Book Report Good To Great
For my Student Choice Book Report assignment, I read the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. Jim Collins, put the book together along with the contributions and collaborations of the Good to Great research team. The main purpose of the book was about the following question; “Can a good company become a great company and, if so, how?” (pg. 5). Jim and the research team have answered this question in a couple of different categories of disciplined. I picked two of them people, and thought.
The first aspect he taught was about the people you have involved in the company. Are the employees disciplined within your company? This can be separated into two different categories. “Level 5 Leadership” and “First Who… Then What”. When we think of the leadership that is involved in any large businesses, you might imagine loud, larger than life-big personality CEOs and executives. However, sometimes you find a quiet and reserved person. He talks about the good-to-great leaders that are the quiet and reserve CEOs. Collins says, “these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal …show more content…
humility and professional will.” (pg. 13). The second lesson he talks about is, the order of whom, getting the correct people and what is the vision/mission of your company. I love the quote that is on (pg.63) “We found instead that they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats – and then they figured out where to drive it.” I think that even when we have everyone on the bus we need to keep evaluating who is on the bus. You even take a look at the driver if it is you. The second idea taught in “Good to Great” is about thought. This can be broken down into two categories:
1.“Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)”
2.“The Hedgehog Concept” He and his team found that every good-to-great company used what is called the Stockdale Paradox.
“You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.” (pg.86). The good-to-great companies were found to have more than a strategy, they came to what Collins and his team called the Hedgehog Concept. This is the understanding of three dimensions: what the company can be the best at, what drives their economic engine, and what they are passionate about. “The good-to-great companies understood that doing what you are good at will only make you good; focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.” (pg. 100). After the right people and strategy are structured, action can be set in
motion.
The first aspect he taught was about the people you have involved in the company. Are the employees disciplined within your company? This can be separated into two different categories. “Level 5 Leadership” and “First Who… Then What”. When we think of the leadership that is involved in any large businesses, you might imagine loud, larger than life-big personality CEOs and executives. However, sometimes you find a quiet and reserved person. He talks about the good-to-great leaders that are the quiet and reserve CEOs. Collins says, “these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal …show more content…
humility and professional will.” (pg. 13). The second lesson he talks about is, the order of whom, getting the correct people and what is the vision/mission of your company. I love the quote that is on (pg.63) “We found instead that they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats – and then they figured out where to drive it.” I think that even when we have everyone on the bus we need to keep evaluating who is on the bus. You even take a look at the driver if it is you. The second idea taught in “Good to Great” is about thought. This can be broken down into two categories:
1.“Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)”
2.“The Hedgehog Concept” He and his team found that every good-to-great company used what is called the Stockdale Paradox.
“You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.” (pg.86). The good-to-great companies were found to have more than a strategy, they came to what Collins and his team called the Hedgehog Concept. This is the understanding of three dimensions: what the company can be the best at, what drives their economic engine, and what they are passionate about. “The good-to-great companies understood that doing what you are good at will only make you good; focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.” (pg. 100). After the right people and strategy are structured, action can be set in
motion.