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A review by aerofinity
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't by Jim Collins
5.0
4.5/5 ✨
I really enjoyed this Business School classic. The book is based on extensive research on a set of companies which were chugging along nicely and then experienced a sustained period of outperforming the market more than 6x. Jim Collins and his team set out to isolate the core factors that made these companies great when compared with their competitors. The resulting information is inspiring and powerful, and is centred around some simple factors:
- Leadership that is disciplined and focused on the benefit of the company above all else. Comparison companies too often had leadership focused on ego, empire building, and did not consider succession planning adequately.
- Hiring policies that are laser focused on ensuring that only the best people with the right fit get on the bus and that any mistakes in hiring are rectify quickly. Pull the Band-Aid off - it’s better for everyone!
- Discovering what your company can be the very best in the world at, and going after that with unswerving determination (“hedgehog” concept in the jargon - after the parable of the hedgehog and the fox). Comparison companies that did not perform well didn’t stick to their core mission but were sidetracked by shiny objects and acquisitions.
- And I saved the best for last - my favourite concept in the book is the “flywheel” metaphor. This relates to gradually building a set of small wins over a long period of time. Like a flywheel, initial change and wins are hard as you press against the heavy object, but gradually the changes and improvements put into place compound and build off each other and eventually the flywheel is spinning rapidly with unstoppable momentum. That overnight success only took 10 years. This is a powerful metaphor to understand the strength of many pushes in the same direction as momentum is built, as well as the destructive implications of changing direction too rapidly and without due care and consideration.
Overall a fantastic book filled with powerful and striking metaphors, and timeless wisdom. I do have some small quibbles with choice of target companies in the study, eg Philip Morris is complicit in the death of millions and hardly a subject of admiration, even if highly profitable.
Definitely a must read for all company owners or indeed anyone that wants to build something great.
I really enjoyed this Business School classic. The book is based on extensive research on a set of companies which were chugging along nicely and then experienced a sustained period of outperforming the market more than 6x. Jim Collins and his team set out to isolate the core factors that made these companies great when compared with their competitors. The resulting information is inspiring and powerful, and is centred around some simple factors:
- Leadership that is disciplined and focused on the benefit of the company above all else. Comparison companies too often had leadership focused on ego, empire building, and did not consider succession planning adequately.
- Hiring policies that are laser focused on ensuring that only the best people with the right fit get on the bus and that any mistakes in hiring are rectify quickly. Pull the Band-Aid off - it’s better for everyone!
- Discovering what your company can be the very best in the world at, and going after that with unswerving determination (“hedgehog” concept in the jargon - after the parable of the hedgehog and the fox). Comparison companies that did not perform well didn’t stick to their core mission but were sidetracked by shiny objects and acquisitions.
- And I saved the best for last - my favourite concept in the book is the “flywheel” metaphor. This relates to gradually building a set of small wins over a long period of time. Like a flywheel, initial change and wins are hard as you press against the heavy object, but gradually the changes and improvements put into place compound and build off each other and eventually the flywheel is spinning rapidly with unstoppable momentum. That overnight success only took 10 years. This is a powerful metaphor to understand the strength of many pushes in the same direction as momentum is built, as well as the destructive implications of changing direction too rapidly and without due care and consideration.
Overall a fantastic book filled with powerful and striking metaphors, and timeless wisdom. I do have some small quibbles with choice of target companies in the study, eg Philip Morris is complicit in the death of millions and hardly a subject of admiration, even if highly profitable.
Definitely a must read for all company owners or indeed anyone that wants to build something great.