Good to Great

Written by:
Jim Collins
Narrated by:
Jim Collins

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
815
Narrator
69
Release Date
July 2010
Duration
9 hours 59 minutes
Summary
Built To Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning. 

But what about companies that are not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? Are there those that convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? If so, what are the distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

Over five years, Jim Collins and his research team have analyzed the histories of 28 companies, discovering why some companies make the leap and others don't. The findings include:


- Level 5 Leadership: A surprising style, required for greatness.
- The Hedgehog Concept: Finding your three circles, to transcend the curse of competence.
- A Culture of Discipline: The alchemy of great results.
- Technology Accelerators: How good-to-great companies think differently about technology.
- The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Why those who do frequent restructuring fail to make the leap.
Reviews
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Justin A

Good to Great is an excellent book, filled with fascinating insights for the business leader, or anyone striving to make their organization "Great". This book is a MUST READ before implementing the next big change or improvement program in your business, or hiring the next key-person. It is a must-read for anyone wanting to build a great company as well... Having the author narrate adds to the content & message of the book as well. Having Collins narrate allows him to place special emphasis on things particularly important to him, as well as offer his commentary & reflections, that most certainly would not exist if the publisher used a 3rd-party narrator. Also, in this audio version, Collins give his insight into the work several year after the book's publishing, which only reaffirms, or sheds new light, or clarifies certain points throughout the book. He even goes so far as to include several "Frequently Asked Questions" since the book's initial publishing, and offers his insight to these questions as well. I must also address some of the negative reviews about the book as well. Since publishing, some of the companies discussed in the book have fallen from their "Great" status, and several people have dismissed the book because of that. However, Collins addresses this very point in the epilogue of the book - at the time of it's initial writing - pointing out that "IF" a company were to lose it's "Great" status, it would not negate the findings of the research, and the book itself. Fixating on the long-term success after the "Good to Great" research totally misses the point - a point which Collins very clearly addresses near the end. In short, this is an absolute MUST READ for people wanting to initiate change in their business, or simply for those wandering "what makes some businesses great," or "can my business become great...?" Good to Great is an absolute must read - I cannot recommend it more highly.

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Jessica Carper

Great listen! I am not a CEO or business owner, but will be able to find many uses for the shared insights of this book.

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Dan Gilhooly

I would highly recommend this to anyone, great concepts and very insightful.

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Matt Singletary

It was an enjoyable and interesting book and seems to be a well-done study with principle findings that can be applied for successful living

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Adam Horton

Really great read for anyone that works in any business. The negative reviews of this book are obvious people that haven't read or didn't listen to the author. The research and data is historical and just because you a company was great doesn't mean they always are and will be. Don't bash something if you don't actually read and listen to it.

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Nikolai Kovarski

The book is just horrible. 90% of material is pretentious and unsubstantiated nonsense. Most of the conclusions are base on low quality research with almost no statistical data. One can actually judge the book by the results MANY of the described GREAT companies are out of the business already.

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Ruben Banuelos

Chapters 5 and on just fly with enticing information! Couldn't stop listening to it at that point.

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John Van Iperen

Well researched and a great read. definitely learned a lot.

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Dustin wallace

Very good book. Extremely inspirational if your open minded to a common sense approach to elevating the quality of your business

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Joe Gonzalez

The Best Book I ever read or listen to awesome book

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John Rebimbas

This is not a "good" book! It's a "GREAT" book. Simply Awesome ... Great job Jim!

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John VonDoloski

Great book. Very helpful and enjoyable. Definitely worth the read. Helps all types of companies large and small.

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Donnie Tuttle

Essential book to business. A little redundant but excellent. Narration is okay.

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Edgardo Pineda

Awesome book to motivate you to act!! Listened to it twice and plan to listen to it again. Guy CreativeSnap.co

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Joseph C.

I wanted to say the book was good but not great yet I struggle a bit calling this a good book. To much filler and it drags a lot It drained my energy even though it has a few good points.

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Anonymous

This book is very inspiring, not only for leaders who already are leaders, but also for myself, it encourages me to learn about myself, to know myself. Also, the narrator (the writer himself) is very enthusiastic while reading the book. Comparing to the book, there are many additions, given by the narrator, which are also relevant and interesting to know.

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Abdulaziz42

Expected a better book

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Irene M.

This book is a good read. It explains the "Level 5" leadership well.

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Brian K.

Great book. The best narration I've listened to. Hopefully they can update the book since it has cases from before the year 2000 which are now dated but the concepts apply

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Timothy M.

This book was excellent. There were so many points within the book that I would stop the recording and replay it so that I could write down what was said. The author supports his findings by facts. It is not based on whatever he feels, but it is based upon what actually happened. That adds a lot of reliability to the points that were drawn. I will definitely be listening to this book again in the near future.

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Josh A.

Anyone in the professional workplace environment needs to read this book, most likely more than once.

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