Good to Great

Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

By: Jim Collins

Narrated by: Jim Collins

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

Built to Last, the defining management study of the '90s, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning.

But what about companies that are not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? Are there those that convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? If so, what are the distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

Over five years, Jim Collins and his research team have analyzed the histories of 28 companies, discovering why some companies make the leap and others don't. The findings include:

• Level 5 Leadership: A surprising style, required for greatness
• The Hedgehog Concept: Finding your three circles, to transcend the curse of competence
• A Culture of Discipline: The alchemy of great results
• Technology Accelerators: How good-to-great companies think differently about technology
• The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Why those who do frequent restructuring fail to make the leap

©2001 Jim Collins (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic Reviews

"Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come." (Amazon.com review)

"If you believe that a visionary leader with a strong ego is an essential component of sustained business success, then Jim Collins has a few thousand words for you. His carefully researched audiobook explains that the success of companies that outperform the market for 15 years in a row comes from selfless leadership, rigorous focus, and a culture of discipline....[T]here's another reason this book has burst through as a bestseller, which you can feel in Collins's narration: He is honestly excited about his research and unconventional findings. ( AudioFile)

Good info, over-the-top narration

Yes, the narrator is the author, so maybe that counts for something. But man, he just goes so far over the top over-weighting his words so often, it's pretty comical at times. The sample is a bit misleading, because Collins is just getting warmed up in that. A few more pages in, and He Is Speaking Like A Triumphant Graduate Student Who Has Just...Found...The...PROOF...That...Discipline -- DISCIPLINE! -- is the Key!

Narrative comedy aside, there is a lot of worthwhile information here, though when you boil it down there's a lot of the obvious here. Also in late 2010 the discussion of Circuit City and Fannie Mae as "great companies" is a bit ridiculous; and some of the companies discussed as great have attained their greatness in part by less-than-moral means that have come to light in the years of increasingly ubiquitous internet since the book's publication. Still, Collins' articulation is highly accessible and well-ordered, making "the obvious" easier to digest and retain. 4 stars for content, 2 stars for narration = 3 stars.

ineffectual

This book was long and it was supposed to be data driven however nothing really translated. This wasted my time, I had to try very hard just to finish, the data they gave was very rudimentary. The premise of their book...hire good people...BOOM i saved you 8 hours.

Great promise, but turns out to be just noise

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

More practical, more substance.

What was most disappointing about Jim Collins’s story?

The books starts off with a great promise. Unlike the usual "7 habits of successful people" and "10 steps to success", the author announced right away that his study was properly conducted, it has a control sample, and that the book will not only talk about commonalities of the "good to great" companies, but will also talk about the NECESSARY and SUFFICIENT characteristics (not just necessary) and that it will discuss what "good to great" companies have that "good" companies don't and vice versa.
The author also promised not to fall into the trap of "if you can't explain it, blame it on leadership".
Well, he did.
The book turned out nothing but hours and hours of repeating the same main idea: it's all about the leadership. If you can't explain it, blame it on leadership. The only difference, the author invented a clever way to mask this obvious shortcoming by talking about "level 5" leadership. What that is is "putting company first", "being modest", "working hard", "making the right decisions", "having the right people" and other very trivial and useless advice. What the "right" people or the "right" decisions are, of course, depends on the specific case, so not much attention is devoted to that part.
The book is written in the language that you would hear from a professional consultant who charges a lot and tells you what everybody already knows, but in a language that makes it sound impressive and evidence based. Still, it all boils down to having the "right" leadership, making the "right" choices, having the "right" people, working "hard" and other common sense.

On Good to Great!

Before reading the book, I was in search of an answer for what made average companies experience greatness?!

In short, Jim Collins profound research with his team answered it in the best way I could imagine. The three concepts that this book revolves around, the hedgehog, the level 5 leadership, and the bus. First, any business looking for greatness should first consider who before what. Which means a business should consider taking the right people on the bus and putting the right individuals in the right seats. Second, great businesses all share one common aspect that is to have a culture of humbleness and the level 5 leadership. And, lastly, the hedgehog concept which refers to the idea that a business should maintain to its core values an dnot change strategies now an then. This is because only for the long run a great business will appear its greatness, not in less than 5 years or so.

Interesting but Requires Revision

if you can get past the list of 'great' company's that haven't done that great. its a worth while read as it is so frequently referenced (often badly) in current literature.

I think the basic message of this book that the right type of simplicity is very hard but very worthwhile is still valid.

Essential for anyone in business

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

Yes. No matter if you are an entrepreneur or an aspiring corporate executive, this book has great ideas that can apply in your business life.

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

"First who, then what"

Any additional comments?

Must read. Despite its research-based background (which gives it much validity), Jim Collins narrates and brings the book to life, even when describing their research methodology.

How to book for abolishing complacency.

This is simply a must read for any leader who struggles with taking their team to a new level of productivity. The hardest part of going from good to great is when no one else has done what you are trying to do. This book provides some very simple principles giving you a roadmap to help you and your team understand what should be your main focus.

Many points to make - part 1

The author starts off by not grabbing my attention, but by making me sit through a long laundry list of the names of the contributors and other information that is highly personal to him, but especially boring to me at the beginning of an audio book. The author (who's the narrator too) then launches into a diatribe about the toil and effort and labor hours it took for the book followed by a trying-too-hard explanation of their research methodology with cliche' examples of "if you would have invested $1000 dollars in" back in …

I thought this part was over, but even after my coffee and breakfast, the author is still over emphasizing their research methodology and speaking of how they "pounded on tables" and other debate action with each other about the book. I continued to listen anyway, then I found him listing out another dry and boring laundry list of companies. When telling a story, Stephen King Points out: "don't tell us a thing, when you can show us" in his book On Writing. The author is "big" on telling us instead of showing us, effectively robbing the reader/listener of the experience of the discovery that a good and interesting story brings. I want to "discover" profound things as I go along, not names thrown at me all at once. He is still rambling about research methods at the 30 minute mark. "We call ourselves the chimps, in honor of our mascot Curious George" speaking still of how great their efforts were in their producing the book at the 32 minute mark. He speaks to us about the steak when we want to hear about the sizzle, let us taste the steak, not give us a molecular structure breakdown of it. Highly boring, this self-back patting is, I feel. I want to learn the unique information, not how hard they worked with Curious George cliché'(s) and table pounding meetings.

great listen

I had heard this book had great info in it, but dry to read. Listening was a great way to get the info. The author's passion for this topic draws you in, given he reads it, and it engages you in the story. Recommend it!

I get it... move on!

What did you like best about Good to Great? What did you like least?

There was some good concepts in this book and I enjoyed learing about other businesses; however, each topic was overbaked. I kept thinking to myself, "ok, I've got it! Get the right people on the bus... ok... move on already!" It was hard to stay focused during parts of this book.