Book Summary: Good to Great
Jim Collins Good to Great is the culmination of a research project by the author looking into some of the biggest companies of our time and what makes them such standouts. He examines areas such as leadership, culture and management.
Related Book Summaries:
What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast – Laura Vanderkam
The Obstacle Is The Way – Ryan Holiday
Quotes:
Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.
Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.
Good to Great Book Summary Notes:
- Learn the hedgehog strategy. When a fox tries to eat a hedgehog, the hedgehog cups into a ball. It doesn’t matter how the fox tries to trick it or what it tries to do. It is always faced with the same spiky ball in answer.
- Develop your hedgehog strategy by answering 3 questions: what can we be the best in the world at? What can we be passionate about? What key economic indicator should we focus on?
- Follow and create a clear mission statement and set goals.
- Success doesn’t happen all at once. It’s a series of small or even tiny victories gained over time. Overnight successes are often the result of this until the company reaches a critical mass or tipping point, beyond which all of a sudden they appear as overnight successes.
- Technology should only be used as an accelerator towards your goals and never become the goal itself.
- Don’t let ego get in the way of business.
- Having the right people in the right places can be a huge boon.
- Never discourage people from airing the truth of a situation.
- Self discipline is extremely important in adhering to your hedgehog strategy.
