Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 658 EAN: 9780066620992 ISBN: 0066620996 Label: Collins Business Manufacturer: Collins Business Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 300 Publication Date: 2001-10 Publisher: Collins Business Release Date: October 16, 2001 Sales Rank: 126 Studio: Collins Business
Theory vs Reality
The research behind Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't is impressive and the theories are engaging. On the whole, it's well written and it all makes good sense. Most of these firms have done well over time, while some have not (e.g., Fannie May, Circuit City). What Good to Great does not cover is the role of serendipity and changing market conditions. Nor does it focus on customers. You may want to check out Firms of Endearment for another perceptive.
Proven Principles of Success, for Big Companies, Small Start-Ups, and Even Families
Jim Collins' classic book on creating a great company contains success principles that apply to big corporations, small clubs, and even families.
* Level 5 Leadership (Leaders with humility and strength, but no ego)
* First Who, Then What (Get the right people first before deciding the direction)
* Confront the Brutal Facts (Create systems to face reality)
* Hedgehog Concept (Focus on One Big Thing that Unites Everything Else)
* Building Your Company's Vision (Focus on the Core Ideology and Envisioned Future)
There are so many profound truths in this simple, yet well-researched, book. Two insights that changed my life are those of "Level 5 Leadership," and "First Who, Then What."
For hiring managers, and those looking for leaders
Jim Collins and his team of researchers have surveyed over 1,400 companies, systematically analysed 6,000 publicly available articles, and carried out numerous face to face interviews with senior managers. The finding, the single most important factor to the health of a company - Leadership. The author asserted that they purposely steer away from such attribute as there are no shortage of business books paying the same platitude.
Every company vision statement reads like the next one. When did anyone last read a company which doesn't claim its employee is its greatest asset ? Yet, most see it fit to outsource its most critical function - finding the "right people". If every great company gets it right, there wouldn't be much of a ... Read More
"Good to Great" an exceptional leadership reference
"Good to Great" is an exceptional analytical review, focused on leadership, documenting the attributes of leaders of enduring great companies. The text effectively differentiates the leadership attributes of great companies from enduring great companies.
A good look at what companies can do to manage talent
Stock findings aside, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't has good talent management strategies, including getting the right people on the bus and making sure everyone is going towards the same goal. Nothing revolutionary, but still helpful. I also found the monograph Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great helpful in the non profit arena.
