Good to Great – Jim Collins

Nov. 25, 2005 – What is there left to say about this book? Amazon is showing 406 reviews since it was published in 2001, and I’m sure the rest of the world has said it all. I was given this book to read by our VP of Relocation probably two years ago. She said that a number of people in our company had read the book and she thought it would be helpful to me. It was.

I am regularly asked, “Have you read Good to Great?” This question generally precedes the speaker’s introduction of what is the most famous concept of the book: getting the right people on the bus, and getting them in the right seats. It’s interesting that in Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind, he has an entire chapter on metaphors. He posits that being able to work in metaphors is going to be one of the necessary skills in this new conceptual age. The bus metaphor in Good to Great is probably the most well known and frequently used business metaphor of the last five years. But with good reason. It does very aptly describe what it takes to build a team. Having the right team is essential to everything else.

There’s obviously much more to Good to Great than this one example. The book is well written and thoroughly researched with conclusions supported quantifiable data. The fact that the book has been read by so many people gives a common language (shared metaphors?) to those who want to discuss the concepts Collins introduces. Doesn’t everyone want to work for a great rather than a good company? If there is anyone out there who hasn’t read this book, you need to catch up. This one is not to be missed.