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

by Jim Collins

Good is the enemy of great.

Think of the transformation as a process of buildup followed by breakthrough, broken into three broad stages: disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action.

good-to-great leaders seem to have come from Mars. Self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy—these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. They are more like Lincoln and Socrates than Patton or Caesar.

Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith). We learned that a former prisoner of war had more to teach us

If people join the bus primarily because of where it is going, what happens if you get ten miles down the road and you need to change direction? You’ve got a problem. But if people are on the bus because of who else is on the bus, then it’s much easier to change direction: “Hey, I got on this bus because of who else is on it; if we need to change direction to be more successful, fine with me.” Second, if you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away. The right people don’t need to be tightly managed or fired up;

simple: You get the best people, you build them into the best managers in the industry, and you accept the fact that some of them will be recruited to become CEOs of other companies.

Practical Discipline #1: When in doubt, don’t hire—keep looking.

Practical Discipline #2: When you know you need to make a people change, act.

Instead of firing honest and able people who are not performing well, it is important to try to move them once or even two or three times to other positions where they might blossom.

Practical Discipline #3: Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.