Small Giants: Daring to Be Great, Not Big
“Through soul searching & trusting their true passions, they charted their own course.”
When I set out to write the first blog entry for my site, it was intimidating to say the least. I have such high aspirations for what this company will be and how I can use this platform for good, and I really wanted this first introduction to my business to express all the things. That’s easy, right?
When I heard of the book “Small Giants: Companies that Choose to be Great Instead of Big” it felt like a sign. As someone who barely breaks the 5 ft mark, I’ve always ascribed to the “great things come in small packages” motto, so I felt like this book was made for me. It’s not a new book – it was first released in 2006 and recently re-released with a 10th anniversary edition, but the lessons resonate so strong with me today.
I’ll start with providing the definition of a small giant: extraordinary, privately-owned companies that are willing to forego revenue or geographic growth, if necessary, to achieve remarkable ends.
What makes these companies so great? They all have something the author calls “mojo,” a relatively undefinable quality, but can be looked at as something that goes beyond the standard definition of success— it’s intangible, and can easily be lost unless it’s given the attention needed to survive.
In his book, Bo Burlingham studies 14 companies, ranging from Anchor Brewing, the original American micro-brewery, to Clif Bar & Co., a leading maker of natural and organic energy bars and even the world famous Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (shout out to Ann Arbor ) to highlight all the qualities that make a “small giant.”
So what are they?
First, unlike most entrepreneurs, the founders and leaders of these companies went against the status quo. While they recognized the full range of choices they had regarding the business, and they made the conscious decision to step out of their comfort zone and do something different.
Which leads to the second point: the leaders overcame enormous pressures on successful companies to take new paths. Through soul searching and trusting their true passions, they charted their own course.
The next few points have to do with “intimacy.”
First, each company had an intimate relationship with the local city, town or country in which it did business. The community helped mold business so much that it became a key thread of the fabric that kept it all together. They also cultivated an exceptionally intimate relationship with customers and suppliers, based on personal contact, one-on-one interaction, and mutual commitment to the larger ideals of the business. Finally, the companies had unusually intimate workplaces – they treated employees as human beings first and employees second.
What was different in all the examples were the corporate structures and modes of governance, but what was the same across the board is the passion that all these leaders had for their business. Regardless of the kind of company, each of them had a strong emotional attachment and personal connection to the business that made them do their best work.
As I dive head first into this entrepreneurial journey, books like this remind me that you don’t have to be big to be great. You don’t have to take the path that’s outlined for you. All you need is passion and that will eventually turn into profits, too.
Moving forward on this blog, I’ll be providing a range of content from profiles of other “small giants” in our community, to insights on purpose driven campaigns, and some thoughts on the industry overall. It’s my hope that by providing inspiring stories of companies doing some good in this world, it will create broader awareness for the causes and the people behind the movements they’ve created.
xoxo, Morgan