Book club summary #17 - Good to Great
Jim Collins’ Good to Great was selected as the seventeenth book for the book club. A monster best-seller, it popularized the idea that companies should be “hedgehogs” — focusing only on areas where they could beat their competitors. It was commendable for trying to pair great companies with mediocre counterparts, in an attempt to discern those characteristics that distinguished the two.
The book has also come under fire. Not all of the eleven “good to great” companies maintained their market-outpacing greatness in the decade following publication (being 2000 to 2010) — indeed, three of them went bankrupt or needed bailouts. As a nod to the critics, for its 21st volume, the book club covered The Halo Effect.
Despite its flaws (and indeed, what human endeavours lack them?) the book represents an earnest attempt to study corporate success, and some of its insights — e.g. that “stop doing” lists are as important as “to do” lists — disclose a valuable wisdom.
As always, if you enjoy the summary, please consider supporting the author by purchasing a copy of the book. 
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