James C. Collins - Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Other's Don't

Pros: Instead of slogans it offers discipline.
Cons: People prefer slogans.

Principles Contrary to the vilification of the businessman in contemporary culture, and despite the many examples of real villainy in the business world, my perception has long been that men and women of business, including if not especially ...

Pros: Good illustrations; Sound advice; Good chapter summaries
Cons: Would like to know more facts about more companies, rather than just 11

What makes a company great? Is it great employees? Is it technological advantage? What about great leadership? Does high compensation/reward have a significant impact?

Author Jim Collins is one man who has set out to find the answer to these...

Pros: Easy read without business speak. True data supporting humanistic approach.
Cons: Repetitive.

With all and much due respect to some of the earliest, negative reviewers on Amazon.com, specifically those with backgrounds in data research and business owners taking a pessimistic lean on Good to Great concepts, I think they've missed both the point...

Pros: Evidence of characteristics that make a company great
Cons: The appendix is long.

Good to Great is a must read for any business owner, CEO, board member, or manager. I'm really not a ...

Pros: Somewhere in this book is a great empirical argument for incremental strategy and continuous change
Cons: Never quite tells you what they do

Jim Collins attained fame by co-authoring 'Built to Last'. That book championed big ideas and big egos. Success was largely attributed to an Ayn Rand-like devotion to self-interested capitalism. And like many business books, 'Built to Last'...

Pros: Simple, applicable conclusions; structure writing style
Cons: Too confident that conclusions are one-size-fits-all

If you're thinking of picking up a Jim Collins book, this is the one to start with. Much more applicable than his preceding book, "Built to Last", Collins makes a few, simple conclusions that anyone can actually use in their careers. Whereas "Built to ...

Pros: Intelligent conversation of facts taken from public company's that went from Good, to Great
Cons: I actually think its NOT long enough...

Books like this come along once in a lifetime. And if the sequel to Good to Great will be any indication, its come along twice in a lifetime. (No, I have not yet read 'Built to Last', its the next book on my 'TODO' list) I remember back in ...

Pros: Concise, data-driven, well-crafted
Cons: need more company examples, even from loser side.

If you aim to become a real leader in a big institution, this is the book you should spend time on. It is about leadership, but, i believe it is more about how to build a great organization and last long.

Pros: Very well researched, very enlightening
Cons: None

I own several small businesses, and I purchased this book looking for tips on taking them to the next level of success. This book was fantastic. I found some basic principles in this book that changed the entire way I look at problems my companies face. This is not necessarily a book that says do 1,2,3. It is a book that teaches the principles necessary for a solid foundation of success. I gave a copy of it to my father (among other people) who runs the family business, and now he always quotes it back to me when we are discussing important issues. I love it!

I gave it to one of our managers who applied the principles and it has had a significant effect on his entire division. He is very happy with the results as am I.

I also loved that it was grounded in solid research, and not the opinion of the author. I thought this was a key feature of the book.

Pros: Easy to read and thought-provoking.
Cons: May be hard to follow for people who don't want to get the message.

I read the book, along with about 60 other business-related books over the summer and found this one very interesting.

Something that stuck with me was when he described the type of CEO personality it takes to form the "Good To Great" mentality for any company.

The book kept my interest and even had me going through all the Chapters making notes for using later on.

Something that he said that really stuck out was "Get the right people ON the bus, the wrong people OFF the bus, and the right people in the right seats." Something a lot of companies just don't get. Also, read very closely his description of the "The 3-Wheels, the Flywheel and the Doom Loop."