Good to Great:
Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't
Jim Collins - New York, Harperbusiness, 2001.

After attending a number of presentations where the recurring theme was advocated as Collins' hedgehog philosophy ("just be a hedgehog, like the book says, and you'll end up with a great company"); I thought I should have a closer look at this. Was I ever disappointed not at the content or context of the book, which are both very good, but with the way its message has been misconstrued, or at least selectively engaged. So, not disappointed with or by the author just the interpreters.

This book is the result of a 5-year research project that explores "why some companies make the leap" to greatness and others simply stay put. The style is easy to read and practical, rather than academic, which makes for an enjoyable journey and perhaps offers some explanation as to the misguided messages that have been extracted.

The message, though, is that great companies don't just become hedgehogs, doing one thing really well; they have taken all six indicators found typical of great companies and excelled at them all.

The corporate lesson surely must be to broaden your mind and not be like the curled-up rodent when it comes to considering the other critical influencers around.

As a matter of interest, the indicators are:

Level 5 leadership - a state of leadership described as being more akin to "Lincoln and Socrates than Patton or Caesar".

First Who...Then What - concentrate on having the right people, even before having the right direction.

Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith) - having a belief that you will get through it, along with the discipline and skills to confront your current reality.

The Hedgehog Concept - (this seems the easy part) to go from good to great requires transcending the "curse of competence". On the surface this seems the simplest of the six which perhaps explains why it is so often latched onto as the key, yet it is fraught with complexity.

A Culture of Discipline - "when you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance."

Technology Accelerators - technology is not used as a primary means of igniting a transformation but carefully selected technologies are used to accelerate transformations.

This book is well worth reading, even considering that it is a research report rather than a "how to" guide. There are some very salient messages and histories described.

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