet, what's noteworthy about this effort is the solid research the author and his team conducted to arrive at some rather straightforward conclusions--many of which dispel currently popular management myths.

But wait a minute, you may be thinking to yourself. Jim Collins' definition of a "great" company has everything to do with producing average cumulative stock returns several times greater than the general market over a sustained period of time (15 years). White this definition might apply to for-profit higher education, what does becoming "great" in this context have to do with not-for-profit colleges and universities? Just this: Most higher education institutions want to be best at something. And since variety is part of the power of higher education in America, the definition of "best" doesn't have to mean the same thing for every college and university. Some institutions aspire to be most academically prestigious. Others want to be best at placing their students in particular fields after graduation. Still others seek to deliver the most transforming effect on their students' lives. And all institutions that strive to be the best at something meaningful to their students, faculty, presidents, and boards can gain real insight from Collins' research. That's because that research includes some surprising findings:

* Becoming best at something isn't about a charismatic leader. In fact, Collins found that readers who bring their organizations to greatness "channel their egos away from themselves." Their burning ambition is for the success of the organization. In fact, while some very strong leaders, through their own sheer will, have indeed obtained greatness for their companies, that greatness is so personality driven that in the end, it can't be sustained. Think about it: How many of our most successful institutions are being driven solely by the sheer will of their leader?

* It's more important--in fact, critical--to bring the right team together first, and then decide as a team where the institution needs to go. Collins calls it, "First who, then what." In the academy, for instance, we have focused too much on the plan (e.g., the strategic, capital, master, integrated marketing, enrollment, or you-name-it plan), while at the same time, we do not place enough focus on making sure we have (as they say) the right people on the bus sitting in the right seats.

* In a disciplined culture, "stop doing" lists are more important than "to do" lists, says Collins. And yet, think about this: Is there any facet of higher education administration that has found it possible to have a "stop doing" list? Certainly, we all know that higher ed is notoriously poor at terminating programs, eliminating divisions, and limiting expectations. If anything, higher education as an industry is infected with the "all things to art people" syndrome.

* Great organizations use technology to advance their plan, strategy, and/or momentum, not create it. Too many institutions have looked to the Internet with the expectation of transforming their business through state-of-the-art technology (the delivery of online programs), rather than seeing how technology can advance what they already do.

Where Do We Go from Here?

... To the big idea at the intersection. If moving from good to great isn't about the great leader, the motivating strategic vision, doing more with less, or the newest technology, what are the critical components? Once the right people are in place, Collins found that greatness emerged from institutions identifying the intersection of a) what they could be "best in the world at," b) what they could be "passionate about," and c) what "drives their economic engine"--and then pursuing that insight with discipline and consistency.

It isn't flashy. In fact, Collins calls the pursuit of this goat the Hedgehog Concept, after a very ordinary animal that knows "one big thing" and sticks with it. Following your institution's big idea, however, could require great courage. Some of the institutions Collins studied--based on their own analyses of their strengths, market, and competitors--realized that they had to fundamentally change business practices and products that had been a key part of their history. Unfortunately, higher education institutions are well known for being unwilling to confront market realities--particularly when they are "good enough" to continue to survive. Yet, the first line of Collins' book is: "Good is the enemy of great." And that's why it often takes a crisis to propel institutions--especially those as resistant as some in higher education--to change.

Does the Crisis Cometh?

Some would argue that, as an industry, higher education is headed toward a crisis. Colleges and universities, particularly those that are publicly supported, are facing significant resource constraints at the same time that expectations from almost every constituency (students, families, donors, legislators, governing boards, etc.) have never been higher. There is increased competition for students, faculty, philanthropic dollars, public funds, etc. As a nation, a growing portion of our high school graduates is under-prepared for college. Yet few higher education institutions are showing the discipline to address such external challenges by determining (through fact-based analyses) what they can be best at that will generate the revenues they need. And few are pursuing that strategy with a focused passion. Richard S. Ruch, in his book, Higher Ed, Inc.: the Rise of the For-Profit University (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), points out the irony that, just as many nonprofit colleges and universities are finding themselves on the financial ropes, publicly traded for-profit corporations are on the rise. The for-profits have found their hedgehog concept: They focus on being best at responding to the marketplace, providing excellent customer service, and producing earning power for their graduates.

This is not to say that the profit motive is the only avenue to "greatness" in higher education. But it is also not to say that nonprofits don't have lessons to learn from corporate America's success stories. What Collins discovered is this: Becoming great is about substance, it's not about flash. It's about focus, not universal coverage. It's about facts, not opinion. And most of all, it's about a team that has the discipline, passion, courage, and commitment to be the best.

Kathy Kurz and Jim Scannell are partners in the enrollment management consulting firm, Scannell & Kurz, Inc (www.scannellkurz.com).