Critical Analysis of Jim Collins' Book "Good to Great"

Good To Great by Jim Collins introduces new insight on successful companies. This week's readings build upon and refreshes the concepts from 10,000 Hours by Malcolm Gladwell and The Art Of War by Sun Tzu. Good to Great builds upon 10,000 Hours in a way that further implies that some people (or companies in this case) have special opportunities and a passion for what they do. Relating to The Art Of War, Collins also understands the importance of knowing yourself or specifically, knowing what you can be the best at. Like the other two articles, Good To Great brings success and victory back down to earth where it seems attainable.

With only chapters four and five available to read, Collin's term "Level 5 leader" needs some clarification. This is probably a term that he discusses earlier in his book before the reading that were assigned to us because he sprinkles the term throughout the reading without explanation such as "... Nucor benefited from the emergence of a Level 5 leader, Ken Iverson, promoted to CEO from general manager of the joint division" (Collins 76). My best guess at his definition of a level 5 leader is an executive of a company who is already "good" and is ready to take the next step to become "great". His definitions of "good" and "great" are also up for debate. "Good" likely describes a leader who runs a company effectively while a "great" leader leads his company in a way that transforms the company into an industry leader.

Collins has excellent points and insights towards business success. He also has many examples and stories to create a relatable emotional connection with his readers. While having an array of examples is great for motivating his readers, Collins had far too many examples and these chapters became a story session with morals tossed in between stories. His points are already proven within one or two stories, yet he goes on to fluff up his views on business success.

Although filled with fluff, his examples reinforce the main points extremely well. The Stockdale Paradox in particular struck home for me. The general story and situation of Admiral Jim Stockdale in the prisoner-of-war camps in Hanoi was already heartfelt and to add to the emotional effect, the story also reminded me that hardships are not a negative experience, "'I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade'" (Collins 85). After reading this passage, a lesson that I learned as a young teenager resurfaced. At the gym that I used to have a membership to, there is a personal trainer named Scooby. His story goes back to his Senior Prom when he was an overweight child. During that time, he also lacked social skills but was able to summon the courage to ask a beautiful girl to be his prom date and was surprisingly returned with a "yes". After spending a long time making sure that his prom would go well, he went to go pick up his date only to find out that she thought he was not serious when he asked her out; a stab that was multiplied when her actual date came to pick her up. Scooby did not go immediately home that night because his mother was excited for him when she found out that he was going to prom with a pretty girl. Not wanting to disappoint his mother, he instead went to a restaurant and wept; wept and came to the conclusion that he was not going to be brought down by this event. The next day, he went for a run and did not stop until his legs gave out.

Looking at the rippling muscles of present day physically fit Scooby, like Collins, I came to the conclusion that, when faced with adversity, there are three different types of people in the world: the negatively affected, who dwell and sulk on their misfortunes, the neutrally affected, who move on from their crisis and continue living their lives, and the positively affected, the ones that, like Admiral Stockdale, defined their lives in their moments of hardship, embraced it and used the experience as a driving motivation. I know that I must strive to be the latter and have a strong positive mentality during and after adversity. This mindset has proven to be one of the methods that I embody to go from good to great.

The hedgehog concept is a great way to simplify the problems of forcing growth and complicating a simple idea. The idea of a fox trying new strategies to attack the hedgehog and failing every time because of the hedgehog's simple but proven technique is simple to picture and grasp. Since starting my internship with Scottrade, Inc, I have witnessed firsthand the power of the Hedgehogs who,

"... on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything. It doesn't matter how complex the world, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to simple - indeed almost simplistic hedgehog ideas.

Everyday, clients will call our office and ask for advice. Usually, the clients are satisfied with a simple response. Other times, the inquiries dig for insider tips, the secret to a great portfolio, buying random speculative stocks and other complicating ideas. Facing these questions, the stockbrokers will always answer back with simple strategies, diversify and pick high quality stocks that have good management, financial stability and are innovative. Sometimes the only necessities are the basic ones.

Passion is well documented as an important factor to success and Collins dedicates a section to this factor. One of the biggest obstacles to overcome when using passion to drive yourself towards success is finding your passion. To find passion, Collins presents examples from different companies such as Phillip Morris and Fannie Mae. However, Collins does not actually give his readers a process to unravel their hidden passions. This is a problem that I found with his explanation of passion because he essentially is just telling the reader to have passion, gives examples of passionate, successful companies, but does nothing to guide his readers towards actually finding their passion. Many of his readers will feel motivated to find their passion, but will not know where to start; which is the hardest step towards being passionate.

Going back to knowing yourself, your passion and what you can be the best at. I found Collins' finding of the various profit-per-____ to be insightful. I previously never thought of profits in such a broken down way; it is almost complicated to find out what type of "profit-per" denominator would work the best for any particular company. This is mildly ironic when contrasted with the hedgehog concept and its simplicity because their basics can be quite complicated such as "Fannie Mae: per mortgage risk level" (Collins 106).

I found Collins' mention of Circuit City as a great company to be mildly humorous. Good To Great was published eight years before the collapse of Circuit City. This makes the reader question the worth of the research on Circuit City that Collins conducted and also how much change Circuit City could have went through in just eight years.

Collins' conclusion about his wife competing in the Iron man competition was likely a story to finish the chapter with a bang. Winning an Iron man competition is no easy feat and his wife winning the competition is not as simple as knowing that she can win it. Couple this with telling the reader that his wife quit her job, declined graduate school acceptances and devoting her life to training might be dangerous. This ending also conflicts with Collins' views on staying realistic about your position. His wife winning the Iron Man competition is an exception to the rule, not the norm.

Aside from the fluff and contradictions, the basic lessons that Collins teaches in the reading are helpful. Know yourself, keep your plan simple, be passionate, and be realistic are guidelines that cannot fail. Although being the best at something may seem out of reach, Collins knocks that success off of it's pedestal and presents us with an attainable impression of success.