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Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
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Average Rating:  out of 707 Reviews
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Price: $29.99
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Sale: $14.00
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Manufacturer: Collins Business
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780066620992
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Hardcover
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Author: Jim Collins
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Publisher: Collins Business
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Edition: 1
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Dewey Decimal Number: 658
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Publication Date: 2001-10
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Reading Level: 300
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Description: Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Theory vs Reality |
Date: 2008-12-03 |
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Details: The research behind this book is impressive and the theories are engaging. On the whole, it's well written and it all makes good sense. Most of these firms have done well over time, while some have not (e.g., Fannie May, Circuit City). What Good to Great does not cover is the role of serendipity and changing market conditions. Nor does it focus on customers. You may want to check out Firms of Endearment for another perceptive. |
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Review Summary: Proven Principles of Success, for Big Companies, Small Start-Ups, and Even Families |
Date: 2008-11-23 |
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Details: Jim Collins' classic book on creating a great company contains success principles that apply to big corporations, small clubs, and even families.
* Level 5 Leadership (Leaders with humility and strength, but no ego)
* First Who, Then What (Get the right people first before deciding the direction)
* Confront the Brutal Facts (Create systems to face reality)
* Hedgehog Concept (Focus on One Big Thing that Unites Everything Else)
* Building Your Company's Vision (Focus on the Core Ideology and Envisioned Future)
There are so many profound truths in this simple, yet well-researched, book. Two insights that changed my life are those of "Level 5 Leadership," and "First Who, Then What."
We tend to get caught up in the charismatic, egotistical leaders that seem larger than life. Yet, these leaders' success often starts and ends with their involvement. Their legacies do not continue without them since everything depended on them. This was a big shift in the way I thought and acted. In the past, I was focused on doing everything my way. Now, I'm focused on scalable systems and replicable recipes that can grow my dreams, even without me. While you will always influence your company's culture, it is vital to create an organization that will always thrive, with or without you.
There's a saying in venture capital that we should bet on the jockey, not on the horse. All the best laid plans are doomed to failure without the proper people who can execute on them. Everything in our lives depends on our relationships and networks. We should build those first before we build the imaginary theories and plans. You must have a sense of the direction and the strategy BEFORE you go out and make your team, but your team ultimately matters even more than your plans. Your team decides how those dreams become reality.
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Review Summary: For hiring managers, and those looking for leaders |
Date: 2008-11-11 |
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Details: Jim Collins and his team of researchers have surveyed over 1,400 companies, systematically analysed 6,000 publicly available articles, and carried out numerous face to face interviews with senior managers. The finding, the single most important factor to the health of a company - Leadership. The author asserted that they purposely steer away from such attribute as there are no shortage of business books paying the same platitude.
Every company vision statement reads like the next one. When did anyone last read a company which doesn't claim its employee is its greatest asset ? Yet, most see it fit to outsource its most critical function - finding the "right people". If every great company gets it right, there wouldn't be much of a recruitment industry. Recruitment agents will becomes redundant. It is the responsibility of every employee to find the right co-workers. Wait, isn't Google doing exactly that ? Jack Welch, John Chambers, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have all said their main job was to find the right people. Hire the right people first, then create a position to suit the person. Find passionate people, find people with integrity, find someone who would run the company like he/she owns it, hire this person straight away. This is how the author puts it,
"Widen your definition of "right people" to focus more on the character attributes of the person and less on specialised knowledge. People can learn skills and acquire knowledge, but they can not learn the essential characters traits that make them right for your organisation."
Since the publication of Good to Great it has attracted some criticism, primarily for its selection of what's on the Great company list. Much of the companies have since fallen on hard time, a few short years after its publication. Those views are some what misplaced. Good to Great doesn't give investment advice. It study the companies and the people that runs them, and dismissed a few myths along the way. Great leaders are often media shy, less worry about management "buy in" and much prefer hearing the truth, and definitely less charismatic than the media like to portray. A CEO should be working for the good of the company, and less about building his/her own personal profile. The big personality, the management superstar, the hyper arrogant (often misunderstood as self confidence) work against an environment in which employee are encouraged to take calculated risks, and find innovative solutions. |
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Review Summary: "Good to Great" an exceptional leadership reference |
Date: 2008-11-09 |
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Details: "Good to Great" is an exceptional analytical review, focused on leadership, documenting the attributes of leaders of enduring great companies. The text effectively differentiates the leadership attributes of great companies from enduring great companies. |
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Review Summary: A good look at what companies can do to manage talent |
Date: 2008-10-09 |
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Details: Stock findings aside, this book has good talent management strategies, including getting the right people on the bus and making sure everyone is going towards the same goal. Nothing revolutionary, but still helpful. I also found the monograph Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great helpful in the non profit arena. |
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