Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

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Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 32,004 ratings · 1,681 reviews

The Challenge Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.

But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring gre...more The Challenge Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.

But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?

The Study For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

The Standards Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.

The Comparisons The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?

Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.

The Findings The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include: Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness. The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology. The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.

"Some of the key concepts discerned in the study," comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people."

Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?(less)

Hardcover, 300 pages

Published October 16th 2001 by HarperBusiness (first published January 1st 2001)

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Aug 31, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Nishant Singh

Recommended to Riku by: Prof. Neerja Pande

First and foremost, Good to Great has no breakthrough concepts to offer. Collins is good at inventive metaphors and catch phrases to push concepts through but ultimately there is really nothing counter-intuitive or revolutionary about the results of this study.

That said, the concepts in the book might still be valuable for managers, CEOs and other professionals. Here is a brief summary of the book and a short tour on how to take your company from Good to Great:

Think of this as a time-line to be...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Chad Kettner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: business

Here are Jim Collins' seven characteristics of companies that went "from good to great"

1. Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what's best for the company.

2. First Who, Then What: Get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Finding the right people and trying them out in different positions.

3. Confront the Brutal Facts: The Stockdale paradox - Confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope.

4. Hedgehog Concept: Three...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just (12/21/2011) re-read the book and love the concepts. But I knocked a star off of my rating since during this re-read I felt like the author puffed up the findings and, indirectly, himself. Sure, good-to-great principles seem to be true, insightful, and necessary for a transformation. I even found that re-reading this book helped me to realize I was being quite undisciplined in my use of time (trying to create momentum by doing, doing, doing instead of "unplugging extraneous junk.") But I do...more Just (12/21/2011) re-read the book and love the concepts. But I knocked a star off of my rating since during this re-read I felt like the author puffed up the findings and, indirectly, himself. Sure, good-to-great principles seem to be true, insightful, and necessary for a transformation. I even found that re-reading this book helped me to realize I was being quite undisciplined in my use of time (trying to create momentum by doing, doing, doing instead of "unplugging extraneous junk.") But I don't think Collins has found the gospel and he plays it up to that level.

I started reading it and then gave it to my boss. I'm currently listening to the audio book but I would like to own a hardcover copy. (2007)

The concept that has struck me as most applicable (so far), particularly with respect to businesses, is the need to get the right people on the team first and in the right positions, then decide what to do. Managers should not waste time and energy motivating people to excellence. Instead, they should give self-motivating people a vision they can support and work hard to bring to realization. Fewer great people on the team are better than lots of mediocre people. The mediocre people just make extra work for the great people and the net result is "good". It's easier to be great than good.

Another interesting concept I've been told about, but haven't read about yet, is the flywheel. Progress is made by implementing small changes at opportune times. Momentum is gained slowly and steadily by these small, periodic decisions. The image used by Collins is that of a flywheel with lots of inertia. Each little push eases the flywheel ahead. The wheel starts rotating slowly but as little pushes continue to be made, the wheel picks up momentum and is hard to stop. This concept is seen in the growth that companies like Google have experienced. Google started out as just a slightly better search engine. Small changes at opportune times have turned it into the booming multi-service company that it is today(less)

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Aug 01, 2008 Jamie rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book by Jim Collins is one of the most successful books to be found in the "Business" section of your local megabookstore, and given how it purports to tell you how to take a merely good company and make it great, it's not difficult to see why that might be so. Collins and his crack team of researchers say they swam through stacks of business literature in search of info on how to pull this feat off, and came up with a list of great companies that illustrate some concepts central to the puz...more This book by Jim Collins is one of the most successful books to be found in the "Business" section of your local megabookstore, and given how it purports to tell you how to take a merely good company and make it great, it's not difficult to see why that might be so. Collins and his crack team of researchers say they swam through stacks of business literature in search of info on how to pull this feat off, and came up with a list of great companies that illustrate some concepts central to the puzzle. They also present for each great company what they call a "comparison company," which is kind of that company with a goatee and a much less impressive earnings record. The balance of the book is spent expanding on pithy catch phrases that describe the great companies, like "First Who, Then What" or "Be a Hedgehog" or "Grasp the Flywheel, not the Doom Loop." No, no, I'm totally serious.

I've got several problems with this book, the biggest of which stem from fundamentally viewpoints on how to do research. Collin's brand of research is not my kind. It's not systematic, it's not replicable, it's not generalizable, it's not systematic, it's not free of bias, it's not model driven, and it's not collaborative. It's not, in short, scientific in any way. That's not to say that other methods of inquiry are without merit --the Harvard Business Review makes pretty darn good use of case studies, for example-- but way too often Collins's great truths seemed like square pegs crammed into round holes, because a round hole is what he wants. For example, there's no reported search for information that disconfirms his hypotheses. Are there other companies that don't make use of a Culture of Discipline (Chapter 6, natch) but yet are still great according to Collins's definition? Are there great companies that fail to do some of the things he says should make them great? The way that the book focuses strictly on pairs of great/comparison companies smacks of confirmatory information bias, which is a kink in the human mind that drives us to seek out and pay attention to information that confirms our pre-existing suppositions and ignore information that fails to support them.

Relatedly, a lot of the book's themes and platitudes strike me as owing their popularity to the same factors that make the horoscope or certain personality tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator so popular: they're so general and loosely defined that almost anyone can look at that and not only say that wow, that make sense, and I've always felt the same way! This guy and me? We're geniuses! The chapter about "getting the right people on the bus" that extols the virtue of hiring really super people is perhaps the most obvious example. Really, did anyone read this part and think "Oh, man. I've been hiring half retarded chimps. THAT'S my problem! I should hire GOOD people!" Probably not, and given that Collins doesn't go into any detail about HOW to do this or any of his other good to great pro tips, I'm not really sure where the value is supposed to be.

It also irked me that Good to Great seems to try and exist in a vacuum, failing to relate its findings to any other body of research except Collins's other book, Built to Last. The most egregious example of this is early on in Chapter 2 where Collins talks about his concept of "Level 5 Leadership," which characterizes those very special folks who perch atop a supposed leadership hierarchy. The author actually goes into some detail describing Level 5 leaders, but toward the end of the chapter he just shrugs his figurative shoulders and says "But we don't know how people get to be better leaders. Some people just are." Wait, what? People in fields like Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Organizational Development have been studying, scientifically, what great leaders do and how to do it for decades. We know TONS about how to become a better leader. There are entire industries built around it. You would think that somebody on the Good to Great research team may have done a cursory Google search on this.

So while Good to Great does have some interesting thoughts and a handful of amusing or even fascinating stories to tell about the companies it profiles (I liked, for example, learning about why Walgreens opens so many shops in the same area, even to the point of having stores across the street from each other in some cities), ultimately it strikes me as vague generalities and little to no practical information about how to actually DO anything to make your company great.(less)

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Apr 24, 2008 Giuliana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Giuliana by: Alec

Shelves: reviews

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. If you watched the corresponding documentary on PBS, you probably won't need to read this book. If you haven't, then maybe you might be interested in how certain companies manage to turn from good to great (i.e., from reasonable profit to outstanding performances that outshine established market leaders). You aren't? Well, you should, because the golden rules presented in this book can be applied to almost all aspects of life.

Alec, who is responsible for buying this book*, commented on the secon...more

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Nov 27, 2007 Sergei Nemirovsky rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is yet another example of somebody trying to come up with a "how-to" looking into the proverbial rear-view mirror. All successes are infinitely unique. This book would be so-so as a "memoir" of particular companies, but in its attempt to extrapolate from that into some sort of a manual of how to run a business it becomes completely useless.

True, it has some common sense thoughts, but they are so obvious and, hmm... common sense that if you haven't thought of them before reading this book y...more

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Aug 25, 2007 Deli rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone without common sense

OK, so I'm making my way through this book... painfully, slowly, pyromaniacly.... and, I do have to say it is FANTASTIC if you find yourself surrounded by people without common sense. Of course, I don't have a business degree... oh, wait, I'm not supposed to have common sense.

Anyways, now that I've trailed off into ADD tangents, my boss gave me this book to read and I do like the principles. I have one thing to say: way better than the teaching books I used to have to read. GEESH!

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Sep 26, 2012 Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: business, audiobook

There are many great reviews of this book that summarize its message in a few sentences, and that's one of the strengths of the book -- its messages are few, have memorable names for the concepts, and make sense. But in general, they can be boiled down to platitudes, and they mostly make common sense. Worrying is that rigor is applied to determine the causes of becoming great, yet causality isn't proved but implied. This reminds me of another book I read in business school that did the same kind...more There are many great reviews of this book that summarize its message in a few sentences, and that's one of the strengths of the book -- its messages are few, have memorable names for the concepts, and make sense. But in general, they can be boiled down to platitudes, and they mostly make common sense. Worrying is that rigor is applied to determine the causes of becoming great, yet causality isn't proved but implied. This reminds me of another book I read in business school that did the same kind of analysis but based on marketing and financial numbers. This kind of thing is done all the time (where's our book on greatness based on social media presense?).

Also cringeworthy are the great companies that have fallen from grace, specifically Circuit City and Fannie Mae. Seems to tell you that the environment has a big impact on greatness, at least more than I noticed in this book. (Hey, Porter!)

I listened to this on audio, and they actually do a great job for this kind of book. For one, the paper book has a number of tables and diagrams, and the narrator described them well. In addition, the book had a number of appendices, and gratefully the narrator didn't read them, but instead described them and gave examples of how they could be used. The version of the audiobook I listened to also had an extensive Q&A section at the end, answering some obvious questions that the book provoked (but not all well). These changes from pure narration of the book made this much more listenable than any other business audiobooks I've heard. On top of this, the narrator had an excitement as he read this -- it was like being at a sales presentation. It did keep the interest level up.

My test of a business book is whether I will change my actions based on the book, or if I have new things to think about. This one fails both tests. I'm not at a level in my organization or other groups that I have control enough to accomplish what is recommended. And, as I said, this was relatively common sensical. In summary, if you are in charge of hiring and/or strategic management of a group, this could be interesting. If you are a SME (and don't have your own cross country team), it's probably not worth your time - read the summaries and reviews instead.(less)

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Mar 01, 2012 TarasProkopyuk rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, 0el, management, multiple, strategy

В мире есть и было много компаний. Многих людей интересует в чём секрет успеха одних и ошибки краха других. Эта книга без сомнения результат одного из наилучших исследований принципов подлинного успеха компаний. Книга для тех кто ищет формулу прочного фундамента уже существующего бизнеса, или того бизнеса, который только рождается в мыслях.
Рекомендую как обязательную к прочтению.

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Jun 12, 2007 Kristina rated it 2 of 5 stars

If you are looking for sweeping generalizations and a unifying theory of everything, well hey, this offer has all of that and a bridge in Brooklyn that he wants to offer you.

Although this book does have some interesting information, it is also full of relationships that are declared by the author as causal, but may indeed just be coincidental or correlative.

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Feb 21, 2009 Kathleen Tallent rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this in a leadership class and it was very appropriate. I will never be the CEO of a major company, but I will help run a household, participate in a church family, help lead a therapy team, and will have many more opportunities to lead. This book gave a lot of insight into why companies are able to climb in growth and industry, but that same insight can be applied in most of life circumstances where people are grouped together. I recommended this book to multiple people working in large...more

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Jun 07, 2009 Chad Warner rated it 1 of 5 stars

Recommended to Chad by: Jeff Disher

Shelves: non-fiction, business

I was hoping this book would give me some guidelines to remember when I start my own business. There were a few good points, but nothing compelling. Reading this book wasn't a very good use of my time.

Tips from the book:

First Who, then What
First, get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off it), then figure out where to drive. Having the right people in the company is more important than deciding what the company will do, because the right people will help make that decision anyway....more

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May 03, 2012 Dan W rated it 2 of 5 stars

There is a valuable lesson in this book:

- Books are printed to make someone else money.

With this singular lesson in mind you can now unlock the secrets of all business and marketing books: the lesson isn't printed on the page, it's between the lines. This book sought, as all 'business' books do, to titillate you with facts, get you revved about the possibilities in your life to acquire great and fabulous riches through the magic of 'excellence' and set you loose into the world with your hair on...more

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Jun 21, 2009 The Knowledge Guy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-nonfiction

Good to Great is Jim Collins’s follow-up to Built to Last , the 1994 management classic, which he co-wrote with Jerry Porras. Like Built to Last , Good to Great is built on Collins’s research. In fact, Collins spent five years of research assisted by 20 business school students, who analyzed 1,435 public companies for this book. Their findings - just 11 companies from were able to sustainable their good to great efforts.

Many experts have problems with the way Collins and his team performed the...more Good to Great is Jim Collins’s follow-up to Built to Last , the 1994 management classic, which he co-wrote with Jerry Porras. Like Built to Last , Good to Great is built on Collins’s research. In fact, Collins spent five years of research assisted by 20 business school students, who analyzed 1,435 public companies for this book. Their findings - just 11 companies from were able to sustainable their good to great efforts.

Many experts have problems with the way Collins and his team performed their “research.” And they may have a point. Some argue that the work is bias and his “greatness model” does pass the replicable test. Others argue that Collins’s measure for greatness is flawed. Additionally, Collins’s work fails to be classified as true research because it does not follow scientific method. These arguments may be a bit unfair because some of the variables in business do not lend themselves well to true research; greatness is a subjective quality; and the amount of immeasurable historical variables for this particular project is so immense. If research of this nature was an easy task, we should have written tried and tested formulas for perfect businesses, leaders, schools, cities, et alia during our 3,000 plus years of civilization.

Good to Great may not be perfect research but it is a good start in that direction. Unlike many business books that are based on hype and after-market consulting services, Good to Great is mainly based on good old fashion business principles. Sure, Collins renames some of them with gimmicky names like Hedgehog Concept and The Flywheel . And Level 5 Leadership smells of after-market money. But for the most part, Collins’s book has some sound principles in it that the reader shouldn’t necessarily take as a game plan, but rather a starting point for conversation, reflection and inspiration both for themselves and their team.

Collins's words can be very inspirational. Many groups outside of the business world use the book to motivate their people to aspire for greatness. Good to Great can be a useful tool when its principles are adapted to the user’s unique situation and variables. It can get the conversation moving in the right direction for deadlocked teams. And this is where the book truly shines - Good to Great gets you thinking and motivates you to take action.

Collins states that good is the enemy of great. Time will only tell if he believes his own advice. Good to Great is a very good book. We will have to see if its success inspires Collins forward to write a great business book or undoes Collins’s own quest for excellence.(less)

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Jan 27, 2010 Sandy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: business

I hope I don't get fired for not thinking this was the greatest book ever. Honestly, business books are not exactly my cup of tea. This book started off really interesting. The author talks about habits that great companies use to keep their companies run smoothly. Many of the suggestions the author gives seem very logical -- don't have negative people work for your company, don't try to put your hand in every pot, don't stop doing things that work well and do stop doing things that aren't worki...more I hope I don't get fired for not thinking this was the greatest book ever. Honestly, business books are not exactly my cup of tea. This book started off really interesting. The author talks about habits that great companies use to keep their companies run smoothly. Many of the suggestions the author gives seem very logical -- don't have negative people work for your company, don't try to put your hand in every pot, don't stop doing things that work well and do stop doing things that aren't working, etc.

I had two major concerns with this book. First was simply the manner in which it was written. The author spent hundreds of pages explaining what could have been explained much more succinctly. It's similar to my thesis. My completed thesis was 60+ pages, but the article I wrote to be published in a journal (which consists of the same material, more or less) was only about 15 pages. I would be more interested in this book if it was written in "journal" form, allowing me to cut out the redundancy. To the author's credit, however, I appreciated that he did give examples, as often I was very confused by his explanation of the concept, and wouldn't have understood without his providing an example they found in one of the companies.

My second major concern was the methodology. The author utilizes no scientific method for gathering data, but instead utilizes a "panning for gold" approach: throw everything into the pot and see what comes out. That, combined with overwhelming hindsight bias, makes me extremely suspicious of any and every conclusion drawn in the book. While reading this book, I was reminded of one of my undergraduate teachers explaining the advantage that Freud had as an early psychologist: because of his theories, he could not be proven wrong. How do you prove that someone isn't in denial? How do you prove that someone isn't obsessed with his mother? Likewise, how do you prove that these theories proposed by Jim Collins actually work? Indeed, Collins later predicts, at the end of his book, that any company that STOPS abiding by the principles he outlines will fail. With his "interesting" methodology, I doubt that his principles would have a causal link to either success or failure. I expect that many companies fail, and that many companies are very successful, without regard to his theories. In addition, a problem with his methodology is that he measured "greatness" by a company's sustained stock market value being a certain percentage (150%) above the general market--what about private companies? How can a private company measure greatness if that is the standard?

So, overall, I enjoyed this book at the beginning and became bored with it by the end. I think there are some good principles that can be pulled out of it, but I fear that some companies will take this book too much to heart and let other important factors slip.

Rob, please don't fire me. :)(less)

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Jan 28, 2008 Lorin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excerpt from my book, Dynamic Markets Leadership, all rights reserved:

Collins notes correctly that some Level 5 leaders have had significant life experiences such as a bout with a terminal illness, a strong confrontation in war, a religious conversion, etc. Others seemingly led “normal” lives. I would hypothesize that the “normal” lives included some of the transformational factors:
• Experiences that highlight the benefits of helping and serving others
• Experiences with norms or philosophical i...more Excerpt from my book, Dynamic Markets Leadership, all rights reserved:

Collins notes correctly that some Level 5 leaders have had significant life experiences such as a bout with a terminal illness, a strong confrontation in war, a religious conversion, etc. Others seemingly led “normal” lives. I would hypothesize that the “normal” lives included some of the transformational factors:
• Experiences that highlight the benefits of helping and serving others
• Experiences with norms or philosophical insights into enlightened self-interest: you get more by supporting the common good
• Experiences with values oriented to giving back something to the community because people along the path of your development helped you
• Experiences that naïve materialism is simply not an adequate philosophical position to explain spiritual growth and higher levels of consciousness
• Experiences with inexplicable abilities in oneself and/or others that materialist theories of reality exclude as what cannot possibly be, such as premonitions, intuitive readings of others intentions, resonance with other’s feelings, non-verbal understanding of other’s philosophical position even though it was not adequately explained, etc.
• Experience with “higher” beings who are not embodied in what we call the material body, sometimes referred to as angels, spirits, etc.
• Experience with profound respect for and appreciation of Nature (as in Mother Nature), so that ecological values simply make sense
• Experiences with inexplicable healing that does not fit into the medical model of modern medicine based on material reality using material interventions like drugs, surgery, biotechnology, gene manipulation, etc. It is not so important what modality the healing takes; it could be through prayer, touch, meditation, etc.
• Experience with a deep sense of peace and forgiveness of others
• Experience with an inner conviction, a sense of urgency about a direction to take even though most other people do not yet see the importance of it.

The last item of inner conviction, urgency, that drives Level 5 leaders to achieve. The other experiences support their belief in the conviction so they are willing to be completely dedicated. I disagree with the blanket generalization that they will do “whatever it takes” to succeed. In fact, they have a deep ethical conviction as well. They are sure about their path not merely because it might be successful but because it is aligned with the good as well.
(less)

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Jan 18, 2008 Charles rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was reluctant to buy in to a management/business book because mostly, I think they're just cash cows for publishers. But this book was different, smart in a way I didn't expect. I felt like I actually gained valuable insight into not only the organizations profiled in the book, but also into my own.

Collins matches an easy, flowing style with raw data and visuals that further clarify his points. Although I think some of his classifications of concepts are gimmicky (The Hedgehog Concept, the Doo...more

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Aug 01, 2007 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Worth reading, because all your colleagues have read it or paid someone to give them the jist of it. :)

If you read this, don't bother with "Built to Last" since much of the content is the reiterated. Ok, so Built to Last is about companies that have lasted over many eras and are still going strong. That's nice - I still feel like that's luck and adaptability, but sometimes, pure diversifation that saved some companies from themselves over the years.

As for Good to Great, it's a bit more of a kic...more

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Jun 22, 2007 Surya Winata rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone who want to have a company

buku ini buku yang ditulis berdasarkan riset bertahun-tahun yang serius, dan banyak sekali pemahaman yang sangat bertolak belakang sama pendapat umum yang sering kedengeran di dunia usaha, sbg contoh adalah pengidolaan orang dari luar untuk membuat perubahan yang radikal dalam suatu perusahaan, yang ternyata hanyalah sebuah pengaruh yang sangat kecil di perusahaan yang telah berhasil beranjak dari good to great..
salah satu yang paling menggema bagi gw setelah baca buku ini adalah tentang konsep...more

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Jan 25, 2008 Took4ever Hayes rated it 3 of 5 stars

Having worked for most of the companies that are used in this book, unfortunately, they authors only know the companies superficially.
Circuit City, as an example, is a train-wreck to work for. Their success has come at a horrible cost to their people who they do value any more than the penny their CEO walks on while on any city sidewalk. They have followed all of the worst traits of Best But ignoring any of Best Buy's favorable traits in favor of money...no people...just money.
The author ignores...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Michael David Cobb added it

Collins, in the tradition of the case study, names names and finds unique properties in the management of a number of Fortune 500 companies over a 30 year period. From a unique set of criteria he pursues, with no preconceived notions, what it takes to sustain profitability in a large public corporation which had previously been only mediocre. His findings are clear, well thought out and often surprising. In the realm of business books, this one is especially refreshing for a number of reasons.[r...more Collins, in the tradition of the case study, names names and finds unique properties in the management of a number of Fortune 500 companies over a 30 year period. From a unique set of criteria he pursues, with no preconceived notions, what it takes to sustain profitability in a large public corporation which had previously been only mediocre. His findings are clear, well thought out and often surprising. In the realm of business books, this one is especially refreshing for a number of reasons.[return][return]This is a hardheaded skeptic's book. What makes it so special is that it does not assign magic to anyone, neither to himself as a writer or to any of the officers interviewed. Collins exposes his own learning process and allows the reader to understand the nuance in the emphasis of each of his concepts as he spells out the skeptical questions that his research team posed and the deliberation they went through. Collins doesn't come off as a `guru' who has found some magic that only he and a handful of CEOs can see so much as a disciplined and curious leader of a research team struggling with difficult questions. So not only do you understand what he means as he moves from `chaos to concept', you also see arguments against his initial reasoning. And since he is dedicated only those conclusions supported by facts rather than fitting random companies into some grand theory we see exactly what he sees and why. There is none of breathless exuberance that characterizes so much of business writing.[return][return]What is most refreshing and reassuring about this book's studies is that it puts us back in a sensible framework for understanding long term success without making a fetish of `leadership' or `innovation' or `excellence' or other buzzwords. This is the kind of book that demonstrates the sort of objectivity possible in business - it doesn't obfuscate or take the position that there is something mysterious out there. Rather he makes the complex comprehensible and when the answers are simple, they are presented simply. He constantly checks and compares the difference between unsustainable and sustainable profitability. All of Collins' concepts lend themselves to the sorts of metrics upon which rugged methodologies can be built. This is more than a book of management theory; it is a learning tool, which explains itself. I cannot remember the last book where the appendices were as interesting (and sometimes more interesting) than the main text.[return][return]It might be corny to say so, but I think his findings are self-rewarding. Working from the premises put forth, it makes sense for smaller companies and organizations some of which might not even be businesses at all. `Good to Great' offers solid lessons among which are that it doesn't take more energy to behave smartly but it does take nerve. Collins dared to work smartly and has created a great book.(less)

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Dec 31, 2008 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, business

Good to Great looks at about a dozen companies that have beaten the stock market solidly (by something like 3%) consistently over a period of 15 years (not necessarily the 15 years preceding the writing of the book). There are shockingly few of them in America; indeed, the book looks at 100% of the companies that fit this criteria. These companies are defined to be the "Great" companies.

The point is to try to figure out what makes these companies great. The interesting thing is that, in all case...more

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May 03, 2013 Michael Mack rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: leadership

I guess I'm probably not the typical Jim Collins fan. I am not a business executive, but a writer/editor/minster/trainer (although I do have my BBA in Finance ... 10 years before I went into ministry). But I have found Good to Great extremely insightful and easy to implement into my leadership.

I believe that every church leader and para-church leader should read this book. Yes, you will need to adapt much of this to make these business leadership principles work in your ministry (something we sh...more I guess I'm probably not the typical Jim Collins fan. I am not a business executive, but a writer/editor/minster/trainer (although I do have my BBA in Finance ... 10 years before I went into ministry). But I have found Good to Great extremely insightful and easy to implement into my leadership.

I believe that every church leader and para-church leader should read this book. Yes, you will need to adapt much of this to make these business leadership principles work in your ministry (something we should always be seeking to do anyway, rather than simply adopting another program).

By the way, Collins wrote a companion book, Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great. I've read this one too, but found the original book to much more useful in my ministry leadership.

Can church leaders learn from secular business writers? It's just my own opinion, but I believe we can ... and should. I believe that all truly good ideas emanate from one Ultimate Source, whether the writer knew or understood the Source or not. God the Creator uses a variety of resources to reveal Himself and teach us.

I found Collins's ideas about a "Level 5" leader of particular interest for Christian leaders. I believe that the most complete Level 5 Leader--maybe the only perfect Level 5 Leader ever--is Jesus. (See my discussion about Jesus as "the Best Leader Ever" in my book, I'm a Leader...Now What?: How to Guide an Effective Small Group. I want to be a Level 5 Leader like the best leader ever!

I have adapted and implemented something from every chapter of Good to Great. Several years ago, as my team at the church where I was ministering worked on a 3-year plan and key initiatives for the following year, we spent a lot of time confronting the brutal facts (chapter 4) and defining our hedgehog concept (chapter 5). I can't even begin to tell you how useful this was in planning for our ministry.

Perhaps I resonate with this book more than the average church leader because of my background in business and my love for reading business leadership books and articles, but I believe church leaders can learn a lot from Good to Great regardless of their backgrounds. Imagine the potential kingdom impact if hundreds of local churches and ministries moved from merely "good" to "great"!(less)

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Apr 08, 2013 Ivan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: leadership

What are the key factors that turn a company from being good and into being great? That is the basic question that Jim Collins seeks to answer in his 2001 work, Good to Great. In summary fashion, good-to-great companies are made up of disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action over a long period of time in a consistent manner.

The unique contribution of this book is that in a very clear and accessible manner, it lays out the key ‘ingredients,’ if you will, of a great (and no...more What are the key factors that turn a company from being good and into being great? That is the basic question that Jim Collins seeks to answer in his 2001 work, Good to Great. In summary fashion, good-to-great companies are made up of disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action over a long period of time in a consistent manner.

The unique contribution of this book is that in a very clear and accessible manner, it lays out the key ‘ingredients,’ if you will, of a great (and not simply ‘good’) company. The book is the collection of a team effort over a five-year period of research, and not merely the fruit of one man with some novel insights into leadership and success. As one reads, there is an obvious wealth of insight that stems from a collaborative effort of painstaking and very focused research. While many books on leadership hone in on one aspect of leadership, this book covers a wide terrain, offering a wide panorama of leadership. It is very well written and organized in a helpful manner.

There were several points made that struck me as especially insightful. One extremely helpful point was that we must hire the right kind of people rather than motivating the wrong kind of people. As leaders, we too often think that maybe if we just motivate the wrong kind of people with the ‘just right’ kind of motivations, then we’ll get the ‘just right’ kind of responses. Collins comes around to argue that that kind of thinking lies at the root of ‘good’ companies but not ‘great’ ones. One will forever be attempting to motivate people forward when they’re just fine with the status quo monotony, happily doing what has always been done.

The implications for my ministry and me are twofold. For one, I want to be the right kind of person. I do not merely want to be competent and knowledgeable; I want to be a man of character. Of course, for Christians we know this all to well. The elder qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 primarily lay stress on the character of the man of God, not simply on his ability, although it does play some part (i.e., he must be able to teach). Therefore I think Collins is right when he says great companies are built with the right people. If that is missing, then the potential greatness of a ‘great’ company is in jeopardy, for it is missing an essential building block of being ‘great’. In whatever team I find myself part of in the future, whether that be on a church staff or on a faculty at a college, I must seek to be the kind of person who is independently motivated and who is striving to be the ‘right’ kind of person as God would have me be.

But secondly, I must be the kind of leader who is not only the ‘right’ kind of person, but who also builds a team of the ‘right’ kind of leaders. As I look into an uncertain future, I must reckon with the fact that God will give me certain opportunities to lead in the future. As such I will be called to wisely steward that leadership to the best of my ability. One indispensible way to accomplish that is by getting the ‘right’ kind of people on board with whatever it is I am doing. If as a youth pastor, I should not immediately seek whoever is around, no matter what they are like, to fill youth leader positions. I should strategically and soberly consider what sort of people I am bringing on, even if that means key leadership positions are not filled for the time being. As a leader, I am to be thinking long-term and not simply on a pragmatic level in the here-and-now.(less)

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Mar 31, 2013 Anthony Deluca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Good to Great
By: Jim Collins
Ready (audio) – November 2008
Reviewed – January 2009

Good to Great analyzes what it takes for a good company to become great, in the sense of sustaining greatness for 15 years based on stock metrics decided upon by the authors. Eleven companies are identified as being in this category: Abbott, Fannie-Mae, Kimberly Clark, Nucor, Pitney Bowes, Wells Fargo, Circuit City, Gillette, Kroger, Philip Morris, Walgreens. Note that a few of these companies have gone south since t...more Good to Great
By: Jim Collins
Ready (audio) – November 2008
Reviewed – January 2009

Good to Great analyzes what it takes for a good company to become great, in the sense of sustaining greatness for 15 years based on stock metrics decided upon by the authors. Eleven companies are identified as being in this category: Abbott, Fannie-Mae, Kimberly Clark, Nucor, Pitney Bowes, Wells Fargo, Circuit City, Gillette, Kroger, Philip Morris, Walgreens. Note that a few of these companies have gone south since the publish date of this book.

Leadership: Celebrity executives almost never lead a company from good to great. Greatness is achieved through leadership that stretches beyond the recognition of the present leader of the organization. Great leaders will create something sustainable beyond their tenure and will not self-focus, but rather shift focus to the organization as a whole. Creating an organization that crumbles upon the departure of the leader is not great. 5 levels of leadership are discussed in this sections of the book: 1) Highly Capable Individual, 2) Contributing Team Member, 3) Competent Manager, 4) Effective Leader, 5) Level 5 Executive: Builds greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

This book covers the following:
First people! You first need to get the right people on your team, even before deciding n strategy. This is a good-to-great trait – lead with people

Simplicity rules. It is imperative that an organization decide what they are best at and passionate about then focus on that one thing. – Good to great references “the Hedgehog concept” to illustrate this idea.

Technology is an accelerator. Good-to-great companies select the correct technology for them then pioneer the use of that technology. What they do not do is jump on technology bandwagons or try to retrofit a technology into their business just for the sake of technology.

Good to great is a must read for anyone running or even in a business. It is a classic with respect to the presented data. It is even more interesting to read this book years after it’s original publication: After many of the “great” companies highlighted have failed in one way or another.
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Dec 11, 2012 Tim Baldwin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jim Collins and team show masterful dedication and precision when it comes to their approach on drawing the conclusions presented in this book. Using Aristotelian logic and Socratic questioning, the team's bias had no part in the analysis of what it takes to go from good to great. But, what transcended the business jargon was the undeniable fact that this is also a book on what it takes to make a mediocre life, a great life.

Collins’ use of straightforward diction allows Good to Great to be diges...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: job-coach

Jim Collins has created a classic business tome on how business' achieve greatest - must read for the business student.

The Challenge:
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning.

But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatne...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Chipcleaners marked it as to-read

Shelves: reasons-why-the-office-cleaning-ser

This is apparent that operating in an unhealthy atmosphere is not easy and nobody wants to operate under such conditions. When one is involved in any kind of business or a professional action, then it is the liability of that company to provide a nice, healthy and relaxed atmosphere to its workers so that they can perform easily without experiencing any health-related problems. If the significant circumstances are appropriate for the workers, it will definitely improve their efficiency and entic...more This is apparent that operating in an unhealthy atmosphere is not easy and nobody wants to operate under such conditions. When one is involved in any kind of business or a professional action, then it is the liability of that company to provide a nice, healthy and relaxed atmosphere to its workers so that they can perform easily without experiencing any health-related problems. If the significant circumstances are appropriate for the workers, it will definitely improve their efficiency and entice others also to perform with the company. So it is of great effectiveness for any company to take the advantage from such organizations which are prepared to provide them an ideal way of illustrating the best interest via their quality washing services.
Office cleaning is not a preferred action for anyone but it is essential to fresh an office daily. A washed office is very helpful to improve a company and it gives a very fresh atmosphere to each guest. But it is also essential that what type of techniques and items are used by cleaning solutions, Are these items are secure for wellness or not. It is very difficult to maintain cleanliness at the office, regardless of the size of the company. The members operating in the office are too active in their specific field of performing that they have a chance to spend towards their office cleanliness.
You can find commercial office cleaning services providing companies using the yellow pages, the regional paper, the Internet, and on small company internet directories. Office washing organizations use natural and substance free items for washing. Office washing items are generally very light, making the harder cleaning solutions for the restrooms, cafeterias (as in Degreasers), and high traffic places.
Whenever an office is unpleasant and unorganized, employees are not so happy and not very comfortable about their functional environment, which will probably be quite undesirable to your company. It is actually essential for you to make sure that the washing within your office is frequently conducted and that you are providing a healthy place for your team to function in. When your office is fresh and structured, people get a good impact on you and it is much easier to perform more effectively. Investing a longer period searching for things than actually operating is no way to be successful. Finding the appropriate Office Cleaners to your specifications is a few guaranteeing effective interactions as well as using the best team. Office professional washing Dublin has secure items for washing which are secure for wellness. So in my view choose a best office cleaning solutions to improve your company.
Employ commercial cleaning contractors are the best option for better office washing and for guaranteeing complete cleanliness of offices because office cleaning solutions are the professional individuals and they know the various techniques and best techniques for office washing. Office cleaning solutions knows that how to fresh office without distressing any worker and company of that office. Office washing organizations provide well qualified team and knowledgeable team for washing and have the assurance to fix their client's washing problems. They are properly qualified in washing techniques and techniques; especially concentrating on those places of structures demanding comprehensive washing.
More info about Office Cleaning Services visit: http://www.commercial-cleanings-servi...
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Sep 03, 2012 Mark Dunn rated it 5 of 5 stars

A fantastic, rigorous study of the 11 fortune 500 companies that went from performing at the same level as the rest of the market to exceeding performance by 3x (or more) and sustaining that for 15+ years.

The result is a roadmap for transition (or initial set-up) that starts with a "level 5" leader. Someone who embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. These leaders "look out the window to attribute success ... and look in the mirror when things go poorly".

After a leve...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Tiffany Cooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, adult-nonfiction

Some companies make the leap from Good to Great, while other good companies do not. Although Jim Collins looks at the results from companies, the results apply to any organization. He chose to look at businesses because they had a clear standard of success that could be applied to all companies.
Jim Collins and his research team found seven characteristics that ALL the good to great companies had in common. Each characteristic is developed in an individual chapter. Jim explains the characteris...more

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About Jim Collins

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of enduring great companies — how they grow, how they attain superior performance, and how good companies can become great companies. Having invested over a decade of research into the topic, Jim has authored or co-authored four books, i...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of enduring great companies — how they grow, how they attain superior performance, and how good companies can become great companies. Having invested over a decade of research into the topic, Jim has authored or co-authored four books, including the classic BUILT TO LAST, which has been a fixture on the Business Week best seller list for more than six years, and has been translated into 29 languages. His work has been featured in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, and Fast Company.

Jim’s book, GOOD TO GREAT: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... And Others Don’t, attained long-running positions on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Business Week best seller lists, has sold 3 million hardcover copies since publication and has been translated into 35 languages, including such languages as Latvian, Mongolian and Vietnamese.

His most recent book, HOW THE MIGHTY FALL: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, was published on May 19, 2009.

Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he now conducts research and teaches executives from the corporate and social sectors. Jim holds degrees in business administration and mathematical sciences from Stanford University, and honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado and the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.

Jim has served as a teacher to senior executives and CEOs at over a hundred corporations. He has also worked with social sector organizations, such as: Johns Hopkins Medical School, the Girl Scouts of the USA, the Leadership Network of Churches, the American Association of K-12 School Superintendents, and the United States Marine Corps. In 2005 he published a monograph: Good to Great and the Social Sectors.

In addition, Jim is an avid rock climber and has made one-day ascents of the North Face of Half Dome and the Nose route on the South Face of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. He continues to climb at the 5.13 grade. (less)

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Books by Jim Collins

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck--Why Some Thrive Despite Them All

How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In

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“When [what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at and what drives your economic engine] come together, not only does your work move toward greatness, but so does your life. For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquility that comes from knowing that you’ve had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.” — 32 people liked it

“The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline.” — 19 people liked it

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