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BOOK OF THE MONTH Good to
Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...
and Others
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question,
"Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great
Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but
finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began
their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those
that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They
finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells
Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional
notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great
doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change
management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those
rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found
and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner.
Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so
great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any
organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is
one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for
years to come. |
