Book Review – Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap and others don’t.
Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap and others don’t.
Author: Jim Collins
Category: Strategy
Rating: 5 Stars
Who should read this book: Every business leader!
This is a must read for all business leaders. Why? Because in Good to Great, Jim Collins explains how some companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition. Taking his painstakingly thorough research to the audiences of the world, Collins delves into the common threads that link these great businesses.
Collins used a large team of researchers who studied “6,000 articles, generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts and created 384 megabytes of computer data in a five-year project”.
“Greatness” is defined as financial performance several multiples better than the market average over a sustained period. Collins finds the main reason certain companies become great is they narrowly focus the company’s resources on their field of key competence.
His findings challenge the conventional thinking of corporate success. There are no silver bullets here, however. This book celebrates disciplined actions, corporate culture and long-term thinking.
Seven Characteristics Of “Good To Great” Companies
Collins distils seven characteristics common to all the companies in his extensive research that went from “good to great”. I’ll break them down for you here:
- Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what’s best for the company.
- First Who, Then What: Get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Find the right people and try them out in different seats on the bus (different positions in the company).
- Confront the Brutal Facts: The Stockdale paradox – confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope.
- Hedgehog Concept: Three overlapping circles: What lights your fire (passion)? What could you be best in the world at (best at)? What makes you money (driving resource)? This is the sweet spot that drives greatness and well worth understanding.
- Culture of Discipline: Disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and who take disciplined action is the cornerstone of a culture that creates greatness.
- Technology Accelerators: Using technology to accelerate growth, within the three circles of the hedgehog concept.
- The Flywheel: The additive effect of many small initiatives; they act on each other like compound interest.
Good to Great is a must read for any growth focused business leader.
If you are a business leader hungry to grow your business but are frustrated with your growth rate or the capability of your team, get in touch today to see how growth strategy advice can help you achieve business success.
Jonathan Herps is Managing Director of Scale Up Growth Partners and a Gazelles International Business Coach. He helps grow remarkable companies and leaders. Jonathan works with business leaders of mid-market companies to clarify their strategy and motivate their management teams so they can scale with success.
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