Which team looks familiar?

Take a look at this chart (click to enlarge) summarizing typical team behavior (especially at the executive level) for companies on their rise to the top, as well as companies on their way back down.

It’s from Jim Collins’ excellent new book, How The Mighty Fall, summarizing the traits of companies on their way up towards the pinnacle of success, as well as traits that typically symbolize an organization in decline (whether or not they know it yet).

You’ll probably recognize behavior on both sides. Changing the “on the way down” habits in your organization can be difficult, especially if they’re baked into the current culture. But hard doesn’t mean impossible.

What are the things you could do – this week – to get your teams thinking, and acting, more like the column on the right?