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Great by Choice  By  cover art

Great by Choice

By: Jim Collins, Morten T. Hansen
Narrated by: Jim Collins
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Publisher's summary

The new question: Ten years after the worldwide best seller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? In Great by Choice, Collins and his colleague, Morten T. Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times.

The new study: Great by Choice distinguishes itself from Collins’s prior work by its focus on the type of unstable environments faced by leaders today.

The new findings:

  • The best leaders were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.
  • Following the belief that leading in a “fast world” always requires “fast decisions” and “fast action” is a good way to get killed.
  • The great companies changed less in reaction to a radically changing world than the comparison companies.

This book is classic Collins: contrarian, data-driven, and uplifting. He and Hansen show convincingly that, even in a chaotic and uncertain world, greatness happens by choice, not by chance.

©2011 Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

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What listeners say about Great by Choice

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deligjtful

no only because it is delightful to have jim Colim narrate the book himself but above all because all the knowledge you learn from the book.

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Loved it.

This was an amazing book. It really gave you something to consider in your own businesses.

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Very well executed!

Great book, wary well structured, findings are explained in a way that is easy to understand, extremely well read by himself, it is really impressive the detail that was put into this Audio Book.

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Great business book with success stories

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, good book for business, but also important life lessons

What was one of the most memorable moments of Great by Choice?

The story of the race to the south pole in relation to Southwest Airlanes.

Have you listened to any of Jim Collins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes from Good to great. This was a nice extension from that book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Could be it is a really easy listen. Great job to Jim for reading the book!

Any additional comments?

Can Jim Collins send me a free hard copy for my business partner?

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Jim Collins Nails It!

John m Collins tells a compelling story about choices that leaders make that have caused companies to grow and prosper. This is a very inspirational book!

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Good concepts, but get a pro to read the book

If you could sum up Great by Choice in three words, what would they be?

Helpful analysis of what distinguishes successful from failing enterprises, building on the earlier work. However, while Collins may be an engaging and passionate presenter (I saw him in person live), he overdoes the emphatic reading in this production, making it painfully annoying to listen to. Too bad, really.

What other book might you compare Great by Choice to and why?

Good to Great, Built to Last. Similar analysis.

What didn’t you like about Jim Collins’s performance?

He read the whole thing in ALL CAPS and with !!!!! after every half sentence. Really grating.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I almost switched off at the opening, the reading was so bad.

Any additional comments?

Re-produce with a professional audio speaker (the reader of the daily Wall Street Journal is a good benchmark to aim for).

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Truly inspiring and actionable insights

I am extremely inspired. I have decided to follow through every steps to build a great company. Starting from discipline. Thank you for this awesome book.

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Great, inspiring and easy to listen to!

A great and inspiring book with very good stories. It was a fun and easy book to listen to and will listen to it again soon!

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Loved it!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Great by Choice?

I loved the comparisons and practical application for business and life. I listened twice...and that's a real complement.

What about Jim Collins’s performance did you like?

Loved the extra explanations he gave throughout and the questions at the end.

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Outstanding book! One of Jim Collins' best

What made the experience of listening to Great by Choice the most enjoyable?

Collins has an excellent narrating voice and clearly loves to teach on this material. He is energetic and lively. Rather than dryly 'reading' the book, he truly narrates it, often adding little bits and pieces to the story, providing value to the listener.

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