Seven Tools to Scale Up Excellence

“…scaling requires leaders to find or develop pockets of excellence, connect people and teams, and ensure that excellence continues to flow through those ties” (p. 215), and requires skill in locating, developing, linking, connecting, bridging, and cascading networks of excellence; behaviors which might also be thought of as strategies for building the social capital necessary to spread worthwhile ideas through an organization effectively. Seven tools for “making nets work” (p. 198).  Seven tools to help leaders scale up excellence in their organization are described by researchers Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao in their book, Scaling Up Excellence:

1. The Top-Down Approach: Use hierarchical structures to “create a domino chain reaction” (p. 199) to spread excellence, ideas and/or change.
2. Broadcast Your Message Out to One and All:  Develop thorough communication processes and sharing of ideas.
3. Surround Them: Have the Many Teach the Few: Embed new employees among established team members who already embrace the desired behaviors and attitudes so as to spread the mindset through mentoring.
4. One-on-One, and The Power of Pairs: Use embedded, strategic pairs to spread excellence.
5. From the Few to the Many: Use a group of determined people to spread change.
6. Broker: Bridging Disconnected Islands: Use people and groups to serve as connectors to otherwise disconnected people or groups.
7. Create Crossroads Where People Connect: Use social gatherings or communal opportunities to connect people.
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Reference:​
Sutton, R.I. and Rao, H. (2014). Scaling up excellence: Getting to more without settling for less. London, UK: Penguin Random House.