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Friday, February 11, 2011

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don'tGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I haven't handed out five stars in a long time. So how did this book get all five? Well, part of it might be that I haven't broken out of the Fantasy genre in a while, given my goal of getting through the Wheel of Time. Or maybe this is just a fantastic study on what makes companies great. Really great.



So the pros: This is a study put together with an approach that can only be called scientific for a topic that is so difficult to analyze quantitatively. That sounds pretty dry, I know. Yet it was very consumable. I had no trouble keeping my interest, and about 2/3 of the way through the book, when my attention started to wander, it ended right on time. The last third of the book held appendices a very helpful index, and basically a variety of a la carte data that backed up the main message of the book. It was very well put together.



The cons: I only have one con, and it is pretty weak. I look at the principles and think that there is room for a lot of personal application. I admit it doesn't fit in with the objective of the study, and any conclusions would be highly suspect, but I was left wanting. So it is my only con.



I recommend this to anyone who owns a business, works in a business, or is just plain interested in becoming not just good, but great at something. So that is just about everybody.