One thing I love about this book is how some of its concepts can be applied to your personal life: What can you do to live an excellent life when you’re already living a good one?
What lessons can be learned from this book?
Following his many years of analysis, Collins developed a framework for business success that he breaks down into key concepts, including Level 5 Leadership, First Who Then What, Confront the Brutal Facts, the Hedgehog Concept, Discipline Culture and Technological Accelerators. Collins uses a number of examples to illustrate common sense business concepts that are often overlooked. For example, it’s better for a company to focus all its effort on what it’s passionate about, what it can be the best at and what best drives its profits (the Hedgehog Concept). Although it’s a simple concept, many companies spread themselves too thin and lose focus. As I mentioned above, these concepts can also apply to our personal lives. Let’s consider the Hedgehog Concept again. Each of us should spend most of our time doing what we’re passionate about, what we’re best at and what we’re able to earn a good salary for. The First Who, Then What concept translates to choosing wisely when it comes to the people who will be part of your company (or your life). And last, let’s stop burying our heads in the sand (debt, unhappiness in love) and face the facts (the Confront the Brutal Facts concept) in our own lives and in business—the whole world would be better off!
Inspirational quotes from the book
“The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline.”
“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.”
“A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people.”
“The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake.”
Who should read Good to Great by Jim Collins?
This book is really for anyone who wants to take their life to the next level, both personally and professionally. Of course, business leaders and entrepreneurs will benefit from plenty of food for thought and inspiration to make their companies even more successful. However, I think this book can reach a much wider audience through its concepts that can help people improve and become more passionate and happy.
