Verne Harnish studied as a mechanical engineer, after which he decided on a business career and earned an MBA. While studying at Wichita State University, he founded the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs and then expanded the concept nationally and later globally when, in 1987, he founded the Young Entrepreneurs Organization (now: EO).
Working and consulting with the members of EO in the following 15 years inspired Harnish to publish Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm (2002).
His goal was to create a toolset of fundamental principles for running a great business. He was inspired by John D. Rockefeller’s leadership and management principles, GE’s management philosophies, Jim Collins’s Hedgehog Concept, and others.
Specifically, he picked up three habits from Rockefeller:
- Set annual and quarterly priorities and a quarterly theme for the business.
- Collect and use data to make sure the company is running effectively and delivers what the market demands.
- Maintain organizational alignment using daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual meetings.
Harnish also embraced Rockefeller’s concept of finding the “choke point” of a business and taking control of it. He mentions the example of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, which focused on…
