The new question: Ten years after the worldwide bestseller "Good to Great," Jim Collins returns to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncerta... read full description
reviews
Feb 14, 2012
Loy
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What were some of the most shocking / memorable incidents you can recollect since the last 10 years?
• 9/11?
• The Financial Meltdown? Lehman Brothers? Billions getting wiped out?
• The iPod, iPad, iPhone revolution?
A lot has happened in the last 10 years.
Giants who were invincible are now forever invisible.
The corporations with abundant financial health are today on a dying life support system.
The mortal legends whom we always remembered have becom More...
Feb 12, 2012
Shaun
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This was a quick read for me and very inspiring. I've loved the other Jim Collins' books, including Good to Great, which is a must read for anyone in business. In this book he compares companies that have strived in uncertainty, or companies that did 10 times better than most companies in the same timeframe. He calls these companies 10Xers and they are as follows: Amgen, Biomet, Intel, Microsoft, Progressive Insurance, Southwest Airlines and Stryker. He also relates the story of Roald Amundsen's
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Dec 22, 2011
Owen
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This book was recommended by a coworker who've also referred me to Emotional Intelligence 2.0--another great book for my leadership development. In Collins' new book he relies on the method you've seen in previous books like Built to Last and Good to Great. What's different in this one is he selected companies not just on their status or explosive growth, but because they succeeded in an extreme and uncertain environment. However, there's a caveat here: his research stopped in 2002, meaning ther
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Oct 30, 2011
Nick
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Wow another classic from Jim Collins! Great by Choice is a definite read for anybody trying to make an effect change in the world through organizations and companies.
This time around Jim is joined by University of California Berkeley Business Professor Morten Hansen as they work to answer the question, "Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not?" To answer this question both Collins and Morten use the matched-pair case method in which they pai More...
This time around Jim is joined by University of California Berkeley Business Professor Morten Hansen as they work to answer the question, "Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not?" To answer this question both Collins and Morten use the matched-pair case method in which they pai More...
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Jan 18, 2012
Chad
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This book is an engaging exploration of why some companies become great while others don't, despite experiencing similar uncertainty, chaos, and “luck”. It shows that greatness depends on action and discipline, not circumstance or luck. Essentially, success depends more on what we do than what the world does to us. This finding is encouraging and empowering, since we often feel that we’re at the mercy of forces outside our control.
I liked the point that one of the most important forms More...
I liked the point that one of the most important forms More...
Nov 08, 2011
Lewis
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I love Jim Collins' books, and it's a shame that they're thought of as business books. Though the research centers upon businesses due to the many common and comparable factors that businesses share, all of the concepts that his research team infer from the data are applicable to any type of organization.
Great by Choice, concentrating on why some companies manage to thrive in adversity while others go bust, is certainly timely, but it seems briefer and simpler that Collins' Good to Gr More...
Great by Choice, concentrating on why some companies manage to thrive in adversity while others go bust, is certainly timely, but it seems briefer and simpler that Collins' Good to Gr More...
Dec 31, 2011
Brett
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What is the role of luck in business, leadership, and life? Comparing similar companies in especially chaotic and uncertain industries (health care, airline, computers, etc.) Collins and Hansen’s research indicates that more than just luck separates the winners and losers. Rather, the winners – labeled 10X companies (those companies that outperformed the industry index by at least 10 times) – exhibited fanatic discipline, empirical creativity, and productive paranoia. 10X companies relied on
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Feb 21, 2012
Jane
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The concepts in this book are solid. The text seemed somewhat repetitive. Not only that, but just about all of their findings about what distinguishes companies that blow away the competition even in tough times are simply rigorous application of the theory of what works. Zoom out, zoom in? Use both Sensing and Intuition. SMaC? Keeping what works is the strength of those who prefer Introversion and Sensing, and further, is often seen as "resistance" by leaders with other preferences. I
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Dec 17, 2011
Terry
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Jim Collins wrote another gem. It is not as good as Good to Great (one of my top two all-time business favorites....Thriving on Chaos is the other), but it is still an outstanding book. The volatile nature of business in this day and age is a reality....Great by Choice really does offer practical, effective teaching to thrive in such an environment. Mr. Collins took an unusual research approach: he selected the companies with the greatest 15 year returns on shareholders equity during the late
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Jan 23, 2012
Nicole
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The fourth book in the series of business management studies by Jim Collins and his colleagues. Built to Last was the first, followed by Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall.
In a quote from the book jacket, Great by Choice is the result of a study of "companies that rose to greatness - beating their industry indexes by a minimum of ten times over fifteen years - in environments characterized by big forces and rapid shifts that leaders could not predict or control." Accor More...
In a quote from the book jacket, Great by Choice is the result of a study of "companies that rose to greatness - beating their industry indexes by a minimum of ten times over fifteen years - in environments characterized by big forces and rapid shifts that leaders could not predict or control." Accor More...
Dec 11, 2011
Joe
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We live in chaotic business times. Wouldn't it be great to have a guide book on how to handle things? Well, here it is.
I love when I read a book, and it inspires me to read other books. I've never wanted to read about the race to the South Pole, but now I do. Climbing Everest, never interested me before, now I'm adding books to my queue.
The biggest takeaway from this book is that preparation is important. You can't be prepared for every disaster, but being ready for *A* More...
I love when I read a book, and it inspires me to read other books. I've never wanted to read about the race to the South Pole, but now I do. Climbing Everest, never interested me before, now I'm adding books to my queue.
The biggest takeaway from this book is that preparation is important. You can't be prepared for every disaster, but being ready for *A* More...
Dec 08, 2011
Andrew
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Organizational leadership books are "fun reading" to me and Collins books are at the top of my list. I appreciate his rigorous intention to say only what is quantifiably demonstrable (although I still wonder if there aren't some statistical smoke and mirrors at play from time to time). It is intriguing to see that so much of what he concludes after crunching all the numbers are principles already taught by Jesus. I suppose I could just read the Bible over and over (and I do do that)
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Feb 08, 2012
Gene
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"We cannot predict the future, but we can create it." Thus begins another business master work by Jim Collins. The question that Collins and co-author Morton Hansen seek to answer this time around is the following: "Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others don't?"
The authors follow a familiar template presented in previous works including Built to Last, Good to Great and How The Mighty Fall. Compare a small list of similar companies o More...
The authors follow a familiar template presented in previous works including Built to Last, Good to Great and How The Mighty Fall. Compare a small list of similar companies o More...
Dec 06, 2011
Morgan
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It's really 183 pages (the rest is just research notes). The whole book is summarized on page 175. There's some interesting anecdotes and the ideas make sense, but this is a very slight (as in not very deep) book. What makes a company great is that they do deep analysis of the business, prepare, take advantage of success without endangering the company, re-evaluate periodically, and work steadily for success, making adjustments if necessary.
Feb 06, 2012
Brian
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Another solid business book by Jim Collins. The ultimate take away from the book is that greatness is defined not by our situations, but our choices in those situations.
I especially enjoyed the "20 mile march" concept, and the measure "Return on Luck".
Recommended not just to business people. Principles here would apply to any organization, including one's personal development.
I especially enjoyed the "20 mile march" concept, and the measure "Return on Luck".
Recommended not just to business people. Principles here would apply to any organization, including one's personal development.
Dec 12, 2011
Colleen
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Wow! One of those books that gives you a true nuts and bolts explantion as to why some succeed, despite difficult circumstances, and what they do that allows them to succeed. Although this research come from the corporate world, it can be applied anywhere and, more important, it's something that's actually possible to achieve (not easy, but possible).I found it both helpful and inspirantional.
Oct 29, 2011
Wellington
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I expected a lot of A-HA moments from this book. But left with a number of almost A-HA moments. The closest A-HA moment was the reference to Gladwell's hockey player age discrimination.
The book is a lot shorter than expected because it has many chapters devoted to the methodology behind their research.
Jan 08, 2012
Xialin
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lessons learnt: being consistent; being creative; and being prepared for any luck (good or bad) that may happen to you. when you've been good at a certain level, keep balanced is another challenge. it's easy to achieve success at a particular moment in life. the difficulty lies in being great for long. that's why 'fanatic discipline' matters a lot.
Feb 22, 2012
Heather
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Hate to admit it, so many people guiding by this right now, I didn't love it. Still prefer many of his other works. Really struggled through knowing that everything I was reading was based on data that was in no way related to today. If data collection had continued even 5 - 7 more years and the results were the same then I could buy in. But I the results would NOT have been the same. So why write the book. Overall the principles are still valid for many organizations - have a guiding 'mar
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Feb 19, 2012
Stephanie
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Though it's about businesses, the concepts transfer to all of life! I love the stories of the mountain climbers and CEOs--a lot of focus and direction for those with a goal in sight! Great leaders aren't born! The way they know how to lead their organizations through crises and uncertainty is something we can all benefit from emulating!
Feb 13, 2012
Matt
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Good book about taking charge of your destiny in an uncertain world. Relatively light reading as per most business books, but refreshing in that it provides methodology for the data collection and the reasoning is not terribly tortured. Recommended.
Jan 04, 2012
Very interesting book giving huge insights to the top 7 companies as to why they have continued to be great!. Very detailed research and comparisons. Quite an easy read.Highly recommend to those interested in business.
Jan 13, 2012
Jay
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Well researched. Aligns with Collins' books Good to Great and Built to Last while presenting new insight about why some companies "thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not."
Nov 07, 2011
Gil
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Fantastic book--even though I see some holes in their research. Collins books are a must-read in this genre.
They point out that the future business environment is likely to remain unstable and that companies are going to need to adopt methods to deal with uncertainty. I believe this is true.
They point out that the future business environment is likely to remain unstable and that companies are going to need to adopt methods to deal with uncertainty. I believe this is true.
Jan 04, 2012
Sheena
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Great read, love Jim Collins books. Very interesting in what separates businesses that are good to ones that are great and what they have done differently to be a step above.
Feb 21, 2012
Peter
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'A' star rating-well define. Finally a book that show you what is so great about. Every CEO wake up and read this book. I know you do.
Jan 22, 2012
Matt
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Felt like another way for the author to make money off of the same recipe. More of the same from him unfortunately.
Jan 23, 2012
Danielle
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I really liked this book. The main premise is why some companies are successful over long periods of time and some are not. It uses some interesting analogies and introduces easy to understand concepts that it repeats a few times. I liked the chapters on luck and how luck factors into the success of the company. I also like to think about the Return on Luck of my own life, essentially what you do when you are lucky or unlucky (do you maximize good luck and turn around bad luck?)
It's mi More...
It's mi More...
Feb 03, 2012
Jack
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If only all business books could be as well researched as those written by Jim Collins.
Jan 02, 2012
Aparna
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Not as good as good to great but sure has got great insights on working ethics of 10xers
