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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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A must read boook

Where does Great by Choice rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book is just great as Jim Collins usually is. Many good points and it makes you think about how you are running your business

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

His quotes are very great

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me think alot

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Choose to become Great NOW!

Continuing in his great tradition, Jim Collins adds to the already fantastic works of "Good to Great," "Built to Last," and "How the Mighty Fall," with "Great by Choice." This book is aimed at the entrepreneur who has a dream of building a great company, one that will outlive the founder and become a pinnacle of the economy. Collins does a tremendous job of pointing out how great companies make specific choices at the beginning of their creation to become great and never wavered from those decisions.

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Great book for success

i love jim collins and the work he has done. you will become smarter from listening to him.

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Good to Great but in the middle of chaos

just like all Jim Collins books, if you read them together, you get the most but you can read them individually and get a tremendous amount of information and insight and good questions to help you make better decisions in life, in business or whatever pursuits. Collins does a great job of dealing with principles instead of methods.

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Solid work

Well researched, and presented in a convincing narrative, Great by choice shows how smart decision making rather than luck and market condition determine business success.

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I found myself addicted to this book

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

I am introducing this book to everyone in my team

What did you like best about this story?

Something that is somewhat subjective becomes pretty objective once numbers and fact are put on the table

What about Jim Collins’s performance did you like?

He knows the stuff

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me react!!!

Any additional comments?

Great book. I got addicted within the first few minutes and could not stop listening. I even did not want to arrive at work so that I could continue listening.

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Excellent information and practical advice

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

Yes

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

Yes, but better to digest small pieces at a time.

Any additional comments?

Excellent advice based on research for any leader, manager, human resources, or organizational development.

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Diligence

Very thorough. I help to anybody who wants to be better than good. The author has proved again that his research and books are worthy reeds.

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A stand out management book

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

It was read by one of the authors and you can hear the conviction in his voice. It keeps me engaged and interested.

What about Jim Collins’s performance did you like?

He spoke with conviction and really believes what he's written. It translates very well to his spoken word.

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Powerful takeaways!

I've read Good to Great, Built to Last, and Great by Choice. The concepts (to which he gives great word-picture metaphors) are solid, business building game changers. we are already implementing them!

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