Predictable Success

Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track--and Keeping It There

Greenleaf Book Group, 2010

15 min read

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How to reach and maintain “Predictable Success” for your business

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Entrepreneur and CEO Les McKeown prefaces his book with a tale of discovery – the story of how he uncovered the “Predictable Success” model. The personal anecdotes he shares in this section demonstrate his humility, as well as his bona fides. Perhaps more important for a book that aspires to show organizations both what they are (he says that every organization moves through a specific life cycle) and what they can be (every organization can stay in the best phase, called Predictable Success), McKeown trots out a fine writing style. Most chapters present a compelling, detailed anecdote that illustrates his principles, a feature that gives the book a nice utility. Leaders who learn through stories will find this guide as useful as leaders who prefer lean, jargon-free business prose do. And, though the book is somewhat repetitive and it fizzles out in the last chapter, McKeown’s points are clear. This author knows companies: how they look on the way up and how they look on the way down. getAbstract recommends his unpredictably fresh perspective on something every business wants more of – Predictable Success.

Summary

Understanding “Predictable Success”

Why do some businesses fail while others succeed? You won’t find the answer simply by comparing balance sheets and money management. In fact, many well-funded companies still flop. Firms that thrive have more than strong finances; they also have the right people and operating structures. Fortunately, any organization can attain Predictable Success, the point at which it dependably realizes its goals. To reach it, companies must progress through three “growth stages.” Then they must avoid three “decline stages” to maintain it. The stages are:

First Growth Stage: “Early Struggle”

In this stage, which usually spans a company’s first three years, your start-up fights to get off the ground and gain speed. In a game where up to 80% of companies die, the well funded fly while the underfunded flail. Make the right moves quickly and deliberately to establish a market for your offerings before you exhaust your initial financing. At the close of each workday, evaluate what your firm has accomplished toward finding a market. Don’t thrust your new company onto the marketplace. Instead, keep your ears open and ask questions to learn “where...

About the Author

Les McKeown is president and CEO of the firm Predictable Success. He has more than 25 years of business experience and has helped launch hundreds of companies worldwide.

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O. S. 1 decade ago

very good audio book

Les McKeown