Jim Collins in his own words is a student and teacher of what makes great companies tick. His timeless concepts stem from more than 25 years of rigorous research into the question of what makes the best companies and what makes great leaders.
The result is a series of authored and co-authored books, outlining these concepts, each looking at the question from a different angle, written for and used by leaders in the business and social sectors.
They include:
Which examines why some companies make the leap and others don’t.
This discovers why some companies remain visionary for generations.
This delves into how once-great companies can self-destruct.
Which uncovers the leadership behaviors for thriving in chaos and uncertainty.
Jim has also published two monographs that extend the ideas in his main books: Good to Great and the Social Sectors and Turning the Flywheel.
His most recent publication is BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0), is described as an ambitious upgrade of his very first book; it returns Jim to his original focus on small, entrepreneurial companies and honors his mentor Bill Lazier.
A great question we get from Moonshots listeners is - What came first, Built To Last or Good To Great & what order should I read them in?
Built To Last
You might be shocked to find out that Jim Collins Built To Last was published in 1994.
But once you dive in you’ll understand how many years of research went into it. That was the book which outlined what helped visionary companies stay visionary over decades.
It examines 18 extraordinary and venerable companies to discover what has made them prosper for decades, in some cases for nearly two centuries. This groundbreaking study reveals the simple but inspiring differences that set these visionary companies apart from their less successful competitors.
Good To Great is the book that answers the question the previous one raises: How do you become great in the first place?
Good To Great examines what it takes for ordinary companies to become great and outperform their competitors by analyzing 28 companies over 30 years, who managed to make the transition or fell prey to their bad habits.
Good is the Enemy of Great.
The book is about being great, not merely good.
Many people and companies settle for good because it’s easier.
Many companies don’t even try to be great. They're not striving to be the best in the industry. This opens the door to competitors.
Being the best means there is absolutely no room for mediocre thinking. It’s the same in our lives. Few people lead great lives. This is because they’re happy with living a good life.
Built to Last on the other hand was published earlier than Good to Great .. but as Collins says in 'Good to Great' that although it was published after 'Built to Last' it is actually a prequel of it.
However in our opinion a company or a system moves from Good to Great first and then towards the Built to Last concepts.
The sequence is as follows:
Apply Good to Great concepts --> Get sustained good results --> apply Built to Last concepts --> Last & Survive forever!
So our recommendation is that we prefer that you read Good to Great first and then Built to Last which will maintain the flow you and your business need. The more Jim Collins books in his series you read, the more everything becomes more clear.
The result is a set of habits, practices and strategies, which can help a company that’s good, be great. Our top 3 to give you an idea of what it takes to build something great:
Find your Hedgehog concept.
Only adopt new technology if it helps you reach your goal.
Confront nasty facts head and don’t let it get you down..
Want to go from good to great? Dive in and tell us what you think! If you prefer a short summary of the book you can get it on Blinkist here!
