How the Mighty Fall

And Why Some Companies Never Give In

By: Jim Collins

Narrated by: Jim Collins

Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Decline can be avoided. Decline can be detected. Decline can be reversed.

Amidst the desolate landscape of fallen great companies, Jim Collins began to wonder: How do the mighty fall? Can decline be detected early and avoided? How far can a company fall before the path toward doom becomes inevitable and unshakable? How can companies reverse course?

In How the Mighty Fall, Collins confronts these questions, offering leaders the well-founded hope that they can learn how to stave off decline and, if they find themselves falling, reverse their course. Great companies can stumble, badly, and recover. Every institution, no matter how great, is vulnerable to decline. There is no law of nature that the most powerful will inevitably remain at the top. Anyone can fall and most eventually do.

But, as Collins' research emphasizes, some companies do indeed recover. Decline, it turns out, is largely self-inflicted, and the path to recovery lies largely within our own hands. We are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our history, or even our staggering defeats along the way. As long as we never get entirely knocked out of the game, hope always remains. The mighty can fall, but they can often rise again.

©2009 Jim Collins (P)2009 Jim Collins

Jim Collins kills it

Great content and outstanding presentation. Collins delivers this book in a way that is compelling and engaging. Feels like you're sitting down with a cup of coffee taking in world class wisdom.

Clear, concise and effective

I was surprised by the length of this book being a bit short, but it is actually a benefit to the message given. Considering this was written in the middle of the recession and the demise of many once great companies. As an entrepreneur looking to create a great service and product but also to maintain our quality, this provided very valuable examples of what not to do.

Great book

Great business lessons as always from Collins. We can all use their insight in our role as leaders.

overall pretty good but not his best

Any additional comments?

Overall this was a good book and great to listen to. Narration was great and story line examples were interesting. it passed the time but was nothing close to "Great by Choice" which was in my opinion a much greater book.

Wow!

My personal favorite of Jim Collins’ works. Much more than a gruesome look at the autopsy photos. This provides a clear blueprint for not just avoiding catastrophic failure but a roadmap of recovery when it happens.

Great book

Reminder to not get arrogant when you experience greatness and think you cannot fall/ fail.

Great, just that

Great. Thanks for all the word and advice. Sometimes we need a little perspective.
That was a broad one.

Great book!!!!

Love the though behind the title of the book and all the work that was put into it. Well thought out, accurate, and concise.

Culture, vision and responsibilities

Great book for businesses of any kind. Tons of insights and KPI and big failures to learn from

Very good lessons, but I agree that the narration grates.

Provides a very good template to analyze downfalls and how to possibly prevent them.

Now about the narration...