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Book Review
Good to Great by Jim Collins Written 2001 Reviewed 2025 
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Two questions:
Collins' book Built to Last answers the first question. Good to Great answers the second.
I waited 25 years to get around to reading this book. I have no excuse. I feel as if I owe an apology to the world for being so slow. I won't even try to explain or justify my tardiness. Mea culpa. Better late than never.
One would suppose that a book written a quarter of a century ago would have had a noticeable effect on the state of business, and of the culture, by now. For example it lauds humble "Level 5" leaders. Are business leaders more humble now than they were 25 years ago because of this book? What do you think? What has your observation, and experience, been?
When I heard business leaders I know discuss this book, I heard a lot of talk about "getting the right people on the bus." I didn't hear anything about humility. I had to read the book myself to uncover that one.
This isn't just a "book." I think of a "book" as one author's creation, containing his or her individual opinions, ideas, observations, and so on.
This is a research report produced by a group of people, about a group of companies, over decades of history. To me, that's more than a "book." And the findings are rigorously evidence-based and empirical. They aren't anyone's thoughts, perspectives, opinions, or feelings. They are findings.
It's 300 pages long, but the final chapter ends on page 210. That means that 90 pages, almost a third, are substantiation. I have difficulty recalling when I've read something before that is so substantive and credible.
Now we have the benefit of Artificial Intelligence. I told ChatGPT I just read the book and regret reading it 25 years late. I told it I feel late to the party, and asked it what difference it has made on business, the economy, and culture over that time.
It answered,
"Ironically, the late-stage capitalist market has rewarded the opposite traits:
Now, let's be clear. "Great" in this book means skyrocketing share price, massive ROI, record setting revenues and profits, generously compensated employees, and edified society. It isn't just someone's opinion or accolade like those worn-out superlatives we hear so often tossed about like "awesome" or "amazing." It is measurable, objective, proven.
Yet ". . . the world went in a different direction." Don' you find that fascinating?
Technology. One of the things the book addressed was how great companies use technology. It pointed out how no great company ever succeeded because of it. The company was already great without technology, because of its Level 5 (introverted, humble, focused, principled, disciplined) leaders, who took the time to put "the right people in the right seats" and inculcate disciplined people, thought, and action into company culture and operation.
Once that was done, they used technology selectively as an amplifier. By comparison, companies that were merely "good" tended to panic about, and get distracted by, technology. I found this point especially relevant in view of our present craze about AI and related mass layoffs.
- What does it take to start and build an enduring, great company from the ground up?
- Can a good company become a great company, and if so, how?
Collins' book Built to Last answers the first question. Good to Great answers the second.
I waited 25 years to get around to reading this book. I have no excuse. I feel as if I owe an apology to the world for being so slow. I won't even try to explain or justify my tardiness. Mea culpa. Better late than never.
One would suppose that a book written a quarter of a century ago would have had a noticeable effect on the state of business, and of the culture, by now. For example it lauds humble "Level 5" leaders. Are business leaders more humble now than they were 25 years ago because of this book? What do you think? What has your observation, and experience, been?
When I heard business leaders I know discuss this book, I heard a lot of talk about "getting the right people on the bus." I didn't hear anything about humility. I had to read the book myself to uncover that one.
This isn't just a "book." I think of a "book" as one author's creation, containing his or her individual opinions, ideas, observations, and so on.
This is a research report produced by a group of people, about a group of companies, over decades of history. To me, that's more than a "book." And the findings are rigorously evidence-based and empirical. They aren't anyone's thoughts, perspectives, opinions, or feelings. They are findings.
It's 300 pages long, but the final chapter ends on page 210. That means that 90 pages, almost a third, are substantiation. I have difficulty recalling when I've read something before that is so substantive and credible.
Now we have the benefit of Artificial Intelligence. I told ChatGPT I just read the book and regret reading it 25 years late. I told it I feel late to the party, and asked it what difference it has made on business, the economy, and culture over that time.
It answered,
"Ironically, the late-stage capitalist market has rewarded the opposite traits:
- Charisma over humility.
- Publicity over stewardship.
- Blitzscaling over disciplined flywheel building.
- IPO exits over enduring greatness.
Now, let's be clear. "Great" in this book means skyrocketing share price, massive ROI, record setting revenues and profits, generously compensated employees, and edified society. It isn't just someone's opinion or accolade like those worn-out superlatives we hear so often tossed about like "awesome" or "amazing." It is measurable, objective, proven.
Yet ". . . the world went in a different direction." Don' you find that fascinating?
Technology. One of the things the book addressed was how great companies use technology. It pointed out how no great company ever succeeded because of it. The company was already great without technology, because of its Level 5 (introverted, humble, focused, principled, disciplined) leaders, who took the time to put "the right people in the right seats" and inculcate disciplined people, thought, and action into company culture and operation.
Once that was done, they used technology selectively as an amplifier. By comparison, companies that were merely "good" tended to panic about, and get distracted by, technology. I found this point especially relevant in view of our present craze about AI and related mass layoffs.
How has this changed me, and how I view, and do, both business, and life?
- Level 5 Leadership Style. It vindicated and affirmed my own leadership style: introverted, quiet, methodical, empirical, and as devoid as possible of ego and drama (see Level 5 Leader hierarchy, page 20) . . . definitely more of a hedgehog than a fox. Before I read this book, I thought these traits were weaknesses and deficiencies because so many leaders I've seen are extroverted, flashy, charismatic, and fox-like. I thought they were better than I am, and that I should learn to be like them somehow. Now I see how I was fooled, and how I have the most to offer the world. It has set me straight and given me confidence.
- Framework. It gave me a coherent framework for putting into context strengths and virtues that I used to view individually. For example I've always known that discipline is a good thing. From this book I've learned how disciplined people, thought, and action are an essential trifecta - in that order. The one graphic that pulls all frameworks together is at the beginning of Chapter 9, on page 188.
- People. It taught me to accept and appreciate people as they are instead of trying to convince or reform them. It taught me to shift my focus from convincing or reforming, to clarifying, spotting, and aligning core values; and it taught me that there is such a thing as having the wrong people in the wrong seats on my bus, that I don't have to tolerate them, and that I can remove the wrong people and replace them with the right people. The right people exist, and I have a right to do that. I don't have to tolerate the wrong people and be miserable forever. Changing personnel doesn't make me a bad person. I can do this, and it will be okay. For someone who has always valued loyalty, with a background in religion and the human potential movement, this is a huge paradigm shift.
- Accelerators. It taught me to view technology and business acquisitions as accelerators of pre-existing greatness, not causes.
- Stock Valuations. It demystified stock valuations and helped me understand in human, relatable terms, what causes share prices to go up and down. It made me a better investor.
- FOMO Antidote. It cured FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) I have experienced about career choices, work style, and personality. Maybe I should be an earlier adopter of technology? What am I missing? Maybe I should try to be more charismatic, extroverted, and charming? You know, get my "rizz" on? Maybe I should have a newer house, a flashier car? Reading this book silenced all that noise. Now I'm more comfortable in my own skin; calm, relaxed, and confident.
Conclusion. Instinctively, I had already been practicing much of what we find in this book. What it has done for me is validate, vindicate, articulate, and formalize these constructive instincts into a coherent, sharable doctrine.
Going forward, I will be combining it with doctrines I've learned elsewhere (see Book Reviews page). I'll be on the lookout for Honest Visionaries who've done the same, who "get it", and who are eager to engage the help of an Integrator who'll support their Vision.
The outcome will be a winning team of people who enjoy increasing income and wealth, of course; and beside that, who enjoy the satisfaction of purpose, of mission, of doing things that matter and leaving substantive legacies to their posterity.
Going forward, I will be combining it with doctrines I've learned elsewhere (see Book Reviews page). I'll be on the lookout for Honest Visionaries who've done the same, who "get it", and who are eager to engage the help of an Integrator who'll support their Vision.
The outcome will be a winning team of people who enjoy increasing income and wealth, of course; and beside that, who enjoy the satisfaction of purpose, of mission, of doing things that matter and leaving substantive legacies to their posterity.
