Raise your hand if you’ve read Good to Great by Jim Collins.

🙋‍♂️

With four million copies sold, most CEOs would say “yes” by now.

Let’s boil the book down to one line.

Good is the enemy of great.

Yet most people stop at good because it’s much, much easier than becoming great.

At least it was.

Here’s the question I posed to 100 CEOs, founders and executives at Highland’s flagship event this past week on our farm in Whitefish, Montana.

What happens when great gets easy?

When everyone around you – including your competitors – can produce great work in a matter of minutes.

What do you do then?

* * *

The flood of great.

Twelve months ago, most of us used Claude and ChatGPT for asking questions and doing research. But now, in September 2026, most of us create near-final (or even final) work products with AI.

Memos. Decks. Wireframes. Prototypes. Content.

And holy shit, did the floodgates open.

All of a sudden, Jimmy the intern is cranking out executive-level work like he’s straight out of McKinsey.

Honestly, I expected most of this AI-produced work to suck. And a lot of it does. Weak thinking disguised as 1,000-word essays or complex prototypes that have no idea what problem they’re actually solving.

But here’s what surprised me.

A lot of it’s actually quite good. Maybe even great.

The kind of work that, a year ago, would’ve gotten you a “you crushed this!” from your boss.

Now Jimmy can produce it before lunch without breaking a sweat.

And so can your competitor’s Jimmy. Every one of them.

Now it starts to get a little weird.

* * *

Great isn’t good enough.

Straight A’s work in school. But they don’t work in business. Not when everyone else gets them too.

Your customers aren’t grading you against your own pre-AI standards. They’re grading you against your souped-up competitor that has AI coming out of their nose.

Why should they choose your version of great over theirs?

If your answer sounds anything like the Daft Punk song Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, you’re in trouble already.

Not because any of those four things are inherently wrong. I like being supercharged on AI too.

But here’s the danger of the period we’re in.

Everyone in your company can become better and faster at their job, while the company as a whole becomes more and more average over time.

This is the AI-induced blind spot I’m seeing everywhere right now.

* * *

Great to Uniquely Great.

If great isn’t good enough, what is?

Imagine two tropical islands. Both have potential customers.

One island is easy to get to because of the current. The other is hard, and even a bit dangerous.

Now imagine a thousand boats. Each one is a competitor. The race starts and every boat heads to the first island with the current. No one goes to the second. The white caps are big enough to freak anyone out.

Which way would you go?

If you head to the first island maybe you get there in time to set up shop and win some customers. But once everyone else arrives, getting there early stops being enough. Suddenly, you’re in a bloody battle with a thousand pissed-off sailors.

But what if you head to the second island?

Those customers have no one. But is the danger worth it?

You decide yes. Your unique experience, strengths and ideas can get you through the passage AND serve that specific group of customers better than anyone else.

You pull up on shore drenched and exhausted, but receive a hero’s welcome.

You understood what they needed. You put your strengths to work. And you were brave enough to try.

That’s uniquely great.

* * *

It starts with your Northstar.

So how do you decide which island is right for you, and get your entire team heading toward it?

That’s what the Highland Northstar framework helps you define.

Your mission. Values. Vision. Strategy. Priorities. Together they create your unique business fingerprint, and give your team (and AI) the right inputs to scale.

Because remember, AI is simply an accelerator.

If the input is crap, it will accelerate crap.

If the input is great, it will accelerate great.

If the input is uniquely great, it will accelerate what makes you special.

This is why defining your Northstar is so damn important. It’s setting a course to that second island. Your island.

With all the piña coladas in the world.

* * *

A workshop you can try.

This is the first exercise we did at Highland Workshops last week to help every company define what makes it uniquely great.

Click here to get the full thing.

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So did Jim Collins get it wrong?

No. It’s still one of my favorite books of all time. The principles hold, but in 2026, you need to go further.

Good is still the enemy of great. But great alone won’t make you the obvious choice anymore.

That takes becoming uniquely great.

Till next time,

Never say die 🏴‍☠️

Scot

→ scotchisholm.com
→ highlandacademy.com

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P.S. Here are a few more pictures from Highland Workshops 2026 in Whitefish, Montana. If you’re interested in coming next year, sign up for Highland Academy (the self-paced program), or apply to the live coaching program here.

Onward.

🐐🏔️