Pioneering carefully selected technology is an accelerator of momentum. They do not rely on management fads or heroic dreams of greatness to achieve their goals, instead engaging in continual self-assessment. What is Good to Great about? Keep These Things in Mind, 4 Ways Remote Communication Is Making For a Better Workplace, These 5 major gym chains still make it annoyingly hard to quit, U.S. news coverage of COVID has been more negative than in other countries, researchers find, The skin care brand striving to make medical-grade topicals both more luxe and accessible, Biden’s national coronavirus strategy is starting to take shape—and it’s very different than Trump’s, Pfizer’s COVID vaccine comes with a chilly complication. Hacker From Heart. But the pilot has ultimate responsibility within that system for the safety of the craft, its passengers, and its crew. Takeaways from “Good to Great” Book January 16, 2017 Jim Collins’ book Good to Great is another excellent business book that discusses concepts from large business points of view. Let’s get to the takeaways. Constantly probe until you have a clear picture. The idea that technological change is the principal cause in the decline of once-great companies (or the perpetual mediocrity of others) is not supported by the results from the study of Jim Collins. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. Required fields are marked *. Organizations that strive to become great need to have a Level 5 leader. A fox is a very clever creature. Unlike many would expect, individuals at the helm of companies considered to be great were not high-profile leaders with some previous claim to fame. Your email address will not be published. Thus the idea for Good to Great was born: to study whether good companies can indeed become great companies and, if so, how they can. Amanda received her Master's Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Jim Collins - Good To Great Book Review & Key Takeaways Jim Collins’ research team found that the first ingredient for greatness was a leader with a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. Why do some companies grow over time, while others seem to stay stagnant? Build a culture of freedom and responsibility but within a defined framework. All good-to-great companies began the process of finding a path to greatness by confronting the brutal facts of their current reality. But how did these companies make the jump? I unexpectedly found Good to Great to be an engaging read, despite being a business book, because of its storytelling style. There needs to be a fanatical adherence to hedgehog concept that requires companies to only focus on things that they have determined they can be best at. Digital Dandy. To understand the key takeaways from Good to Great, let’s look at the companies Collins and his team studied. With this storytelling style also came a level of transparency that you wouldn’t expect from this type of book. In fact, they seemed just like any other company until a certain ‘transition point‘ saw them leave the pack behind. This is an important question because passion is hugely motivating. Level 5 leaders look out the window to attribute success to factors other than themselves. — Jim Collins Click To Tweet. How a company reacts to technological change is a good indicator of its inner drive for greatness versus mediocrity. The key word here is sustainable. They have a culture of questioning and openness uncorrupted by obsequiousness to rank. WarningMost great companies enjoyed years of obscurity before their great results compelled the world to look at them. Discipline on its own is pointless. To continually succeed and have sustained great results, companies depend on building and maintaining a culture full of self-disciplined people who take disciplined actions. Collins provides a tidy chronological diagram that details the companies’ unique traits. They also conducted interviews with the executives who presided over the various companies at the transition point. If you want to know more or withdraw your consent to all or some of the cookies, please refer to the cookie policy. Sign up for a free trial here. Good to Great Key Takeaway #1: High-profile, celebrity CEOs brought in from the outside to whip a company into shape actually hurt a company’s ability to transition from good to great. You’ll learn what it takes to be a “Level 5” leader, why assembling the right team first is more important than having the right idea, and why you should be more like a hedgehog than a fox.