Must Read: Good to Great

Jim Collins’ Good to Great grew into not only a bestseller, but also argued to be a classic in management theory. In his book, Collis explains why some companies made the transition from being good to great and why some companies failed. He identified early in the book that discipline people, thought, and action plays a significant role in a company’s success. Collis also identified the quality and nature of leadership in great companies in which he calls “Level 5 Leadership”. These leaders are personally invested in the companies who display passionate determination and humility.

Collins further explains how great companies recruit and retain such high-quality team members. Before anything else, getting the right individuals on board is the main priority even if it costs the organization extra time, energy, and/or money. Collins described it as “getting the right people in the right seats”. This analogy is further examined in my previous post titled The Bus.

Moving on from leadership, Collins explains how the ability to identify trends and developments inside and outside the company is absolutely critical to achieve and maintain success. With the market constantly changing, the inability to assess and adapt to the industry’s transformations will inevitably result in failure. Though this process may seem to be a difficult challenge, Collins explains that the biggest mistake here is over-complication. Collins believes that simplicity is often key to greatness and illustrates this idea with the Hedgehog Concept.

Collis describes the organizational culture of discipline as a defining factor in a great company. This does not mean the company operates with an authoritarian statute, but that everyone in the company has a strong sense of determination and investment. Essentially, every employee is an entrepreneur who is devoted to both personal work as well as the organizations overall success. This culture of discipline can be successfully and efficiently executed through transformational leadership. A transformational leader focuses on not just the growth of the company, but the growth of subordinates as well. Developing individuals within the company allows employees to feel empowered, thus promoting confidence and personal responsibility. Employees will feel invested in, which ultimately cultivates self-investment into the company itself.

Collins also talks about current technology trends and the impacts on business. Many organizations use technology to gain competitive advantage, reduce overhead, and increase overall efficiency. Collins explains that for these reasons, technology is a great tool. However, Collins also cautions the dependency on the same technologies. New technology must be managed with careful planning and consideration.

Jim Collins’ Good to Great was an outstanding read. The book is full of researched data that is presented in a very interesting fashion. In every chapter there were moments that I could personally relate to. Whether Collins is describing good organizational culture or bad managerial practices, I was constantly making connections to my personal and professional life. I highly recommend this book to everyone, it will develop you one way or another.