Good to Great
Good to Great by Jim Collins Report
As the name implies, the author of the title “Good to Great,” embarked in a research study to try to discover what made some companies outstanding, persistent, and sustainable from their competitors. The author makes a clear distinction that the publication of the title is not meant to fill in the holes left behind on one of his previous titles, “Built to Last.” In fact, towards the ending of the research novel, the author states that if someone is going to make that assumption, or that “Good to Great” is a sequel to his previous book, “Good to Great” should be in fact the pre-sequel to the book “Built to Last.” After making the distinction about the two novels, the author moves on and narrows down what his research team have concluded to be the main factors/reasons why companies like Wells Fargo and Kroger are better or did a much better job despite their bad situation compared to their competitors. Jim Collins and his research teach come to conclude that some of the main factors, which I will summarize in detail later own are the following: Level 5 Leadership, First Who, Then What, Confront the Brutal Facts, The Hedge Hog Concept, and Technological Advancement.
Beginning with Level 5 Leaders, Collins explains how a good company begins from the top-down. In order for a good company to succeed, there needs to be driven people at the top who are not only smart (though, they don’t have to be the smartest person in the room), but also have a clear vision and appreciation for the business. He describes how many of these level 5 leaders tend to have a “look at the window, look at the mirror vision.” Whenever they succeed, they never give themselves credit for the good things, these leaders always “look out the window” and credit luck, fellow colleagues, and employees. Now on the opposite side of the spectrum – when the company was doing badly – they would always “look at the mirror” and blame themselves for the success.
As the name implies, the author of the title “Good to Great,” embarked in a research study to try to discover what made some companies outstanding, persistent, and sustainable from their competitors. The author makes a clear distinction that the publication of the title is not meant to fill in the holes left behind on one of his previous titles, “Built to Last.” In fact, towards the ending of the research novel, the author states that if someone is going to make that assumption, or that “Good to Great” is a sequel to his previous book, “Good to Great” should be in fact the pre-sequel to the book “Built to Last.” After making the distinction about the two novels, the author moves on and narrows down what his research team have concluded to be the main factors/reasons why companies like Wells Fargo and Kroger are better or did a much better job despite their bad situation compared to their competitors. Jim Collins and his research teach come to conclude that some of the main factors, which I will summarize in detail later own are the following: Level 5 Leadership, First Who, Then What, Confront the Brutal Facts, The Hedge Hog Concept, and Technological Advancement.
Beginning with Level 5 Leaders, Collins explains how a good company begins from the top-down. In order for a good company to succeed, there needs to be driven people at the top who are not only smart (though, they don’t have to be the smartest person in the room), but also have a clear vision and appreciation for the business. He describes how many of these level 5 leaders tend to have a “look at the window, look at the mirror vision.” Whenever they succeed, they never give themselves credit for the good things, these leaders always “look out the window” and credit luck, fellow colleagues, and employees. Now on the opposite side of the spectrum – when the company was doing badly – they would always “look at the mirror” and blame themselves for the success.