‘Good to Great’ – Jim Collins
27th Nov 2009
I approached this book with some degree of scepticism, having trawled through endless research on high performance in the past and found little worthy of note or application. I found, however, that I was quickly engaged, and more importantly, it all made sense and was succinctly presented.
‘Good to Great’ in essence describes a body of research conducted by Jim Collins in answer to one question that consumes us all, ‘what makes companies great?’ as opposed to good, average or underperforming. Jim Collins applies some criteria, much of it financial, but also qualifies by looking at ‘great’ over the long term, not just a flash in the pan!
It is a global, though heavily American slanted study that drills down and explores the handful of characteristics that are commonly found in ‘great’ organisations. They include some of the obvious stuff but with some interesting angles on leadership, which also reminds us that it may be obvious but that’s because it’s important and it works!
So despite my expectations, it’s well worth a read. If that grabs you there’s secondary research that focuses specifically on the public sector.
Click here to read our top tips on making that move from good to GREAT!
Jill Jenkinson
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