Rinsing Your Cottage Cheese

WHAT:

Dave Scott

            What does rinsing your cottage cheese have to do with leadership or being a great company? The exact same thought crossed my mind when I read chapter 6 of Good To Great, and came across a section entitled “Rinsing Your Cottage Cheese.” It’s an extreme example of a disciplined action. Through his research, author Jim Collins found that in order for a company to move from good to great, they must have a disciplined culture. The analogy describes the intense level of commitment Dave Scott, a six-time Hawaii Ironman champion, had in absolutely every part of his training. Even though he already burned 5,000 calories a day, he would STILL literally rinse his cottage cheese to get extra fat off. That’s disciplined commitment. Collins uses the analogy to illustrate the importance of doing every little thing in one’s power to reach your goals – like rinsing cottage cheese.

SO WHAT:

            I really think this point illustrates a stark distinction between good companies and great companies. Good companies can be disciplined. They may have a certain framework they follow and certain policies that guide the way they conduct business. The difference between the discipline in a good company and the discipline in a great company is the sincere dedication and willpower to see the discipline as an opportunity to be the very best. Collins uses an example comparing this difference in the actions of Bank of America and Wells Fargo during bank deregulation. While they both realized the need to cut expenses and eliminate waste, Wells Fargo “rinsed their cottage cheese,” if you will, and Bank of America just dieted. Wells Fargo froze executive salaries and shut down executive dining, whereas Bank of America didn’t even consider recommendations made at board meetings, like selling their corporate jet. Great companies confront the brutal facts of their reality, like Wells Fargo did, and they still aspire to be the best despite the circumstances. They take every single action they can in order to prevail, even if that means losing certain perks – like a corporate jet or fancy meal.

NOW WHAT:

            Before reading this chapter, I was definitely one of those people that discounted “the little things” and usually decided against taking that extra little step of effort because I really didn’t think they would make all that difference. However, after reading Dave Scott’s story, I think I’m beginning to understand why rinsing his cottage cheese isn’t all that crazy of an idea. There’s a lot that companies, and even individual people, can take away from this idea. It’s not enough to just be disciplined. You have to instill and reinforce the idea that strong discipline is the key to being great, and only then will you achieve sustained, extraordinary results.