Good to Great Excerpt with better graphics. That is, if you can read my handwriting... ;-)

1. Good to Great – Jim Collins
Excerpt created by Martijn Sjoorda
© 2008

2. Good to Great
Jim Collins
Central Theme:
Can a good company become great, and if so, how?
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and
Others Don't by Jim Collins
See this book on Amazon »

3. The concept

4. The lessons
• Old and new economy:
– No difference. It’s about timeless issues
• Old change paradigms are broken
down:
– No point in large scale “communication”
driven cycles
– Large mechanistic change teams

5. Level 5 leadership
You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who
gets the credits. Harry Truman
• Level 5: Executive : builds enduring greatness through a
paradoxical blend of personal humility and profesional will.
Level 4: Effective leader
Level 3: Competent manager
Level 2: Contributing team member
Level 1: Highly capable individual
• Level 5: can channel their ego, are very ambitious for the
institution, not themselves
• Key compentences are:
Humility + Will = level 5

6. Law 1: Level 5
• Lesson: set up successor for success (not failure)
• Will Humility
Results, catalist Compelling modesty
Do what is needed Acts with cal determination
Set the standards Channels ambition
Looks in the mirror looks out the window
for poor results to credit
• More plow horse than show horse

7. Law 2: First who than what
There are times you cannot wait for somebody. You’re either on the bus or off the
bus.
Lessons:
• First choose the people and then the road
• Create a team, not a genius with a thousand helpers
• People are not your most important asset,
the right people are.
• Be rigourous in this issue, act

8. Law 3: Face the brutal facts
There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hopes soon
to be swept away. Churchill
• Continuously refining the path
• Create the climate for great performance
– lead with Q’s not A’s
– Engage in dialogue and debate
– Conduct autopsy without blame
– Build red flag mechanisms
• Stockdale paradox:
– retain faith that you can and will prevail in the end and at the same
time face the brutal facts of the current reality

9. Law 4: the Hedgehog concept
Know thyself, Scribes of Delphi

10. Law 4: the Questions to be
deeply understood

11. Law 5: Culture of discipline

12. Law 6: Technology accelerators
Most men would rather die, than think. Many do. Bertrand Russel
• The real question is not what is the role of
technology but rather how do you think differently
about technology?
• Become pioneers in the application of carefully
selected technologies

13. The Fly Wheel and the Doom
Loop
• ‘Good-to-great’ transformations internally feel cumulative
and organic and externally as revolutionary
• No killer innovation, no wonder moment, no1 1 action, no
huge programmes
• Consistent building, no big breakthroughs, just like setting
a flywheel in motion
• Not investing energy in “motivating the troops or
“managing” change
• Competitors: the doom loop, looking for straight
breakthoughs and stretching, usually with heavy M & A
activity.

14. The Challenge
From built to last to good-to-
great...

15. Want to talk?
• Martijn Sjoorda martijn.sjoorda@whyconsulting.nl
+31 614908830 www.whyconsulting.nl
• Or check out our facebook page:
www.facebook.com/WhyConsulting