Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Good to Great by Jim Collins

I read this book for a class, so I am posting the questions I had to answer for my review. It was an excellent book. It gave me lots of great ideas about how to plan and not get stuck just being good enough.

1. Central Theme:

Answering the question: How does a company push through the mediocrity of good and achieve great?

The Good-to-Great concepts are:

Level 5 Leadership: Where leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company.

First Who ... Then What : First get the right people on the bus, wrong people off the bus, right people in the right seats and then figure out where to drive.

Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith): Have faith that you can and will prevail in the end, and at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.

The Hedgehog Concept: Simplicity within the three circles of what you are deeply passionate about, what drives your economic engine and what you can do better than anyone else in the world.

A Culture of Discipline: When you have disciplined people, thought and action, you don't need hierarchy, bureaucracy and excessive controls.

Technology Accelerators: Technology should be used as an accelerator of momentum, not as a creator of it.

The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Building momentum over a span of time leads to breakthroughs while shortcuts seldom do.

2. Helpful Concepts:

Stop making to do lists and start making stop doing lists.

The ideas of looking for things you shouldn’t be doing, cutting out the wrong people, and understanding what you can’t do.

Establishing and maintaining a corporate culture of discipline built around commitments, with freedom about how to meet those promises.

3. “WOW” Factor:

I used the Hedgehog Concept in three areas: my personal life, my upcoming marriage relationship and my work here at Miracle Hill.

§ Find what you can be the best in the world at, and what you cannot be best in the world at.
§ Know that this will bring in an income, and support you.
§ Do the things you are passionate about.

4. Book Recommendation:

Yes, I would recommend this book because it is helpful in developing a philosophy to grow by, while being an incredible inspiration.

5. Did you find the book helpful?

Yes, it helped me to clarify some goals in my mind, and to prioritize finding a focus.

6. Were there any concepts in the book with which you disagreed?


7. Were there concepts in this book that are in conflict with either our ministry philosophy or any evangelical Christian ministry philosophy?



Nihil Novum said...

I'm glad we decided to buy a hedgehog.

Christopher said...


Carlton said...

This is the book that I usually cite when I am trying to belittle my father for not having read To Kill a Mockingbird. I am always trying to come up with new and inventive ways of mocking him.
However, I do find the idea of making "stop doing" lists intriguing.

d SINNER!!! said...

Havn't read it and going by the name, m sure I wouldn't have picked it up as it sounds a pretty 'business oriented' one...

But i may pick it up sometime for a few things penned by you makes it intriguing...