Good info, over-the-top narration

Yes, the narrator is the author, so maybe that counts for something. But man, he just goes so far over the top over-weighting his words so often, it's pretty comical at times. The sample is a bit misleading, because Collins is just getting warmed up in that. A few more pages in, and He Is Speaking Like A Triumphant Graduate Student Who Has Just...Found...The...PROOF...That...Discipline -- DISCIPLINE! -- is the Key!

Narrative comedy aside, there is a lot of worthwhile information here, though when you boil it down there's a lot of the obvious here. Also in late 2010 the discussion of Circuit City and Fannie Mae as "great companies" is a bit ridiculous; and some of the companies discussed as great have attained their greatness in part by less-than-moral means that have come to light in the years of increasingly ubiquitous internet since the book's publication. Still, Collins' articulation is highly accessible and well-ordered, making "the obvious" easier to digest and retain. 4 stars for content, 2 stars for narration = 3 stars.

103 people found this helpful

Many points to make - part 1

The author starts off by not grabbing my attention, but by making me sit through a long laundry list of the names of the contributors and other information that is highly personal to him, but especially boring to me at the beginning of an audio book. The author (who's the narrator too) then launches into a diatribe about the toil and effort and labor hours it took for the book followed by a trying-too-hard explanation of their research methodology with cliche' examples of "if you would have invested $1000 dollars in" back in …

I thought this part was over, but even after my coffee and breakfast, the author is still over emphasizing their research methodology and speaking of how they "pounded on tables" and other debate action with each other about the book. I continued to listen anyway, then I found him listing out another dry and boring laundry list of companies. When telling a story, Stephen King Points out: "don't tell us a thing, when you can show us" in his book On Writing. The author is "big" on telling us instead of showing us, effectively robbing the reader/listener of the experience of the discovery that a good and interesting story brings. I want to "discover" profound things as I go along, not names thrown at me all at once. He is still rambling about research methods at the 30 minute mark. "We call ourselves the chimps, in honor of our mascot Curious George" speaking still of how great their efforts were in their producing the book at the 32 minute mark. He speaks to us about the steak when we want to hear about the sizzle, let us taste the steak, not give us a molecular structure breakdown of it. Highly boring, this self-back patting is, I feel. I want to learn the unique information, not how hard they worked with Curious George cliché'(s) and table pounding meetings.

50 people found this helpful

Terrible

This book is over simplified dividing the world into two random groups "hedgehogs vs foxes" which is totally arbitrary. It's amusing in a way to listen to it now hearing him extol the virtues of such dynamite companies like Circuit City and Fannie Mae...the fact that he holds such companies so highly and draws his lessons from study of these companies seems to completely undermine all his conclusions. Avoid this crappy, boring, book.

50 people found this helpful

Great promise, but turns out to be just noise

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

More practical, more substance.

What was most disappointing about Jim Collins’s story?

The books starts off with a great promise. Unlike the usual "7 habits of successful people" and "10 steps to success", the author announced right away that his study was properly conducted, it has a control sample, and that the book will not only talk about commonalities of the "good to great" companies, but will also talk about the NECESSARY and SUFFICIENT characteristics (not just necessary) and that it will discuss what "good to great" companies have that "good" companies don't and vice versa.
The author also promised not to fall into the trap of "if you can't explain it, blame it on leadership".
Well, he did.
The book turned out nothing but hours and hours of repeating the same main idea: it's all about the leadership. If you can't explain it, blame it on leadership. The only difference, the author invented a clever way to mask this obvious shortcoming by talking about "level 5" leadership. What that is is "putting company first", "being modest", "working hard", "making the right decisions", "having the right people" and other very trivial and useless advice. What the "right" people or the "right" decisions are, of course, depends on the specific case, so not much attention is devoted to that part.
The book is written in the language that you would hear from a professional consultant who charges a lot and tells you what everybody already knows, but in a language that makes it sound impressive and evidence based. Still, it all boils down to having the "right" leadership, making the "right" choices, having the "right" people, working "hard" and other common sense.

42 people found this helpful

How to book for abolishing complacency.

This is simply a must read for any leader who struggles with taking their team to a new level of productivity. The hardest part of going from good to great is when no one else has done what you are trying to do. This book provides some very simple principles giving you a roadmap to help you and your team understand what should be your main focus.

23 people found this helpful

ineffectual

This book was long and it was supposed to be data driven however nothing really translated. This wasted my time, I had to try very hard just to finish, the data they gave was very rudimentary. The premise of their book...hire good people...BOOM i saved you 8 hours.

17 people found this helpful

I get it... move on!

What did you like best about Good to Great? What did you like least?

There was some good concepts in this book and I enjoyed learing about other businesses; however, each topic was overbaked. I kept thinking to myself, "ok, I've got it! Get the right people on the bus... ok... move on already!" It was hard to stay focused during parts of this book.

17 people found this helpful

Good to Great, To Bust!

Depressing to know some of the touted companies in this book no longer exist; I guess that is the next book, "Good to Great, To Bust!" All in all it was another attempt to categorize techniques and environment to predict the future outcome of corporations. I strongly suggest reading "Black Swan" and "Outliers" before you buy into this BS. Even with the best leadership and business model, tomorrow is never promised. While you are in a leadership position, you should strive to derive knowledge and increase your natural abilities to lead the organization. If luck and timing are on your side, you and the corporation will do well; if not, you’re both screwed. You have to develop the wisdom to navigate rough seas in order for you and the corporation to sail another day.

12 people found this helpful

Interesting but Requires Revision

if you can get past the list of 'great' company's that haven't done that great. its a worth while read as it is so frequently referenced (often badly) in current literature.

I think the basic message of this book that the right type of simplicity is very hard but very worthwhile is still valid.

11 people found this helpful

will become a classic

The principals described in this book just make sense, therefore required reading. There may be other things that also help companies go from good to great, but its hard to argue against the logic of these principals. Thank you Jim for synthesizing them so nicely.

As for the criticism regarding the eventual downturn of companies in the study sample, Jim answers this clearly at the end of the book. In short this book is not about companies - its about principals. Some companies eventually stop adhering to the principals to their detriment.

11 people found this helpful