What's so great about Good To Great?

Business phenom, Jim Collins, author of Built to Last, brought out another essential part of the businessmans' library. He describes Good to Great as actually a prologue, rather than a continuance of Built to Last. He and his group of students took several companies over different fifteen year periods. The book is actually built upon the performance of CEOs, but not eh CEOs you would think of. His thesis is that the most successful CEOs are the ones too busy in their day to day that they do not not have time to be focused on other distractions.

The great CEOs are Level 5 leaders. A level 5 leader is not just a highly capable individual (Level 1) or a contributing team manager (Level 2.) He is also a competent manager (Level 3.) He is more than an effective leader (Level 4.) He is all this and more, he thinks not of himself but of the company. Not of the company just while he is there, but building a legacy as well. They are results driven. After a brief introduction who the Level 5 is, the rest of the book shows the buildup and breakthrough of how this greatness is achieved.

The buildup is composed of getting the right people in the right spots. Usually getting the right people in the right spots is a better strategy than getting a new direction. Great vision without great people is irrelevant. Good to Great drives home the point to stay on task. Do not constantly jump from one product to another. balance is the key to life.

The breakthrough builds upon this balance. In something referred to as the Hedgehog Concept, Good to Great leaders see the world as simple. They concentrate on what is essential. The rest is just a distraction. Good to Great companies built upon what would make them greatest. That which makes them greatest is what provides for growth and builds upon fundamentals. This also allows for a clearly designed goal and mission. Getting rid of all distractions and sticking to this framework allows for greatness. Once you understand the Hedgehog Concept, you incorporate other activities, not as distractions, but to add growth to that one thing that will make you great. Technology is Collins' best example of this!

This book does have a most definite business slant on it, but as the track coach example towards the end of the book shows, there is nothing here that cannot be applied to everyday life. Every part of life.