Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't (Rockefeller Habits 2.0 Revised Edition)

I received this anonymous letter today:Attn: Book-of-the-Year 2018 Awards CommitteeDear John,As you and your team gather in your plush executive offices (or perhaps at your gourmet dinner meeting) to discern your pick for the 2018 Book-of-the-Year Honors, please give this gem your serious consideration. I have 12 reasons why your readers would thank you profusely—should you name “Scaling Up” as your top book of 2018.If you pick this book, you’ll have to write the summary (all that unnecessary filler stuff you write that goes on and on and on). I think readers of your book reviews, however, would prefer just getting to the good stuff, like these 12 reasons:Reason #1. $20 AWARDS. Read about the Colorado company that required every manager—every month—to submit three ideas “for increasing revenue, reducing costs, or making something easier.” Managers who submitted the top 20 ideas—as determined by the CEO who responded to every idea submitted—received $20 cash per idea at the monthly managers meeting. (See page 166.)Reason #2. BEST QUOTE. “Senior leaders know they have succeeded in building an organization that can scale—and is fun to run—when they are the dumbest people in the room! In turn, if they have all the answers (or act like they do), it guarantees organizational silence, exacerbates blindness (the CEO is always the last to know anyway), and means the senior team ends up carrying the entire load of the company on their backs.” (See page 5.)Reason #3. THE WEEKLY MEETING. John, I know you’re a big fan of weekly meetings, but you never convinced me of the value of wasting everyone’s time weekly. But Verne Harnish, the brilliant author of “Scaling Up,” has totally convinced me! The “Rockefeller Habit #3: Meeting Rhythm” chapter gives amazing detail on four types of meetings: the daily huddle, the weekly meeting, the monthly management meeting, and the quarterly and annual planning meetings. I’ve become a born-again-meeting-rhythm-freak! (See pages 175-190—the most helpful 15 pages I’ve read all year.)Reason #4. “EVERYTHING IS FINE!” As an example of the helpful detail on meetings, Harnish drops in frequent warning icons. “What’s the rock in your shoe?” is a high priority meeting agenda question for the daily huddle (Where are you stuck? What constraints are you facing in the next 24 hours?). And this wisdom/warning:“WARNING: Anytime somebody goes two days without reporting a constraint, you can bet there’s a problem lurking. Busy, productive people who are doing anything of consequence get stuck pretty regularly. The only people who don’t get stuck are those who aren’t doing anything or are so stuck that they don’t know it!! So, challenge the team member who reports, ‘Everything is fine!’” (See page 183.)Reason #5. ROCKEFELLER HABITS. John, I’ve noticed that “Oh, my!” is one of your frequent and favorite filler phrases in your book reviews (could you dial that back a bit?). But, “Oh, my!”—am I the only leader or manager that has never heard of the Rockefeller Habits? I was blown away to learn about the leadership habits of John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) and to see how Verne Harnish’s consulting company, Gazelles, has systemized these 10 habits into a one-page, 40-item checklist. Brilliant! And read this warning from the author:“WARNING: You’ll drive everyone in the organization crazy if you implement all of these habits at one time. The key is focusing on one or two each quarter, giving everyone roughly 24 to 36 months to install these simple, yet powerful routines. Then it’s a process of continually refreshing them as the company scales up.” (See page 15 and read why habits are “routines that set you free!”)Reason #6. THE QUESTION WE DO NOT KNOW. The graphics, icons, and format of this visually-appealing book are amazing (“Oh, my!” amazing, to be honest.) Like this call-out: “We have the answers, all the answers; it’s the question we do not know.” To help organizations achieve results, the author delivers detailed (detailed!) processes in four major areas: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. And—get this—he says it’s OK to start reading anywhere you want in the book. John, you owe me a Starbucks card if you can resist reading about weekly meetings first!Reason #7. GUT-CHECK ZINGERS. Oh, my! These one-liners are convicting:• “NOTE: The cost of a bad hire is 15x his or her annual salary, according to Topgrading, so it’s important to get the recruiting and selection process right.”• “Good managers play checkers while great managers play chess, according to researchers Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.”• “The bottleneck is always at the top of the bottle,” noted Peter Drucker.• “It’s time to break apart a 50-year-old business term—strategic planning—and think about it in terms of two distinct activities: strategic thinking and execution planning. Each requires two very different teams and processes.”Reason #8. BIG, BUT NOT BIG ENOUGH. Read why you must conquer complexity. “Expanding from three to four people grows the team only 33%, yet complexity may increase 400%,” writes Harnish. He says optimal employee counts include: one to three; eight to 12; 40 to 70; 350 to 500; and 2,500 to 3,500. “Any company with an employee count between these natural clusters is likely feeling a bit stuck—“…‘big, but not big enough’ syndrome—even in making minor decisions like what size photocopy machines you need next.”Reason #9. GARBAGE UNIVERSITY. John, you’ll love the insightful business stories—in-the-trenches examples—of how organizations are building the “Scaling Up” system into their DNA with training and education (normally about 2% to 3% of payroll).• The City Bin Company in Ireland created an internal learning academy, “Garbage University,” and provides “three hours of training every two weeks from September to May.” (Their CEO, by the way, never learned how to drive a garbage truck—and thinks the company is better for it!)• “At MOM’s Organic Market, in addition to executive education, produce managers will typically read four to five books together every year.”• Great companies start growing their people on day one. When they don’t, “…the first days on the job often feel more like waterboarding than onboarding: no desk, no computer, no phone…” (John, that reminds me of your 2017 book-of-the-year, “The Power of Moments.”)Reason #10. RENAME “HR.” Verne Harnish mentions a company that “renamed its HR Department the Employee Experience Department.” Core values are not taken lightly in “Scaling Up.” He suggests you “organize your employee handbook into sections around each Core Value.” And—so insightful—“Every time you praise or reprimand someone, tie it back to a Core Value or Purpose.” Read his eight ways to reinforce culture on pages 102-106.You’ll also appreciate his flexibility on terms: should we use “mission” or “purpose?” He says pick the term you prefer, but “use the terms consistently.” He likes “purpose” (more heartfelt). And to illustrate…here’s another “Oh, my!” You owe me another Starbucks card (or maybe Chick-fil-A), if you can read—without getting teary-eyed—about the company that asked how they could become more like Make-A-Wish Foundation for their employees—per their core value, “Take care of each other.” (See page 100.)Reason #11. ONE-PAGE STRATEGIC PLAN. John, I realize I’m stepping on your strategic planning toes—but honestly—the “One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP)” in “Scaling Up” is so, so good. And the detailed instructions for the downloadable 11” by 17” template give step-by-step directions. In preparation, Harnish suggests that managers work on the SWOT analysis, but senior teams should focus energies on SWT (Strengths, Weaknesses, and Trends). Example: “Forget about the competitor down the street. Is there a company on the other side of the globe that might put you out of business?” (See pages 123-140.)Reason #12. SLOPPY EXECUTION. So (and with this I’ll end—and now I see why your reviews are so long: these books are powerful!)…what’s the downside of not reading this book? Harnish says if you don’t execute the Rockefeller Habits, “It just means you’ve been leaving massive amounts of money and time on the table. And if you have a killer strategy and/or heroic people willing to work 18-hour days, eight days a week, these will make up for the messes created by sloppy execution and lack of discipline.” (As you often say, John—“Yikes!”)Sincerely yours,An Anonymous ReaderP.S. John—Please give "Scaling Up" very serious consideration when you announce your Top-10 books of 2018 (and your book-of-the-year) on Dec. 31. (And please note I am not the author nor have I met the author!)

Scaling Up by Verne Harnish is one of the most practical, actionable business books I’ve read. As an innovation consultant working with large companies, I found it filled with tools, worksheets, and real-world examples that make it easy to implement the concepts immediately. There's no excuse for not taking action!The book’s focus on people is what truly sets it apart. While many business books dive into strategy first, Harnish starts with the critical importance of having the right people in place. You can have the perfect strategy, but without the right team, you’ll never reach your full potential. This section alone is invaluable and should be required reading for managers at all levels.I also loved the section on Core Values, which emphasizes how a company’s "personality" shapes everything from decision-making to culture. Harnish’s approach is insightful and practical, making it easy to see how to apply these concepts in your own business.If you’ve read The Lean Startup, you’ll find Scaling Up is the more practical, no-excuses version of scaling your business. It’s not just about learning; it’s about doing. Whether you're an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur, this book will help you succeed.

Scaling Up is a no-nonsense, practical guide for business leaders looking to grow their companies without losing control. Harnish lays out a clear framework for scaling efficiently, covering the four critical areas: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. What I appreciate most is how actionable it is—this isn’t just theory; it’s packed with real-world examples and tools that businesses can immediately apply. The Rockefeller Habits framework is especially valuable, helping leaders stay focused on the right priorities while keeping their teams aligned. If you’re serious about scaling, this book belongs on your desk, not just your bookshelf.