This book was recommended to me by HEB (the quintessential Level 5 leader).

Can a good company become a great company and, if so, how? With these ingredients:

1) Level 5 Leadership– Good-to-great leaders are paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. They are ambitious, but ambitious first and foremost for the company, not themselves.
2) First Who… Then What– These companies first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats–and only then did they figure out where to drive it.
3) Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)-Every good-to-great company embraced the Stockdale Paradox: you must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.
4) The Hedgehog Concept- Take a complex world and simplify it. For example, Walgreens switched their focus from profit per store to profit per customer visit. They replaced all inconvenient locations with more convenient ones, preferably corner lots where customers could easily enter and exit from multiple directions. If a great corner location would open up just a half block away from a profitable Walgreens store in a good location, the company would close the good store (even at a cost of $1 million to get out of the lease) to open a great new store on the corner. In urban areas, the company clustered its stores tightly together, on the precept that no one should have to walk more than a few blocks to reach a Walgreens.
5) A Culture of Discipline– A culture of discipline combined with an ethic of entrepreneurship leads to a magical alchemy of great performance.
6) Technology Accelerators–Technology itself is not the primary means of igniting transformation but these companies are pioneers in the application of carefully selected technologies.

2024 Review
I challenged myself in 2024 to re-read the books that impacted me most in my 20s. I wasn't sure if Good to Great fit that descriptor, but I figured the only way I would find out is if I re-read it.
And I'm glad I did.
This is a solid book studying business culture and what it takes to thrive. Now granted, did the list of "great" businesses age well? No. I don't think one of the listed businesses is currently great. But as Collins points out at the end, that doesn't take away from the fact that for a time in the 1990s they were great, and they were great in a way that defeated the odds. Even if they forgot to keep it up, there is something to learn here.
It is an engaging and interesting book and I think deserves the spot on the list of most influential reads of my 20s.

2017 Review
Not a perfect book by any means but one I found thoroughly satisfying. Like many business books, I liked it because I saw aspects of Good Profit in it and I extrapolated my understanding accordingly. This book contained interesting case studies and general principles for building a successful ("great") business. It engaged me intellectually and left me with a desire to learn more. I'm glad I finally read this one!

Really interesting to keep thinking on application. Would love to see the 25 years later reflections but also didn’t enjoy reading it enough to seek it out

Cảm ơn ba tôi- người đã tặng tôi quyển sách này, ngay khi tôi đang mệt lừ với hàng tá những kế hoạch và dự định trong kinh doanh lần đầu còn dang dở.
Cảm ơn James, quyển sách của ông quả thực quá tuyệt vời; mà không: Có lẽ từ tuyệt vời còn quá khiêm tốn, một quyển sách vĩ đại.
Một lời khuyên dành cho bạn: Hãy mua nó, hãy đọc nó, khi bạn đã thực sự sẵn sàng. Sẵn sàng chính suy nghĩ, tư duy của mình; và quyết tâm thay đổi suy nghĩ về công việc bạn đang thực hiện. Đây không gì hơn một cuốn cẩm nang tiềm tàng, một nhà chiến lược tài ba; nó sẽ chỉ cho bạn cách làm, cách suy nghĩ những thành công, những thất bại nhưng nếu bạn muốn thành công, bạn phải thực sự sẵn sàng để hành động.
Có lẽ nhóm của James đã phải chuẩn bị rất nhiều để có thể có cuốn sách này- chi tiết, đầy đủ, dễ hiểu, dễ nhớ. Nó đã khai thác triệt để vấn đề mà hầu hết mọi người đang gặp phải, đặc biệt là trong kinh doanh: Chỉ thỏa mãn ở mức độ tốt, trung bình; chứ không đòi hỏi phải cố gắng đạt đến mức độ trường tồn-vĩ đại.
Xin trân trọng xếp cuốn sách vào ghệ '' Nếu cho tôi quay ngược thời gian''

I love that this book is steeped in some serious longitudinal and painstaking research and essentially was written by a team that debated and pushed ideas much further than a single person could have. The book is so accessible, I think, directly as a result of this dynamic. All of the examples are phenomenal and it just makes so much sense. I would have liked it even more had their been more mention of the social/nonprofit sector. For though many ideas apply easily across fields, some ideas were hard for me to conceptualize in the realm of public education - for example the economic denominator.

very sound advice.

I was hoping this book would give me some guidelines to remember when I start my own business. There were a few good points, but nothing compelling. Reading this book wasn't a very good use of my time.

Tips from the book:

First Who, then What
First, get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off it), then figure out where to drive. Having the right people in the company is more important than deciding what the company will do, because the right people will help make that decision anyway. Whether a person is "right" or not depends on their character more than their knowledge and skills. Don't waste time dealing with people who aren't contributing; fire them ASAP.

Don't waste effort trying to motivate people; the right people are self-motivated. All you have to do is keep from de-motivating them.

The Hedgehog Concept
To become great, use the Hedgehog Concept: concentrate on the point of intersection between what you are passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what drives your economic engine. The Hedgehog Concept is named for the simple hedgehog that does one thing well (curling up for defense), and is able to defeat the crafty fox which knows many things but acts inconsistently.

A Culture of Discipline
Ignore "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunities unless they fit in the 3 circles of the Hedgehog Concept.

Don't treat budgeting as allocating amounts of money to activities, but choose Hedgehog Concept activities to fully fund, and don't fund others. "Stop doing" lists are more important than "to do" lists.

Technology Accelerators
Does the technology fit directly with your Hedgehog Concept? If yes, then pioneer that technology. If not, settle for parity with your competitors, or ignore it.

Greatness happens as a result of long-term, consistent behavior, not a sudden lucky break or killer app.

(The English review is placed beneath Russian one)

Раньше я всегда удивлялся, почему книга «От хорошего к великому» никогда не упоминается в списках рекомендованной литературы для маркетологов, составленными самими практикующими маркетологами. До того как я всё же наконец-то прочёл эту книгу, у меня уже был один ответ и он представлял собой книгу под названием «Эффект ореола», которая является неким опровержением идей, что были высказаны в книге «От хорошего к великому» и по сути, опровергает всю книгу целиком. Сейчас же, после того как я прочёл её, я думаю что это просто жвачка имеющая такое же отношение к бизнесу какое self-help литература имеет к психологии.
Трудно что-то написать по поводу этой книги, т.к. придётся заполнять пустоту или даже лучше сказать, объяснять пустоту, ибо книга абсолютна никакая. Автор очень много внимания уделяет таким мутным темам как лидерство и персонал. Лидерство, это любимая тема тех авторов, которые хотят срубить бабла, но которые при этом не имеют ни одной стоящей идеи, да и писать они зачастую тоже не умеют. Да, мы иногда можем наблюдать темы лидерства в книгах по менеджменту, но в удачных таких книгах тема лидерства является лишь одной из многих, она идёт как бы в дополнении. Ну вот возьмём Стива Джобса. Какой он, с точки зрения лидерства? Как пишут люди, что были с ним знакомы: ужасный человек, с которым крайне тяжело было работать. Пожалуй, ни о ком не было высказано столько негативного, сколько о Джобсе его же сотрудниками. Однако компания Apple вошла при нём в историю. Так? Не совсем. До того как был запущен первый iPod, а после - iPhone, Джобс был уволен из Apple. Более того, когда он был в компании, её дела шли не очень-то и хорошо. Компания Microsoft камня на камне не оставила от Apple, а в конце ей и вовсе пришлось купить долю в Apple, чтобы спасти от банкротства. Microsoft полностью доминировала в компьютерной отрасли. И лишь те потребители, что хотели выделиться, показать, что они «не такие как все» (и тут вспоминает знаменитую рекламу Apple с «большим братом) покупали продукцию Apple. Чаще всего это были работники творческих профессий или кто хотел ими стать (или казаться). Только успехи в инновационной области сделали из Apple заметного игрока. Но опять же, это пока есть успехи в сфере инноваций. То же самое можно сказать и о таких людях как Брэнсон и Билл Гейтс. Да, некоторая заслуга присутствует, но Гейтс уже давно не ведёт Microsoft, а «Virgin» Брэнсона известна скорее экстравагантным поведением его главы, нежели какими-то прорывными технологиями. Я это всё веду к тому, что успех складывается из множества факторов микро и макро среды, нежели двумя факторами одним из которых является лидерство.
Вторая тема, такая же спорная, как и первая. Авторы предлагают нам нанять правильных людей на правильные места, а остальных оставить за дверьми нашего автобуса. Вы когда-нибудь слышали, чтобы кто-то в фирме говорил, что «наша цель – нанимать не подходящих людей на не подходящие для них должности»? Конечно, нет! Все хотят получить максимальную выгоду из соотношения затраты/выгода. Разумеется, все ищут самых достойных кандидатов. Может, авторам эта мысль никогда и не приходила в голову?
В общем, беда этой книги в том, она не имеет прямого отношения к бизнесу. Эта книга о бизнесе для тех, кто не планирует там работать. Это как бы fiction. Чтиво из разряда «5 способов выйти замуж за миллионера». Книга, которая не даст знаний, что помогут вам в офисе.
Ну и последнее и самое забавное, это конечно Fannie Mae. Всех тех, кто ставил этой книге высокие оценки, мне хочется спросить: а ничего что их «научный взгляд» привёл к Fannie Mae? Ничего, что крах Fannie Mae перечёркивает всю книгу, т.к. авторы клялись и божились, что они нашли именно те факторы, что делают компанию великой?

I used to wonder why the book "Good to Great" is never mentioned in the lists of recommended literature for marketers, compiled by marketing practitioners themselves. Before I finally read this book, I already had one answer and it was a book called "The Halo Effect: ... and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers", which is a kind of refutation of the ideas that were expressed in the book "Good to Great" and, in fact, refutes the entire book. Now that I've read it, I think the book is a gum that is just as relevant to business as self-help literature is to psychology.
It's hard to write something about this book, because you have to fill in the void or even better to say, to explain the void, because the book is absolutely empty. The author pays a lot of attention to such vague topics as leadership and staff. Leadership is the favorite subject of those authors who want to make money, but who do not have any worthwhile ideas, and they are often no good at writing. Yes, we can sometimes see leadership themes in management books, but in successful management books, leadership is just one of the many themes, as if in addition. Well, let's take Steve Jobs. What is he like in terms of leadership? How do the people who knew him describe him? A horrible person with whom it was extremely difficult to work. But he made Apple famous all over the world. Is that right? Not quite. Before the first iPod and iPhone were launched, Jobs was fired from Apple. What's more, when he was in the company, things weren't going so well. Microsoft left no stone unturned by Apple, and in the end Microsoft had to buy a stake in Apple to save the company from bankruptcy. Microsoft dominated the computer industry completely. And only those consumers who wanted to stand out, to show that they were "different" (we can remember the famous Apple ad with a "big brother") were buying Apple products. Most often, they were creative professionals or those who wanted to become (or appear to be) artists. Only success in the innovation field made Apple a prominent player. But again, it is still a success in the field of innovation. The same can be said about people like Richard Branson and Bill Gates. Yes, some merit is present, but Bill Gates hasn't been leading Microsoft for a long time, and Branson's "Virgin" is known more for the extravagant behavior of his head than for some breakthrough technologies. All this leads me to the fact that success is made up of many factors of micro and macro environment, rather than two factors, one of which is leadership.
The second topic is as controversial as the first one. The author writes that we have to hire the right people for the right places, and leave the rest behind the doors of our bus. Have you ever heard anyone in the firm say that "our goal is to hire the wrong people for the wrong positions"? Of course not! Everyone wants to get the most out of the cost-benefit ratio. Of course, everyone is looking for the most worthy candidates. Maybe this idea never occurred to the author?
In general, the trouble with this book is that it is not directly related to business. This book is about business for those who do not plan to work there. It's like fiction. It is a read from the category of "5 ways to marry a millionaire". This book will not give knowledge that will help the reader in the office.
And the last and most funny thing is of course Fannie Mae. I would like to ask all those who gave this book high mark: do you care that the author's "scientific view" led him to Fannie Mae? Doesn't it bother you that the collapse of Fannie Mae crosses through the whole book, because the author almost swore that he had found the very factors that make the company great?

There is a valuable lesson in this book:

- Books are printed to make someone else money.

With this singular lesson in mind you can now unlock the secrets of all business and marketing books: the lesson isn't printed on the page, it's between the lines. This book sought, as all 'business' books do, to titillate you with facts, get you revved about the possibilities in your life to acquire great and fabulous riches through the magic of 'excellence' and set you loose into the world with your hair on fire and your eyes ablaze with new possibilities.

But there is no lesson taught. Euphemisms and equations all without constants or definition fill the pages. And that's the magic: You make your own definition for these catch phrases: On the Bus, Build your Council, etc. etc. Like any great allegory, or pop song, or religious verse, you assign your own meaning and off you go.

If there's an upside to all this I think it's in the true power of a 'business' book; It energizes a group of people to do what they already know how to do and want to do. If enough people in the organization read the book and buy into this zeal then change, for better or worse, can happen. But don't expect to actually learn anything more than a bit of business history from this title. The stories are true, but there's no business lesson here that you don't already know.

So, are you ready to buy in?

A true classic…

I read this over 10 years ago as part of a training program at work and re-read (rather listened to the audiobook this time around) and it is still as good as I remembered it the first time.

The examples shared in this book are just fascinating to listen to - something about how big brands got their start gets me all happy inside as if it were my business lol.

I think this book is good for anyone in the business world or who works in an organization of any kind. I have been working in the corporate world for about 18 years now and I would be lying if I said all companies are fun to work for and all bosses know what they are doing.

Having a framework that shows, based on data, what good looks like is just so valuable to how you assess your current organization and even spot any red flags in its not so distant future. It’s always good to work at an organization that cares about its people, has a vision and stays true to its guiding principles.

A valuable piece of research! "Good to Great" introduces a lot of alerting concepts that make one think differently about the acceptable level of achievements. Is "good" good enough or should companies aim to being "great"? The findings of the research are intriguing, for example the "who" then "what" concept. It's controversial though if the findings could be practically applied in today's tough business world. The suggestion that companies should aim to being "great" rather than "good" and that it's easier this way is debatable.

As a bonus, there are two side benefits form this book. Firstly, the concepts and ideas introduced can also be applied on the personal level with some tweaks. Secondly, the way the research was conducted including information collection, analysis, reaching results and validating them, are valuable in their own right.

This book by Jim Collins is one of the most successful books to be found in the "Business" section of your local megabookstore, and given how it purports to tell you how to take a merely good company and make it great, it's not difficult to see why that might be so. Collins and his crack team of researchers say they swam through stacks of business literature in search of info on how to pull this feat off, and came up with a list of great companies that illustrate some concepts central to the puzzle. They also present for each great company what they call a "comparison company," which is kind of that company with a goatee and a much less impressive earnings record. The balance of the book is spent expanding on pithy catch phrases that describe the great companies, like "First Who, Then What" or "Be a Hedgehog" or "Grasp the Flywheel, not the Doom Loop." No, no, I'm totally serious.

I've got several problems with this book, the biggest of which stem from fundamentally viewpoints on how to do research. Collin's brand of research is not my kind. It's not systematic, it's not replicable, it's not generalizable, it's not systematic, it's not free of bias, it's not model driven, and it's not collaborative. It's not, in short, scientific in any way. That's not to say that other methods of inquiry are without merit --the Harvard Business Review makes pretty darn good use of case studies, for example-- but way too often Collins's great truths seemed like square pegs crammed into round holes, because a round hole is what he wants. For example, there's no reported search for information that disconfirms his hypotheses. Are there other companies that don't make use of a Culture of Discipline (Chapter 6, natch) but yet are still great according to Collins's definition? Are there great companies that fail to do some of the things he says should make them great? The way that the book focuses strictly on pairs of great/comparison companies smacks of confirmatory information bias, which is a kink in the human mind that drives us to seek out and pay attention to information that confirms our pre-existing suppositions and ignore information that fails to support them.

Relatedly, a lot of the book's themes and platitudes strike me as owing their popularity to the same factors that make the horoscope or certain personality tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator so popular: they're so general and loosely defined that almost anyone can look at that and not only say that wow, that make sense, and I've always felt the same way! This guy and me? We're geniuses! The chapter about "getting the right people on the bus" that extols the virtue of hiring really super people is perhaps the most obvious example. Really, did anyone read this part and think "Oh, man. I've been hiring half retarded chimps. THAT'S my problem! I should hire GOOD people!" Probably not, and given that Collins doesn't go into any detail about HOW to do this or any of his other good to great pro tips, I'm not really sure where the value is supposed to be.

It also irked me that Good to Great seems to try and exist in a vacuum, failing to relate its findings to any other body of research except Collins's other book, Built to Last. The most egregious example of this is early on in Chapter 2 where Collins talks about his concept of "Level 5 Leadership," which characterizes those very special folks who perch atop a supposed leadership hierarchy. The author actually goes into some detail describing Level 5 leaders, but toward the end of the chapter he just shrugs his figurative shoulders and says "But we don't know how people get to be better leaders. Some people just are." Wait, what? People in fields like Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Organizational Development have been studying, scientifically, what great leaders do and how to do it for decades. We know TONS about how to become a better leader. There are entire industries built around it. You would think that somebody on the Good to Great research team may have done a cursory Google search on this.

So while Good to Great does have some interesting thoughts and a handful of amusing or even fascinating stories to tell about the companies it profiles (I liked, for example, learning about why Walgreens opens so many shops in the same area, even to the point of having stores across the street from each other in some cities), ultimately it strikes me as vague generalities and little to no practical information about how to actually DO anything to make your company great.