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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. --Harry C. Edwards
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