Good To Great By Jim Collins Summary
GOOD TO GREAT
Why Some Companies Make the Leap…. And Others Don’t
Author : Jim Collins
About the Author : Jim Collins, a student and teacher of enduring great companies. He serves as a teacher to leaders through the corporate and social sectors. He is an ex-faculty of Stanford University Graduate School of Business and proud recipient of the Distinguished Teaching award in 1992.
Known for his deep research’s, Jim has authored or co-authored four books, including the classic a. BUILT TO LAST, a fixture on the Business Week best seller list for more than six years, and has been translated into 29 languages. b. GOOD TO GREAT: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … And Others Don’t attained long-running positions on the New York Times, …show more content…
Wall Street Journal and Business Week best seller lists, has sold 3 million hardcover copies since publication and has been translated into 35 languages,
Jim holds degrees in business administration and mathematical sciences from Stanford University, and honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado and the Peter F.
Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
Summary :
Jim Collins begins his book with a quote from Beryl Markham “That’s what makes death so hard – unsatisfied curiosity”. A very apt quote which indicates the curiosity that planted a seed of question in Jim’s mind which became the basis of this book – to understand the variables which converted Good companies to Great Companies.
An embarked 5 year research effort by Jim and his “Chimps’ (Research Team) yielded a number of insights to understand the practices that transformed Good Companies to great Companies. The research team analyzed the practices of 11 companies that made the leap from good results to great results and sustained those results for atleast 15 yrs.
Although focused on publicly traded companies in the United States, the results of this research can easily be extended to apply other types of organizations.
The research team identified the transformation as a process of buildup followed by breakthrough broken into three broad stages :
a. Disciplined …show more content…
people
b. Disciplined though
c. Disciplined Action.
Deep dive research of the 3 stages results in 6 key factors which contributed to the transformation. 1. Level 5 Leadership : “Level 5” refers to a five level hierarchy of executive capabilities with Level 5 at the top. Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. They are ambitious to be sure but ambitious first and foremost for the company ant themselves. Every Good to Great company had Level 5 leadership during the pivotal transition years.
2.
First who…Then What : The old adage “People are your most important asset” turns out to be misleading according to the chimps. People are not your most important asses. The right people are. Leaders of Good-to-great companies first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus and the right people in the right seats and then figured out where to drive it.
3. Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith) : All good to great companies began the process of finding a path to greatness by confronting the brutal facts of their current reality and act on implications. The research team identifies one of the key psychology for leading from good to great as the Stockdale paradox : Retain absolute faith and you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
4. The Hedgehog Concept : discover a simple business concept that people can be passionate about, that work with a single key economic driver and that the organization can be the best in the
world.
5. A Culture of Discipline : Sustained great results depend upon building a culture full of self disciplined people who take disciplined action, fanatically consistent with the tree circles.
6. Technology Accelerators : pioneer the application of carefully selected technologies without relying on technology for transformation.
Collins philosophy is summed up in one noteworthy phrase from the book ---‘
Why Some Companies Make the Leap…. And Others Don’t
Author : Jim Collins
About the Author : Jim Collins, a student and teacher of enduring great companies. He serves as a teacher to leaders through the corporate and social sectors. He is an ex-faculty of Stanford University Graduate School of Business and proud recipient of the Distinguished Teaching award in 1992.
Known for his deep research’s, Jim has authored or co-authored four books, including the classic a. BUILT TO LAST, a fixture on the Business Week best seller list for more than six years, and has been translated into 29 languages. b. GOOD TO GREAT: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … And Others Don’t attained long-running positions on the New York Times, …show more content…
Wall Street Journal and Business Week best seller lists, has sold 3 million hardcover copies since publication and has been translated into 35 languages,
Jim holds degrees in business administration and mathematical sciences from Stanford University, and honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado and the Peter F.
Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
Summary :
Jim Collins begins his book with a quote from Beryl Markham “That’s what makes death so hard – unsatisfied curiosity”. A very apt quote which indicates the curiosity that planted a seed of question in Jim’s mind which became the basis of this book – to understand the variables which converted Good companies to Great Companies.
An embarked 5 year research effort by Jim and his “Chimps’ (Research Team) yielded a number of insights to understand the practices that transformed Good Companies to great Companies. The research team analyzed the practices of 11 companies that made the leap from good results to great results and sustained those results for atleast 15 yrs.
Although focused on publicly traded companies in the United States, the results of this research can easily be extended to apply other types of organizations.
The research team identified the transformation as a process of buildup followed by breakthrough broken into three broad stages :
a. Disciplined …show more content…
people
b. Disciplined though
c. Disciplined Action.
Deep dive research of the 3 stages results in 6 key factors which contributed to the transformation. 1. Level 5 Leadership : “Level 5” refers to a five level hierarchy of executive capabilities with Level 5 at the top. Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. They are ambitious to be sure but ambitious first and foremost for the company ant themselves. Every Good to Great company had Level 5 leadership during the pivotal transition years.
2.
First who…Then What : The old adage “People are your most important asset” turns out to be misleading according to the chimps. People are not your most important asses. The right people are. Leaders of Good-to-great companies first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus and the right people in the right seats and then figured out where to drive it.
3. Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith) : All good to great companies began the process of finding a path to greatness by confronting the brutal facts of their current reality and act on implications. The research team identifies one of the key psychology for leading from good to great as the Stockdale paradox : Retain absolute faith and you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
4. The Hedgehog Concept : discover a simple business concept that people can be passionate about, that work with a single key economic driver and that the organization can be the best in the
world.
5. A Culture of Discipline : Sustained great results depend upon building a culture full of self disciplined people who take disciplined action, fanatically consistent with the tree circles.
6. Technology Accelerators : pioneer the application of carefully selected technologies without relying on technology for transformation.
Collins philosophy is summed up in one noteworthy phrase from the book ---‘