Yes, Good to Great was published in 2001, and yes, this is 2008. But as I've said before, I was working with my head in the sand for years on end and the vast majority of my reading was technical in nature.  And you know what, I'm sure in the weeks to come I'll probably be mentioning other books that many of you have read years before, so no more excuses for why I haven't read this until now.

I told my wife the other day that it feels like I've woken up from a 10 or 15 year nap.  Of course, having read Good to Great over the past week, I realize now that I was running around like a fox focusing on only 2 of the 3 circles of focus that Jim Collins uses to describe his hedgehog concept which he borrowed from Isaiah Berlin.  In all honesty, my focus was probably only on one of the 3 circles.  I'll leave you to decide which one.

A Short Review

If you haven't read Good to Great, I would say it's a must read for anyone aspiring to affect change in the world around them.  In my mind, it's a must read for leaders in any type of organization, but the principles outlined in the book, which are based on 5 years of research and study regarding 11 businesses that met his team's strict requirements for greatness, are applicable to organizations of any size. 

The book is broadly organized into 3 main sections entitled:

Each of these major sections is divided into 2 main key principles. 

All six of the main principles struck an interesting balance between being counterintuitive and yet strikingly consistent with reality.  Of particular interest to me, were the first and last principles.

Level 5 Leadership

If you haven't read Good to Great, level 5 leadership probably makes immediate sense from the standpoint that 5 is probably the highest level, so we're talking about the larger than life, high-powered leaders who, by the shear force of their personality and intellect are able to stand tall above the masses and provide what many would describe as very strong leadership skills within their organization.  At least that's what I thought when I started the chapter, but I was pleasantly surprised to find something completely different.

Jim (as if I know him personally, but Mr. Collins sounds so formal) does the chapter a great service by making up a new name for the type of leader his team identified at the transition of each of the good to great companies.  What the team found was fascinating.  A level 5 leader is simply a leader who's two greatest strengths are humility and strength of will, most likely in that order.  I realize that I've simplified this concept too much by using just the term humility, but you can read the chapter for yourself to see how Jim brings this concept to life. 

For me, the chapter lead to a refreshing change of perspective regarding great leadership, one that I think many in my generation (The X-Gen) will particularly appreciate given our natural rejection of autocratic, hierarchical styles of leadership.

Technology as an Accelerator

On one level, I found this chapter to be disappointing.  As a technologist, I would like to think that technology is somehow at the heart of some of the amazing success stories of the business world.  I assumed, for example, that companies like Dell, Amazon or Google were successful mainly because of their superior use of technology, and to some degree this may be true, especially in industries where technology is the commodity.  But Jim and his team do an excellent job in the last chapter in the section on disciplined action of demonstrating that technology is merely a tool, an accelerator, which an organization will find to be most useful when disciplined people, who naturally practice disciplined thought are already pursuing their hedgehog goal with disciplined action. 

My own epiphany

Honestly, this book complimented many of the principles I learned from Chris Halliwell during my 3 day Caltech Strategic Marketing Training.  The result of both has been an epiphany for me in both my business and personal life that strong leadership skills are essential.  As is the case with most epiphanies, this will seem patently obvious from the outside.  At the very beginning of the marketing training while Chris was setting the expectations for the course, she said that the course would focus, not on the latest marketing theories or approaches that in many cases are tied to a new technology, but rather on tried and true marketing principles she had learned through years of working as a marketing consultant.  Having sat the class and read Good to Great almost back to back, it's fascinating for me to see that most of the Good to Great principles were covered in the marketing training with a focus on the specific tools and techniques for applying these principles. 

My next read is Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything.  From there, I plan on reading a series of classics on leadership.  Any suggestions regarding any great books on leadership?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that Jim Collins has also released a follow-up monograph for leaders involved with associations and non-profits titled Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great.