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apike's review against another edition
4.0
Like a lot of business books, the most valuable things in Good to Great are its anecdotes and labels for relatively common sense ideas. We "know" that focus, determination, and iterative improvement are what drives great businesses, but there are some interesting mental models in here that motivate that kind of work, and it makes an attempt at being analytical about how these principles did and didn't get applied at different companies.
The book certainly has some limitations. It focuses in on how large public companies either became much more valuable, or did not, over decades. It's sometimes unclear how one could apply the lessons in here to a startup, and they could even be potentially harmful in that environment. The book also describes a lot of approaches and attributes that are probably necessary, but not sufficient for achieving the stated goals (as expected for a book analyzing such an ambitious goal).
Probably most dodgy is the inconvenient fact that since it was written, many of the companies they selected as hero cases – the "good to great" companies under study – have fallen from grace. It could be that these companies stopped applying the principles in the book, but it's more likely that – again – these principles are necessary but not sufficient for sustained success.
Overall though I enjoyed reading the book and I expect to come back to my highlights from time to time. It's nice to spend some time thinking on the "zoomed out" goals of what a company is building over a decade or more.
The book certainly has some limitations. It focuses in on how large public companies either became much more valuable, or did not, over decades. It's sometimes unclear how one could apply the lessons in here to a startup, and they could even be potentially harmful in that environment. The book also describes a lot of approaches and attributes that are probably necessary, but not sufficient for achieving the stated goals (as expected for a book analyzing such an ambitious goal).
Probably most dodgy is the inconvenient fact that since it was written, many of the companies they selected as hero cases – the "good to great" companies under study – have fallen from grace. It could be that these companies stopped applying the principles in the book, but it's more likely that – again – these principles are necessary but not sufficient for sustained success.
Overall though I enjoyed reading the book and I expect to come back to my highlights from time to time. It's nice to spend some time thinking on the "zoomed out" goals of what a company is building over a decade or more.
ngallion's review against another edition
3.0
I really hated reading this book, but I can also see why it’s appreciated by many. The big issue for me is that this book was recommended to me by a superior, but reading this was frustrating because it made me see ways in which my organization isn’t practicing these principles, but I’m not in a position to make necessary changes. So yeah, this was a pretty frustrating experience.
nomiii's review against another edition
4.0
Great book on a new way to look at success in a business or group