Last updated on July 12th, 2023 at 11:33 pm
Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
Rating
4/5
Date Started
2/21/2023
Date Completed
3/4/2023
Five Powerful Quotes from the Book
Quote 1
“The emphasis on luck turns out to be part of a pattern that we came to call the window and the mirror. Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly…
“What is your relationship to the window and the mirror? Do you point out the window to give others credit, or do you point out the window to blame other factors when things go badly? What is your relationship to the window and the mirror?”
Pithy Summary
Quote 2
“Another long pause, and more walking. Then Admiral Jim Stockdale turned to me and said, ‘This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.’ …
“A key psychology for leading from good to great is the Stockdale Paradox: Retain absolute faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
Pithy Summary
Quote 3
“In his famous essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” Isaiah Berlin divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable… Berlin extrapolated from this little parable to divide people into two basic groups: foxes and hedgehogs. Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity. They are “scattered or diffused, moving on many levels,” says Berlin, never integrating their thinking into one overall concept or unifying vision. Hedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything. It doesn’t matter how complex the world, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to simple— indeed almost simplistic—hedgehog ideas. For a hedgehog, anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance…
“The key is to understand what your organization can be the best in the world at, and equally important what it cannot be the best at—not what it ‘wants’ to be the best at. The Hedgehog Concept is not a goal, strategy, or intention; it is an understanding.”
Pithy Summary
Quote 4
“Hasbro became an unsustained transition in part because it lost the discipline to stay within the three circles, after the unexpected death of CEO Stephen Hassenfeld. The Hasbro case reinforces a vital lesson. If you successfully apply these ideas, but then stop doing them, you will slide backward, from great to good, or worse. The only way to remain great is to keep applying the fundamental principles that made you great.”
Pithy Summary
Quote 5
“When we looked inside the good-to-great companies, we were reminded of the best part of the airline pilot model: freedom and responsibility within the framework of a highly developed system. The good-to-great companies built a consistent system with clear constraints, but they also gave people freedom and responsibility within the framework of that system. They hired self-disciplined people who didn’t need to be managed, and then managed the system, not the people.”
Pithy Summary
About the Book
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t – Audiobook | Ebook | Hardcover – “How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? Are there those that convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? If so, what are the distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
“Over five years, Jim Collins and his research team have analyzed the histories of 28 companies, discovering why some companies make the leap and others don’t.”
About the Author
Jim Collins – “Jim Collins is a student and teacher of what makes great companies tick, and a Socratic advisor to leaders in the business and social sectors. Having invested more than a quarter century in rigorous research, he has authored or coauthored a series of books that have sold in total more than 10 million copies worldwide. They include Good to Great, the #1 bestseller, which examines why some companies make the leap and others don’t; the enduring classic Built to Last, which discovers why some companies remain visionary for generations; How the Mighty Fall, which delves into how once-great companies can self-destruct; and Great by Choice, which uncovers the leadership behaviors for thriving in chaos and uncertainty.”
Additional Resources
Tags
Business | Management | Nonfiction