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Summary: Innovative Thinking Includes the Negatives
Review: I like this book about innovative thinking. My investment hero is Warren Buffett, and he thinks as a "defensive pessimist" -- I wish more corporate executives, stockbrokers, and individual investors would follow his lead. Unrealistic optimism and habitual, easy thinking turn good companies bad; to become great, think differently. That is why I recommend the book "The Positive Power of Negative Thinking" by Julie Norem. Warren Buffett has demonstrated how well contrary opinion thinking works over the long term.
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Summary: A Practical Book for anyone
Review: I am not a businessman but I found this book intriguing. Quite frankly, I normally am bored by management books and have a hard time finishing leadership books but I couldn't put Collins book down. Personally I believe the principles he lays out are applicable to my ministry as I want to help those under me build great movements. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has a passion about something and wants to be the best they can be at it no matter what it might be.
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Summary: Never Cease To Be Good
Review: When America ceases to be good, it will cease to be great. Likewise for people and companies that make up America. For a full explanation of what this means, I suggest that you read Norman Thomas Remick's "West Point: Character, Leadership,...", in addition to James C. Collins' useful book on leadership and management. Never cease to be good.
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Summary: The best management book ever
Review: The title of my review may seem extreme, but in my view, it's true. And, I've read hundreds of books on management. It is more useful that Drucker's best for the practicing manager. It avoids the tired cliches of many top sellers (e.g., moving some cheese somewhere--ugh) and it is applicable to any business, any size, most countries.I'm a Professor of Strategy at IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland). Built to Last was a regular part of the diet of material I've given to hundreds of managers over the past 7 years plus. Good to Great is even better. It's a brillant set of ideas not just for their importance, but their packaging. It's a joy to read. Most important: The ideas around the execution of strategy (90% of strategy anyway) are priceless. And, "correct." Discipline! Hedgehog concept. Stockdale paradox. Being "on the bus". Collin's gets a the core of what makes a company great. The book parallels much of my thinking, but Collins writes it better. Bravo for him! Personally, I find the level five leadership issues interesting, but less compelling than the second 2/3 of the book. But most managers love to read about leadership, and this is a great place to read about it. The heart of the book for me is when he talks about the choices and discipline that firms need to make, and live by. Very difficult to do in the "real world," but essential. Without this focus and clear choice, energy, emotion, and talent is disipated. No way to win in today's world. Congratulations to Jim Collins. And thank you! Andy Boynton
Professor of Strategy
IMD, Lausanne
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Summary: A fine work - makes a case for rethinking organizing workers
Review: If you are involved in any human endeavor where people work together to accomplish goals, this best-seller is worth your time. Recall, Jim Collins co-authored a previous best-seller, Built to Last, on why some businesses lose and why some win big. This new 5-year study examines how good companies become great companies, but the findings easily apply to schools, churches, political groups, etc. The book examines old "success" clichés and reveals fresh insights on what constitutes resultful leadership. It explodes many popular management cult myths and gets to the human elements that build a successful organization. Some rather uncommon CEO characteristics of new-look leaders: They are self-effacing, reserved, even shy and possess a great deal of genuine humility; no big egos here. They don't try to manage change or motivate people. They are driven to produce sustained results. They are ready at any time to confront the brutal-truth facts of their organization with steadfast faith they will prevail The companies picked for the spotlight have an interesting people culture. If you paid them a visit, you would be struck by the evidence of self-discipline, and the absence of an in-your-face bureaucracy. Employees are picked because they are already self-disciplined; they were hired because those who hired them know that if you hire people who are already self-disciplined, they don't need to be "managed." Guided and taught, maybe, but not tightly managed. In such a company, there is plenty of arguing and
debate in pursuit of the best answers, but after the disagreement, everybody gets behind the decision. Winning companies create a climate where truth is heard. The people love what they do partly because they love the people they work with. They know you can't manufacture passion or motivate people to feel passionate; you can only discover what ignites passion. Rule by bureaucracy goes away if you have the right people. Other leadership tidbits:
-A "stop doing the wrong things" list, is more important than a "to do" list.
-The author found no links between executive compensation and the process
of going from good to great. Compensation was used to get and keep the right people.
-The good-to-great companies were able to identify every item of cost, income
and investment with the single person responsible for that item.
-Ten of the eleven CEOs came from within their own organization.
-When in doubt about a potential new hire, don't hire. Keep looking. The findings and conclusions in this fine work indicate clearly the need to rethink how we go about organizing people to insure the success of any endeavor. Many old "leadership" clichés don't apply.
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Summary: Life Changing
Review: I have a hard time making it through this book simply because I am rereading pages multiple times. I don't work for a large company such as those studied in the book, but I found the description of how to focus one's business to be priceless. I also have benefitted from the concept of a 'stop doing' list, as a foil to the 'to do' list that has too often overwhelmed me. Unlike rah rah management books this one relies on fact -- a large helping of fact -- garnered from a lengthy and presumably costly process of interviewing thousands of executives in great and not so great companies. If I could pick one book to read in 2002.... this would be it.
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Summary: On your CEO's coffee table
Review: Buy this book and read it!
Why?
The short answer:
Your boss and their boss are reading it. Get a leg up on what they're thinking. The long answer:
When Built to Last came out, I saw the CEO's secretary on the elevator with her arms full with copies of it. At my new company, the CEO sent a memo out to his reports highlighting the deep thought of the book. Fad or Fact - you need to know what the people up above are thinking. What's it about?
"Build to Last" was about how to infuse a company with the value and culture to have outstanding returns. "Good to Great" is the book for the rest of us - we're working at or with "Good" companies that want "Great Performance". The benchmark - stock market performance. The author charts how companies stuck in mediocrity make that leap to greatness. The book compares them to similar companies, which don't make that leap. Anything original?
You bet! There are several counterintuitive insights in the book: 1 - Companies that make the transition get the right people on board before changing strategies. (You'd think strategy would drive the people you hire, no?)
2 - The CEOs responsible for the dramatic improvements were low-key insiders, not high profile outsiders. (No bidding wars for the GE #2s)
3 - The changes tended to be the result of repetition of good things, not a huge strategic change. (The flywheel concept)
4 - Technology supports the change, but doesn't lead it. Is the research real?
I'm inclined to say yes. The book is the result of painstaking quantitative research. Companies were identified based on rigorous stock market performance - certainly a higher criteria than used for "In Search of Excellence" A side note is that many hard research business books are bad reads - this book flows very quickly. Any knocks?
The one credibility hit is that several companies that were dubbed "Built to Last" are struggling. This highlights that Collins is not one of those genius's that's "Always Right". (Neither it Tom Peters, but it's still great reading) So buy the book, get in your boss's head, and anticipate the changes to improve your organization.
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Summary: The Ultimate WOW!
Review: Jim Collins makes a beeline straight for the heartbeat of GREATness in any organization. After conducting a 5 year detailed study of leading organizations, he masterfully writes the results of each. He unveils the top 11 companies and their unanimously shared traits. I stayed up every night for one week...couldn't put it down. This book will adorn the top shelf of your library!
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Summary: G.R.E.A.T
Review: If you are interested in building a great company or organization read this book. The hedgehook concept is fantastic and Jim along with Geoffery A. Moore and Seth Goding are now amoung my favorite biz-writers.
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Summary: From Good to Great is not linear
Review: The illusion is that a company can go from "good" to "great" with the linear thinking and measurement mentality of the Mass Production business model. This may be true if the only criteria is stock price or shareholder value. Mr. Collins frequently uses the words, "the transformation from Good to Great." This begs the question, what was transformed? In almost every example the "business model" of Mass Production was transformed to meet the exact needs of a specific customer expectation. Every company arrived at a higher state of "customization" with their customers yet Mr. Collins explains this as having passion for your work. Transformational Change is a "conscious and intentional" activity. I was surprised that the Level 5 Leaders were "intentional" but not "consciously aware" of how to make the change. Most of the examples used in the book happened over many years, leading me to conclude that the transformational process was an unconscious process. In todays fast paced change environment, a company must be transformed and the Leadership model can't be "unconsciously" applied. I recently listened to a CEO's who read the book proclaim the Vision of going to Greatness for his company, yet the process of change is that of the old "crisis" mentality. Mr. Collins would have helped the readers if he would have focused some time on the word "Transformantion" as a Leadership process. It would also be helpful to know that transformational changes must often be simulated before beginning in order to understand the incredible shift in the Mass Production business model that is involved. The imbedded muscle memory of Mass Production thinking is the barrier to Greatness.
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