Rating: 
Summary: Interesting to read. But are there really golden rules ?
Review: The book was centred on a research project to identify good-to-great companies (among Fortune 500) and their success factors. The research methodology was sound, while not too complicated to understand. There were good cases as examples, from both good-to-great examples and comparisons. These made the ideas and findings more convincing - although some of them may just ¡§common sense¡¨ to you. Author did a good job to conceptualize the findings. He raised some challenges to nowadays business norms. The book is easy to read. But one can¡¦t help questioning: are there really golden rules to be successful in the diverse and dynamic world ? Besides, it is easy to talk, but hard to do with these so-called ¡§golden rules¡¨. The author did too much preaching in the last part of the book to hard sell his ¡§Built-to-Last¡¨ and ¡§Great-to-Good¡¨ principles.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Metaphors, Good Stories, Mediocre Content
Review: I bought this (audio) book because I want to beleive that any organization can become a great one, not just ones that are "born" great. Of course, what I really want to know is how to make my organization a great one. This book did not tell me what I really wanted to know. The author excels at developing catchy metaphors - "Level 5 Leadership", "The Hedgehog Concept", "The Flywheel vs The Doom Loop". In narration, the author hams it up. I think he went to the William Shatner/Capt. Kirk school of dialog. The spinning flywheel metaphor just gets out of hand. But like many "good" books, the concepts are identified and explained with little info on how to actually use them. For example, in discussing the "Hedgehog" concept, the author notes that one must identify the organization's key metric and manage to that. He sites Walgreen's income-per-customer visit metric as a key example. What I didn't hear was any advice/guidance on how to identify the key metric for the organization. What good is this knowledge if I can't use it? Also, I'm pretty sure that Warren Buffet uses more than one metric to measure the performance of his investments, so I question the wisdom. It's a similar story with "Level 5 Leadership". Again there is description, but little direction on how to become or even spot such a leader. To be fair, I think the author is more concerned with skewering the "Charismatic" leader type such as Lee Iacocca or the ever-popular Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap. He makes his point well in this regard, but of course, we all like to build heroes then tear them down - see Jack Welch. His penultimate section is the whole flywheel vs doom loop story. In essence, find a good strategy and stick with it. Flailing about chasing every management fad is a bad idea. I agree with this, but it's not exactly a secret found in only the dead sea scrolls. A more useful approach would be how to recognize when you are in a doom loop, what causes it, and how do you get out. I heard none of this, but there was this 2 minute bit with spinning flywheel - "faster and faster...etc." I kept waiting to hear Mr. Scott in the background "I'm givin' ya all she's got Cap'n!". All in all, entertaining. I'd get the CD version to listen during your commuting time. For serious reads, try Michael Porter.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Book on Transforming an Existing Business Available
Review: I can be a tough critic, but if there is one general business/org. devpt book that I could give SIX stars to, this would be it. This is simply the best book ever written about improving an existing company, department or business unit. While "Built To Last" is equally amazing, it looks at companies that have always been great. Good to Great shows you that you can become great, and how to do it. No matter who you are or what kind of company you're in, I recommend you read this, digest it and find some way to make use of it in your daily life.
Rating:
Summary: simple business lessons based on good research, well written
Review: The best selling Good to Great debunks many prevailing beliefs about how business should be conducted. Jim Collins (a former Stanford University business professor and coauthor of the best selling Built to Last - 1992) assembled a large team of researchers in 1996 and extensively (Jim confesses he is extremely obsessive) studied large publicly held companies that were able to at least triple the value of their stock in comparison to their peer group and maintain this advantage for at least 15 years. There is nothing 'from the gut' in this well researched book. LEADERSHIP VALUE: One of the most valuable research findings has to do with Leadership Style. Collins initially argued with his research team that the attributes of the company were more important than the executive's style of leadership. Collins, who is not used to losing at anything, lost the argument mainly because the leaders of the Great companies were so different in style than what was expected. We find the results extremely valuable in our work with family Business Owners and other executives. Very few of the Good to Great CEO's were profiled in business journals (compared to their more 'extroverted' and large "ego'd" counterparts). During the boom of the 90's the celebrity CEO's of Enron, Worldcom, Global Crossing, and others were getting heaps of praise from Wallstreet and University Business Guru's. Meanwhile, Good to Great CEO's (Walgreens CEO is a great example) had a Lincolnesque combination of humility and an iron will. These great leaders attributed success to the team around them and accepted blame for the company's failures. Their goal was not to be seen as great, but to build a great company and they were psychologically secure enough to groom a competent successor. While the prevailing leadership paradigm, ala Steven Covey, emphasizes values and vision. Collins found that instead of beginning with a vision statement, Good to Great leaders first place the right people on the right seats on the "bus," while removing the wrong people. Only after the key human capital is in place, did these leaders craft a final vision statement. Unlike the mega-merging boom and bust companies of the past decade (like Enron), the Good to Great companies had a singular vision. These companies focused only on what they could truly be great at, even if this meant taking a bold new direction. For companies, that desire to be Mozart and not Solieri, Collins and his team have identified several other factors that convincingly paint a portrait of what it takes to move a company from good to great. The thought provoking, Good to Great is well written and illustrates critical success factors using unforgettable metaphors and analogies For investors, this book provides soothing medicine for the indigestion and nausea created from watching their portfolios evaporate over the past three years. In addition to restoring one's faith that good leaders still exist, Good to Great also helps investors know what type of information to learn about a company without simply relying on an analyst's opinion. When they decide the turbulent waters of the market are safe enough to wade back into, a portfolio made up of companies adhering to Good to Great criteria may be worth considering, over the more seductive companies led by celebrity 'talkinghead' CEOs. As family business advisors we believe that the conclusions of Collins' latest research are not only empirically sound but also pass the muster on the common sense scale. We have recommended this book to every one of our business clients since it hit the bookstores in October of 2001. Our clients have in turn bought the book for their customers, vendors and family members. If you want to move from good to great - buy this book and start applying the principles. Dr. Joe Horak
Dr. Greg Kuhn
Horak & Kuhn, LLC Family Business Advisors
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: This is probably the best business book I have ever read. Too many business books today are related to who can be the most popular CEO, a loving/touchy feely manager, and end up on the cover of business week the most. This research shows the opposite. You need to be modest, work hard and get hard working people around you. You don't try to change people or sculpt them. You boot them off the bus and get someone on board with the same work ethic.
And Collins backs it up with an unbelievable amount of research. If you're a manager or any level, you must read this book. We've implemented many of the principles discussed already and have seen impact.
Rating:
Summary: Good to Great Insights
Review: Good to Great offers some great insights to the things companies need to do (and keep doing) to achieve lasting greatness. Like most truths, these insights apply not only to large corporations, but also to small businesses, and even to individuals' personal lives. One of these insights is what the book calls the hedgehog concept which involves focusing on the right simple idea. Because the book applies this concept, it is a relatively quick and easy read. I was not a fan of Collins' earlier book, Built to Last, but fortunately Collins seems to have taken his new book to heart and gone from good (or worse) to great.
Rating:
Summary: Well written and entertaining too
Review: Good to Great is a comphrehensive research project, well written
and entertaining to read, Good to Great is a worthy successor to, and in the tradition of, Built to Last.
Rating:
Summary: Buy the Book, Not the Audio CD!
Review: Love this book. Its message is fairly straightforward and makes sense. Many have said that it's perhaps too simplistic, but if it were so easy to implement these strategies, more companies would be best in class. My only complaint, the author is absolutely annoying on the Audio CD. Great exaggeration, overemphasis on every topic. He sounds like a bad actor who is trying too hard. The unfortunate part is that the author is narrating the Audio CD, not someone else. He comes across a bit to self-absorbed and proud of himself, as if he discovered the Holy Grail. There is nothing wrong with being passionate about your work, but this guy needs to relax. He also needs a speech coach. Since when is Nazi pronounced "nasi"? Buy the book and be forewarned that the Audio Book will have you hating this guy by the end and you'll forget his message.
Rating:
Summary: Better a text book ,than inspirational reader
Review: 2/11/02 I thumbed Jim Collins' book several times, surprized that the great jacket which had made me borrow it from the library had not duplicated itself inspirationally through the many pages of info on CEO and Corporation scenarios..Finally page 205 ,hit me as the perfect page ..that one person amist his 'ex-students from Stanford'who wanted to know why greatest,why not just success..Collin's explanation on Pgs 204-206 re: Good,Great,and what he considers 'Perpetuating Mediocrity' is a driving force for many(e.g.Henry Ford, Bill Gates,Martha Stewart,Bill Cosby) and has even been thrust on others(some political leaders,Regis Philbin,many newspaper anchorpersons,dynasty(s)via philanthropy,etc)..but good does not give a feeling of 'mediocrity' to all who give their best(as a Marketing Teacher" once explained at a local University ,to build a better mouse trap" is not enough ,you must find the consumer whose looking for one(often it might be just"The Greatest" wanting to buy your idea or 'take you over' in a legal merger)...being in the right place at the right time is more crucial(as those whose movies have been pulled from the shelves when it was the theme of a surprize 'bad event'...Appendix 1.D mentions 28 companies were selected(11 good-to great,11 dirct comparison,6 unsustained comparison) with Appendix 1.D'(Pg 246)having a section : "Role of layoffs"(many would 'differ with the author' as that being the most suitable way to define the activity of layoff).
Rating:
Summary: This book does what others cannot.
Review: With all and much due respect to the other reviewers, specifically those with backgrounds in data research and business owners taking a negative lean on Good to Great concepts, I think they've missed both the point and the appeal of this piece. This book does what many fail to do, it takes the touchy-feely ideals of people oriented structure and, for the very first time, supports them with pure data. Other books either take the strong dollar line describing how to logically move money from one place to another to make more money or go the complete opposite, describing how to be one with the universe and perfectly in tune with your failing business. OHM! Sure, I'll be the first one to agree that the data herein may not be processed to the point of mathematical certainties, but that is simply the nature of the assertions it is trying to make. This book looks into the past, it searches for the data, rather than telling me how to better run a business in the future with no explanation as to why I should say "bless you" every time an employee sneezes. Good To Great shows how the compassionate in balance with the passionate is not just the guru of the week's feel-good cliché, but a methodology that CAN work. Mr. Collins does not seem to assert, at all, that these methods WILL work. Instead he and his team have virtually proven that a construct more in tune with the people can be a staggering money maker. I think the problem with this book is the crowd to which it appeals. Frankly, it is hard to imagine anyone apart from a business owner, a wanna-be business owner, or a statistician ever pulling it off the shelf. As such, these are the very people who will most easily scoff at the findings as they are probably part of the problem. If one is already increasing his/her profit margin solely via massive layoffs, of course s/he is not going to agree with sticking things out over time, changing people's positions, or cutting his/her own salary. Your method is working in the short term. Blame the data, blame the conclusions if you will. The little nugget of gold, to me, is that Good to Great shows that a dedicated, but employee friendly structure, CAN make as much doe as the big guns. It has completely blown away the idea that the hard line is the way things must be done.
If you are a potential reader who is NOT looking for the SECRET of running a business and who is NOT looking to refute the SECRET of running a business, the issues demonstrated herein are very rewarding. Collins essentially compares several companies that were maintaining a good status quo before skyrocketing and holding the orbit for 15 years to as many other companies poised in the same position, but which failed to do the same. The data often referenced in the text is droves of articles published about these companies during the times of the skyrocket. Sounds dry to your everyday reader, but when stretched out end to end, the results are quite compelling. Unlike what is written by other reviewers, the conclusions are not simple matters of getting the right people in the right place at the right time. Rather, they are often proof that counter-corporate concepts and actually losing money while these more human concepts take shape can result in yielding enough revenue to throw down with the big boys. I don't know about you, but every time I see a person second guessing their technique or approach to life because Joe Corporate makes more money quicker, it pains me. Joe Corporate has actual data to harvest. His numbers yield numbers making everything easy to see. Doesn't make him any more personable. Finally the people people of the world have data to support their own processes without hard liners thinking them foolish.
Essentially, this book is top line because it is HOW to go from good to great, not WHAT it takes to make the leap. A WHAT is easily disproved. Yet, there can be a million HOWs. This is one of them. Be forewarned, as the set of companies examined are often rehashed to illustrate the conclusions to each chapter, the read gets a tad repetitive if you are not focused. Other than that, however, it is an easy read, common speak. There is no Mr. Hawking to this book, just a buddy who did the work for you.
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