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Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by James C. Collins
madiwerb's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
I wish the main book was more like this.
braddy7's review against another edition
5.0
Helpful, quick translation of Good to Great to the social sector.
jwsg's review against another edition
4.0
In Good to Great, Jim Collins lays out the principles and practices that make distinguish the merely good companies from the great ones. In this monograph, he applies the logic and principles in Good to Great to the social sector. Collins debunks that notion that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors it to become more like a business, by having greater discipline in planning, in governance, in allocation of resources. Collins argues that these are not concepts unique to businesses, that just like businesses, social sector agencies also need Level 5 leadership, need to pay attention to getting the right people on the bus, need to define what "great" looks like for themselves, to embrace the Hedgehog Concept and know that "one big thing" and stick to it, and turn the flywheel, slowly but surely taking steps in the right direction to gradually build momentum.
There are major differences between the business and social sectors obviously and Collins contextualises the ideas in Good to Great for the social sector in this monograph. Unlike the business sector, for a social sector organisation, "performance must be assessed relative to mission, not financial returns…the critical question is not 'How much money do we make per dollar of invested capital?' but "How effectively do we deliver on our mission and make a distinctive impact, relative to our resources?" Even if one's outputs are inherently not measurable, Collins argues that social sector organisations must separate inputs from outputs and "hold [themselves] accountable for progress in outputs, even if those outputs defy measurement…what matters is that [organisations] rigorously assemble evidence - quantitative or qualitative - to track…progress. If the evidence is primarily qualitative, think like a trial lawyer assembling the combined body of evidence. If the evidence is primarily quantitative, then think of yourself as a laboratory scientist assembling and assessing the data." To Collins, for social sector organisations to say that they cannot measure performance the same way businesses can is simply laziness and lack of discipline. "Test scores are flawed, mammograms are flawed, crime data are flawed…patient outcome data are flawed. What matters is not finding the perfect indicator, but settling upon a consistent and intelligent method of assessing your output results, and then tracking your trajectory with rigor. What do you mean by great performance? Have you established a baseline? Are you improving? If not, why not?"
On Level 5 leadership in the social sector, Collins observes that the social sector has more complex governance and diffuse power structures compared to businesses. This means that executive style leadership - while effective in the corporate world - often fails in the social sector. Social sector leaders instead need to exercise legislative leadership, where "no individual leader - not even the nominal chief executive - has enough structural power to make the most important decisions by himself or herself. Legislative leadership relies more upon persuasion, political currency, and shared interests to create the conditions for the right decisions to happen." Collins points out that it's not and either/or question but more like a spectrum where leaders have to learn to slide up and down the executive-legislative leadership scale, depending on what the situation calls for.
On getting the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off it), Collins acknowledged that getting the wrong people off the bus in the social sector can be more difficult than in a business. This is why early assessment mechanisms turn out to be more important than hiring mechanisms. While much is made about the inability of the social sector to pay for talent, Collins argues that lack of resources is no excuse for lack of rigor in selection; indeed, "it makes selectivity all the more vital".
On the hedgehog concept, while Good to Great spoke about the three intersecting circles of (a) what you are deeply passionate about; (b) what you can be the best in the world at; and (c) what best drives your economic engine, in the social sector, we can substitute the economic engine under (c) to a "resource engine". So how might we get resources of all types - not just money to pay the bills, but also time, emotional commitment, hands, hearts and minds - to deliver superior performance relative to our mission.
On turning the flywheel, Collins observes that this concept works very well in the business sector. As business start to deliver superior financial results, investors will start to flock to the business. However, there is no guaranteed relationship between exceptional results and sustained access to resources in the social sector, as non profit funding tends to favour programmatic funding, rather than building great organisations. He suggests that for the social sector, a key issue is brand reputation - built on tangible results and emotional share of heart - so that potential supporters believe not only in organisations' missions but also their capacity to deliver on that mission.
At the end of the monograph, Collins summarises the 4 basic stages of building a great organisation:
#1: Disciplined people - Level 5 Leadership and getting the right people on the bus and getting the wrong people of it (and the right people in the key seats)
#2: Disciplined thought - confronting the brutal facts and the hedgehog concept
#3: Disciplined action - having a culture of discipline and the flywheel
#4: Building greatness to last - clock building, not time telling, and preserving the core and stimulating progress.
This monograph comes in at just 35 pages but packs in a plenty of thought provoking material for those who work in the social sector.
There are major differences between the business and social sectors obviously and Collins contextualises the ideas in Good to Great for the social sector in this monograph. Unlike the business sector, for a social sector organisation, "performance must be assessed relative to mission, not financial returns…the critical question is not 'How much money do we make per dollar of invested capital?' but "How effectively do we deliver on our mission and make a distinctive impact, relative to our resources?" Even if one's outputs are inherently not measurable, Collins argues that social sector organisations must separate inputs from outputs and "hold [themselves] accountable for progress in outputs, even if those outputs defy measurement…what matters is that [organisations] rigorously assemble evidence - quantitative or qualitative - to track…progress. If the evidence is primarily qualitative, think like a trial lawyer assembling the combined body of evidence. If the evidence is primarily quantitative, then think of yourself as a laboratory scientist assembling and assessing the data." To Collins, for social sector organisations to say that they cannot measure performance the same way businesses can is simply laziness and lack of discipline. "Test scores are flawed, mammograms are flawed, crime data are flawed…patient outcome data are flawed. What matters is not finding the perfect indicator, but settling upon a consistent and intelligent method of assessing your output results, and then tracking your trajectory with rigor. What do you mean by great performance? Have you established a baseline? Are you improving? If not, why not?"
On Level 5 leadership in the social sector, Collins observes that the social sector has more complex governance and diffuse power structures compared to businesses. This means that executive style leadership - while effective in the corporate world - often fails in the social sector. Social sector leaders instead need to exercise legislative leadership, where "no individual leader - not even the nominal chief executive - has enough structural power to make the most important decisions by himself or herself. Legislative leadership relies more upon persuasion, political currency, and shared interests to create the conditions for the right decisions to happen." Collins points out that it's not and either/or question but more like a spectrum where leaders have to learn to slide up and down the executive-legislative leadership scale, depending on what the situation calls for.
On getting the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off it), Collins acknowledged that getting the wrong people off the bus in the social sector can be more difficult than in a business. This is why early assessment mechanisms turn out to be more important than hiring mechanisms. While much is made about the inability of the social sector to pay for talent, Collins argues that lack of resources is no excuse for lack of rigor in selection; indeed, "it makes selectivity all the more vital".
On the hedgehog concept, while Good to Great spoke about the three intersecting circles of (a) what you are deeply passionate about; (b) what you can be the best in the world at; and (c) what best drives your economic engine, in the social sector, we can substitute the economic engine under (c) to a "resource engine". So how might we get resources of all types - not just money to pay the bills, but also time, emotional commitment, hands, hearts and minds - to deliver superior performance relative to our mission.
On turning the flywheel, Collins observes that this concept works very well in the business sector. As business start to deliver superior financial results, investors will start to flock to the business. However, there is no guaranteed relationship between exceptional results and sustained access to resources in the social sector, as non profit funding tends to favour programmatic funding, rather than building great organisations. He suggests that for the social sector, a key issue is brand reputation - built on tangible results and emotional share of heart - so that potential supporters believe not only in organisations' missions but also their capacity to deliver on that mission.
At the end of the monograph, Collins summarises the 4 basic stages of building a great organisation:
#1: Disciplined people - Level 5 Leadership and getting the right people on the bus and getting the wrong people of it (and the right people in the key seats)
#2: Disciplined thought - confronting the brutal facts and the hedgehog concept
#3: Disciplined action - having a culture of discipline and the flywheel
#4: Building greatness to last - clock building, not time telling, and preserving the core and stimulating progress.
This monograph comes in at just 35 pages but packs in a plenty of thought provoking material for those who work in the social sector.
laurelannelise's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of the best "quick and dirty" nonprofit books I've ever read. None of Jim Collins' conclusions were new or earthshaking to me, but they serve as a great reminder of where nonprofit orgs should be focusing.
msmo's review against another edition
2.0
I should note that I haven't read Good to Great, so I was lost on some of the more concepts introduced in the original volume. I heard of a lot of "discipline" , "hedgehog model" , and "bus", but didn't understand it well. I have to go back and read Good to Great maybe. That said, the parts in normal English, the insights Collins had on the social sector, was worth noting and filing away. The real-life examples were inspiring as well.
jwelchans's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent companion to the book. Working in the social sector, I find it invaluable when trying to gain clarity on what we should be doing to create a great organization or a "pocket of greatness" as JIm Collins would call it. Read the book first, but if you're in the social sector add this ASAP.
lassarina's review against another edition
5.0
I touch on my thoughts on this monograph in my review of Good to Great, but basically I think it does an exceptional job of taking the already strong concepts in its parent book and applying them to the social sector.
From the viewpoint of 2017, I disagree with the inclusion of Bratten's NYPD as an example of "greatness" given disparities in policing behaviors and outcomes, but given the date this book was written and the change in social discourse between now and then, I find it understandable.
From the viewpoint of 2017, I disagree with the inclusion of Bratten's NYPD as an example of "greatness" given disparities in policing behaviors and outcomes, but given the date this book was written and the change in social discourse between now and then, I find it understandable.
travlnbard's review against another edition
4.0
I wish there was more in this book. It is an addition to Good to Great and I appreciate the author's comments about not just adding it to the book and making people buy the new one but I think this could have had more examples. I hope the author is planning something bigger in the future just for Social Sectors.