Good to Great (Jim Collins)

In Good to Great, Jim Collins and his research team present the results of years of research, looking at why some companies "make it," and others don't.  By "make it," I mean become and sustain a world-class organization.  The team analyzed over 1000 companies, and ultimately settled on 11 that were originally mediocre, had a breakthrough, and had sustained success for (at least) 15 years since.  They waded through tons of data looking for trends between these companies- why did they have a breakthrough, and how did they sustain it?  This book presents those findings.

I won't present all concepts discussed in this book, but I found many valuable; a summary follows.


- Leaders need to have both personal humility and professional will- for the good of the company, not themselves.  They need to be modest, self-effacing, diligent "plow horses" rather than "show horses."  They largely came from inside the company- and weren't outside, "celebrity" hires.

- Hiring the right people is more important than vision or strategy.  The right people need to be talented, driven, able to deal with change.  They don't need external motivators, and "Good-to-great companies placed greater weight on character attributes than on specific educational background, practical skills, specialized knowledge, or work experience."  Some traits are teachable, others are ingrained.

- To be successful, one must confront the brutal facts.  Infuse things with brutal facts of reality.  "When . . . you start with an honest and diligent effort to determine the truth of the situation, the right decisions often become self-evident."  Don't de-motivate people by holding false hopes or ignoring reality.  Learn the truth by asking tons of questions, and engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion.

- Have unwavering faith amid the brutal facts.  It will leave you stronger and more resilient.  Face the truth head-on and never give up.  "Retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of difficulties AND confront the most brutal facts of your reality, whatever they might be."

- You need a culture of discipline to succeed- unglamorous, tenacious discipline.  Build a culture around the idea of freedom and responsibility.  Bureaucracy arises to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline.

- You can't do it all.  There will be many opportunities in life that are excellent, but not for you.  Learn to know when to say no- and "stop doing" lists are more important than "to do" lists.

- Technology is an accelerator of momentum, not creator of it.  Similarly, companies decline not because of technology, but due to a lack of discipline.  "Crawl, walk, run can be a very effective approach, even amidst rapid technological change.

- Sustained success follows a predictable pattern of buildup and breakthrough.  There was no single defining action or grand program that did it- it took years of discipline and consistency.

Rating: A