Good to Great
“Good to Great is another good one. I think Good to Great would be on that list.”
Why it is worth your time
Good to Great is Jim Collins's 2001 study of 11 US public companies that moved from average results to stock returns well above the market for at least 15 years. Collins, a former Stanford business school lecturer, compared them with similar firms that did not make the jump. The findings include Level 5 leadership, getting the right people on the bus before deciding where to go, the hedgehog concept and the flywheel. Jason named it on TWiST in May 2020 as a book that would make his list, and has told founders elsewhere that it changes how they look at startups. It suits managers who want a framework for discipline rather than a founder's story. The caveat is survivorship. Of its 11 companies, Circuit City and Fannie Mae failed or were bailed out by 2008, and economist Steven Levitt argued the group underperformed the S&P 500.
