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

The Flip Side of Collins' Good to Great Research

I've read Jim Collins' other research books (Built to Last, Good to Great, Great by Choice), and finally listened to this one. The recommendations are backed by solid research, something that is not the case with many other business books.

Collins reads this book himself. He's sometimes overly dramatic as a reader, but you can certainly tell which ideas he thinks are the most important.

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.

Excellent

Loved it. I really appreciate Jim's perspective on business success and failure. As a business owner, I always learn something.

Great insights from amazing research

This is kind of an add on to the massive research projects, and does help between books. I enjoy his passion about the topics, but it can feel like you're being yelled at at times.

Excellent Listen

If you could sum up How the Mighty Fall in three words, what would they be?

I thought this book was excellent. It shows that even at the highest levels of performance and business that the basics of work ethic, logic, and following fundamental practices are paramount for sustained success.

What other book might you compare How the Mighty Fall to and why?

Great by Choice
From Good to Great

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

This is as good as the other Jim Collins audio books. I highly recommend it.

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

no

Don't miss this hidden gem.

Most people who are serious readers of business and personal development books have read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins. I was not familiar with this title until it was recommended to me by a friend. It is full of astute observations and is very preventive for those who want to avoid a fall.

The Right Book at the Right Time?

When listening to this book I kept thinking about the story of the guy who made a fortune by selling the book "How to Survive a Shark Attack" after he fell into shark-infested waters with 20 people who were much slower swimmers. However, I don't think this scenario applies here. The author is aware of the unusual situations in the business world at the end of 2008 and makes a case that their findings and conclusions are relevant. The mighty fall for some reasons you would suspect. But there are some surprises as well. Read on, listener.

Classic Jim Collins

Informative, exciting, insightful, and full of hope. I am officially a Jim Collins super fan!

Another great Jim Collins book

Jim Collins is by far my favorite business book author. Good to Great remains as my favorite Business book, but How The Mighty Fall is now a close second. The book is very straightforward in its methodology and in analyzing case by case the studied companies. In addition, the book has a great appendix part that must be read.