Good To Great

Collins, Jim. Good To Great. Harper Collins Publishers Inc. New York. 2001.
Comment. hd
This book is the result of a five-year research program of a team of researchers. Two kinds of companies were studied, comparison companies and good to great companies. The question is answered, how do companies transition from good to great? The findings in this resource are very relevant to leaders and leadership.

Ch. 1. Good Is The Enemy Of Great.
The question is addressed, “Can a good company become great, and if so how?” 5 This can happen in unlikely situations. The research that resulted in this resource involved companies. The “timeless principles of good to great” 15 are transferable to other organizations.

Ch. 2. Level 5 Leadership.
A level 5 leader is “an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will”. 21 It is such leaders that lead companies through the transition from good to great. They may come from within the company.

Ch. 3. First Who … Then What.
Having the right people on the bus is more important than knowing where to take the bus. A strong talented team is more key than a clear understanding of the challenges of the future. The compensations of the executives were not a key factor in good to great companies. Money was not the motivator. The (right) people are a company’s greatest asset. The culture of a good to great organization is “rigorous but not ruthless”. 52

Ch. 4. Confront The Brutal Facts. (Yet Never Lose Faith.}
Reality must always be confronted and dealt with. Truth must be heard. “You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end and you must also confront the brutal facts of your current reality.” Stockdale Paradox.

Ch. 5. The Hedgehog Concept. (Simplicity Within The Three Circles.)
The simple hedgehog always wins against the crafty fox because what the hedgehog does always works. The three circles are; “What you can be the best in the world at. What drives your economic engine? What you are deeply passionate about.” 96 To attain these circles and discover where they intersect would reveal your “hedgehog concept”. 96 The personal application of this is doing the very best that you are capable of doing. A “Council” 114 is a group of individuals that has the responsibility in a company to develop and maintain the hedgehog concept

Ch. 6. A Culture Of Discipline.
“The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline.” Rathmann. Better than a bureaucracy is to build a culture of discipline. Freedom and responsibility are part of that culture. In a disciplined life (company) there should not only be a ‘to do’ list but also a ‘stop doing’ list.

Ch. 7. Technology Accelerators.
There is nothing new about technology-induced change. The key is how organizations think about technology. “When used right, technology becomes an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it.” 152

Ch. 8. The Flywheel And The Doom Loop.
The transition from good to great is not an event it is a process. The momentum of a flywheel is produced with one push put with continuous pressure (effort). A Doom Loop is what happens in organizations when the flywheel is brought to a halt and started in a different direction.

Ch. 9. From Good To Great To Built To Last.
The focus of Good To Great is adjusted to bring Built to Last into the picture. It brings perspective and association to these fundamental concepts that illustrate their transferability to organizations and companies.

Epilogue. Frequently Asked Questions.
A very practical ending to an intense stimulating book.