However, it’s HOW you deliver on your promises where differentiation occurs.

As Porter summarizes, “A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve.

Jim Collins discovered that enduring companies operate with a dual dynamic that he labeled “preserve the core/stimulate progress.

In general, you’ll pick a Critical Number that will address either an opportunity or a challenge on the People/Balance Sheet side of the business (e.g., reduce employee turnover, improve customer service scores, or dramatically reduce a credit line with the bank) or the Process/Profit & Loss side (e.g., improve gross margins, reduce production cycle time, or increase sales close ratios).

Jim Collins’ Harvard Business Review article “Turning Goals Into Results: e Power of Catalytic Mechanisms