2. Objectives
2
About theAuthor
Summary
Essence of “Good is the Enemy of Great”
Essence of “Level 5 Leadership”
Essence of “Confront the Brutal Facts”
Essence of “The Hedgehog Concept”
Takeaway
3. About the Author…
3
James C Collins
Born on January 25, 1958 at Boulder, Colorado USA
He is anAmerican business consultant, author and
lecturer on the subject of company sustainability
and growth.
Other famous books :
Built to Last: Successful Habits ofVisionary Companies, How the Mighty Fall:
AndWhy Some Companies Never Give In , Great by Choice: Uncertainty,
Chaos, and Luck -Why SomeThrive DespiteThemAll.
5. Good is the Enemy of Great
5
471 times
ROI over a
period of 35
Years
A few companies taken into account wereAbbott, Fannie Mae, Circuit City, Gillette, Kimberly-
Clark, Kroger etc
Disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action, were likely the most significant
factors in determining a company’s ability to achieve greatness.
7. 7
ProfessionalWill
Creates superb results, a clear catalyst in
the transition from good to great
Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do
whatever must be done to produce the best
long-term results, no matter how difficult
Sets the standard of building an enduring
great company; will settle for nothing less
Looks in the mirror, not out the window,
to apportion responsibility for poor results,
never blaming other people, external
factors, or bad luck
Personal Humility
Demonstrates a compelling modesty,
shunning public adulation; never boastful
Acts with quiet, calm determination;
relies principally on inspired standards,
not inspiring charisma to motivate
Channels ambition into the company, not
the self; sets up successors for even
greater success in the next generation
Looks out the window, not in the mirror,
to apportion credit for the success of the
company—to other people, external
factors, and good luck
10. Confront the Brutal Facts
10
•Two choices: confront brutal facts and change or
stick head in sand
•Kroger andA&P…superstores vs. low prices
•You absolutely cannot make a series of good
decisions without first confronting the brutal facts.
11. 11
Collins outlines a four-step process to promote awareness of
emerging trends and potential problems:
Lead with questions, not answers
Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion
Conduct autopsies without blame
Build red flag mechanisms that turn information into
information that cannot be ignored
Before I start to present my insights on this book I would want to take this as an opportunity to thank Prof Arnold for introducing us to such good books & most importantly this one as all these books have shown me a new direction in life. The reason why I am emphasizing this is for a very simple reason that when I started reading this book, there were so many instances where I felt “Oh my god !! This is so much of me” I am thankful from the bottom of my heart that I was introduced to such a thought provoking book at an early stage of my career. Now coming back to this masterpiece “What got you here…wont get you there” written by Marshall Goldsmith talks of how people can change from being “Good to Great” as like the previous book which talked of companies moving towards the journey of good to great. This book is in turn extremely important & vital as when companies have to have to move upto the “Great” status it requires great people & this book focuses much on that.
Jim Collins frequently contributes to Harvard Business Review, Business Week, Fortune and other magazines, journals, etc
is operationally defined according to a number of metrics, including, specifically, financial performance that exceeded the market average by several orders of magnitude over a sustained period of time. Using these criteria, Collins and his research team exhaustively catalogued the business literature, identifying a handful of companies that fulfilled their predetermined criteria for greatness. Then, the defining characteristics that differentiated these ‘great’ firms from their competitors were quantified and analyzed
Factors such as CEO compensation, technology, mergers and acquisitions, and change management initiatives played relatively minor roles in fostering the Good to Great process. Instead, Collins found that successes in three main areas, which he terms disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action, were likely the most significant factors in determining a company’s ability to achieve greatness.