Rating: 
Summary: Defintely suboptimal thinking here!
Review: In an era where companies have turned to Optimal Thinking, this suboptimal thinking paradigm is outdated. Good companies are created by mediocre positive thinkers, great companies are created by extraordinarily positive thinkers, and optimized companies, by Optimal Thinking. Save your time and money and get a copy of Optimal Thinking-How To Be Your Best Self, optimize your mission statement, get all your people educated in the consistent use of Optimal Thinking, and you will have a company of optimizers, focusing on optimal results in every situation.
Rating: 
Summary: Leaves gaps and is contradicting
Review: I had to read this book for my university and write an essay on it. If I were to write an essay on this book it would sound too offensive and degrading to Jim Collins. I think this book is absolute crap. So many Americans are in love with it though. I have made notes on nearly every page where he contradicts himself over and over just to make one company sound better than another. Anyone could write this book and abuse data the way Collins does. Save your money and time.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Going to Be Short and Sweet on This One
Review: Good To Great is more than good . . . it's great. Sounds like Tony the Tiger, but what can I say? There's just isn't much in it that is not applicable to growing a great business and to prospering in life as a whole. And maybe that's the genius of this book: Its subtitle could be, "Why some people make the leap. . . and others don't."
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Perspective Into The Reasons For Success
Review: This is a book that all of you who are ambitious and are interested in striving for success should read. In his bestselling book, "Good To Great", Jim Collins imparts wonderful anecdotal and empirical information and inspiration to the reader. As a consultant, I have been recommending to everyone in the world who makes enquiries to our consulting firm to, first read "Good To Great", then follow that up with reading Norman Thomas Remick's "West Point: Character Leadership Education: Thomas Jefferson". Each book in a different but synergistic way presents an intriguing perspective into the reasons for success.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, not Great
Review: This book has one flaw, the author's definition of "Great" is not what many people would think is "Great". For example, companies like Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, and GE does not qualify as being "Great" in the author's opinion. If you can agree with that, then this book is GREAT!, but if you think the author is little flawed in leaving out the most profitable and fastest growing companies from his list of "Great" companies, then this book is merely Good.
Rating:
Summary: Great performance and results here
Review: Had I read this book before reading "Optimal Thinking" by Rosalene Glickman Ph.D. (Wiley 2002), I would have written a different review. Here's the deal--The most powerful asset we have in any corporation is the collective power of our minds. When thinking is suboptimal (which includes "great"), suboptimal results are produced. "Good to Great" reflects the best of suboptimal thinking in a corporation. However, if we want to optimize our companies, we must integrate Optimal Thinking into the corporate culture. When employees apply Optimal Thinking principles such as "Make the choice to be your highest and best self regardless of the circumstances" and use Optimal Thinking to optimize the key profitability ratio and other issues, then the corporation experiences peak performance. I strongly recommend "Good to Great" and "Optimal Thinking."
Rating:
Summary: Exceptionally Well Researched. Good For Business Leaders
Review: Good To Great is an exceptionally well researched book. The author, Boulder, Colorado-based Jim Collins, and his team of researchers have made this book into a powerhouse documentary of why some businesses excel towards greatness and while others stagnate.The book will be of most interest to business leaders, but it may also be interesting to leaders in other types of organizations such as churches or schools. Among other things, Collins shows that, in general, the great leaders are not the ones who are most brash and controversial but those who combine vision and dedication with humility and selflessness. Through impressive empirical research, Collins shows that the truly great leaders are those to seek fortune and fame for their companies, not for themselves. If you like business books, you will probably love this one. It is basically well written, especially for a business book, and easy to read. That said, this book deals with how to make a company great. It does not deal with personal greatness, so if you are thinking about buying this as a self-help or inspirational guide, consider something by Anthony Robbins or Dale Carnegie. This is strictly a business book. It is more informative than entertaining. A times it can provide for dry reading. However, if you're looking for a business book that highlights some of the differences between major "good" and major "great" corporations, you would be wise to read it.
Rating:
Summary: WELL WRITTEN, BUT SOME CAVEATS
Review: The unordained intent of business books is to make you think about certain tenets of performance, with case studies, and Good To Great definitely lives up to that credo. I could even say it is well-written. But it may be instructive to note that the book represents ONE perspective about SOME arbitrarily chosen companies based on ONE metric, the data for which were collected and analyzed POST-HOC (known as "posthoc bias" to those in the know.) If you are expecting to come away with any pearls of wisdom about effective leadership or corporate success, you are preparing yourself for a mild disappointment. Here are the insights you'll be exposed to, so make up your mind about how earth-shattering the offerings of this book are: [1] Best leaders are not high profile folk but subdued, humble yet focused people who get results. (Not sure. Lee Iacocca, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Jack Welch, Larry Flynt, Rupert Murdoch etc come to mind) [2] Great leaders are supposed to believe in teamwork (Shlurp! Teamwork! Must make for a deliciously innovative reading) [3] Companies need to focus on their "key profitability ratio" and hone it down to succeed. (Just me, or this swan-song of "focus" is painfully cliche? Also makes one wonder if business context is stagnant. What happens with KFC, Cadillac, Zenith who have tasted what it feels to run out of steam with a once beaming audience..would honing down their KPRs help? No mechanism to track these KPRs is forthcoming, that is your homework) All in all, a tough call. I'd still recommend the book for some thoughtful inflight reading, if only for the WAY the authors make their case, but don't expect anything spectacular to ground your business/career on.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you think!
Review: I picked up this book while stranded in an airport, and I could not put the book down. The author's approach to studying these companies is very complete, and his arguments make a lot of sense. Rather than just talking about good companies, he really goes deep into why they are successufl, and what lessons can be learned. I bet that these lessons could apply to everyone, from top managers to beginning business workers to entrepreneurs!
Rating:
Summary: James Collins helps the little companies think big!
Review: My PR firm is small but this book did a heck of a job teaching me how I can use Fortune 500 company strategies for growth and excellence. Robert Smith
PR Doctor
3pr@ureach.com
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