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 pair a 10Xer or high flying company that is outperforming their industry by significant margins with a comparison company that is similar to the 10Xer.

The 10Xers that Jim and Morten analyze are Amgen, Biomet, Intel, Microsoft, Progressive Insurance, Southwest Airlines, and Stryker.

The lessons drawn from their research are a mix of both "old school" wisdom and wisdom that contradicts your typical business advice. An example of "old school" lesson learned from their research is the safety net that 10X companies work as compared to their counterparts. This safety net created by the 10X companies is used to provide the company a cushion to withstand the up’s and down’s that they inevitably have to face. With this large margin of safety, they can withstand a series of bad luck events and wait it out until their luck turns for the better. Their comparison didn’t build significant cash reserves and consequently, had a tougher time during those industry lulls.

Jim and Morten are able to really engage the reader by pulling in historical stories that communicate a particular point or concept much more concretely to the reader. There were some poignant examples in which individuals and teams in very unforgiving environments made crucial mistakes (not following the model presented by the 10Xers) that ended up costing lives. One of those stories involves the race to the South pole between Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott. Amundsen represents all of the behaviors that are exhibited by 10X companies, while Robert Scott does not represent those skills. Roald Amundsen made it first to the South pole but Robert Scott and his team died in route. Through these stories, the reader sees the importance of these lessons which can mean the difference between life and death quite literally.

Again, like prior books, Collins is able to take the ideas learned through his research and couch them in “quirky” jargon and language to enhance the readers ability to digest and understand the material presented.

A must read for any business owner or entrepreneur and I’ll even recommend this book to the uninitiated in world of business. The concepts and principles provided by Jim and Morten through their research is applicable to individuals as much as organizations. This book is a must have for any self-help reader looking for principles or guidance on how to best live their life.
I love this book!

Favorite Quotes:

“Amundsen’s philosophy: You don’t wait until you’re in an unexpected storm to discover that you need more strength and endurance. You don’t wait until you’re shipwrecked to determine if you can eat raw dolphin. You don’t wait until you’re on the Antarctic journey to become a superb skier and dog handler. You prepare with intensity, all the time, so that when conditions turn against you, you can draw from a deep reservoir of strength. And equally, you prepare so that when conditions turn in your favor, you can strike hard.”

“If you always search for the Next Big Thing, that’s largely what you’ll end up doing – always searching for the Next Big Thing.”

“Not all time in life is equal. Life serves up some moments that count much more than other moments. …We will all face moments when the quality of our performance matters much more than others moments, moments that we can seize or squander. 10Xers prepare for those moments, recognize those moments, grab those moments, upend their lives in those moments, and deliver their best in those moments. They respond to unequal times with unequal intensity, when it matters most.”

“We’ve found in all our research studies that the signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change; the signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency.”

“Everyone gets luck, good and bad, but 10X winners make more of the luck they get.”

“…”When the moment comes, will you capture it, or just let it slip?” "

“…greatness is not primarily a matter of circumstance; greatness is first and foremost a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”

“We are not imprisoned by our circumstances. We are not imprisoned by the luck we get or the inherent unfairness of life. We are not imprisoned b crushing setbacks, self-inflicted mistakes or our past success. We are not imprisoned by the times in which we live, by the number of hours in a day or even the number of hours we’re granted in our very short lives. In the end, we can control only a tiny sliver of what happens to us. But even so, we are free to choose, free to become great by choice.”

Pros:
- Very engrossing writing that pulls the reader in with outside palpable examples of how the concepts presented in this book play out
- Easily digestible concepts
- Moving

Cons:
- Not many from my point of view but I’ll try!
- Probably could have spent time going more in depth on some of the concepts and how each company reflected each of these concepts. Jim and Morten spends time using a single 10X company to illustrate a particular concept. I would have liked to see how each of the 10X companies employed that particular principle.