Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't
by Jim Collins
July 2, 2020 — July 7, 2020
Los Angeles, CA
Good is not enough, and we should not feel settled because we’re good, we must go after being Great and this is a matter of conscious choice. It takes humility combined with professional will over an extended period of time, realizing there’s no overnight bangs of success. It all starts with the right people and can only continue with the right people. We should never lose faith in our visions and continue pursuing our ambitions, however we must acknowledge and pay attention to the brutal facts. Even if we have been doing something well for so long, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re doing it the best way possible. Everything we involve ourselves in requires discipline. This summarizes the entire book, which I enjoyed reading, while it is a business book it can be applied to any type of entity or individual. It’s the idea of what makes the greatest and the leading entities the way they are compared to other entities in lower parts of the top lists. Here is a few of my personal highlights from each chapter:
“Personal Brand” is bullshit when you're the leader, focus on your organization’s development and find someone better than you to take over next if you want your work and efforts’ legacy to survive. The right team is one full of potential CEOs and a great pool of potential success. Even if you’re at the top, keep working as if you’re at the bottom still trying to make it in life, do whatever it takes to win and blame only yourself for organizational failures. Results do the talking, don’t compensate for the lack of them by reselling your vision.
IMPORTANT: Don’t let the idea of being overinvested stop you from pulling out to grow better, move on, or save yourself. Discipline is key, get rid of the unnecessary that doesn’t produce growth. Don’t diversify way beyond your original strength or make a big investment just to increase your growth, be “diversified,” or look bigger.
When you see change coming, address, embrace, and adjust to it by accepting and responding to the data and answers, keep asking questions till you truly understand everything. Don’t let your dreams and vision blind you from the reality or current situation. Focus on the brutal present and fix it, with unwavering faith that will succeed by doing it. Keep going no matter how long it takes, you’re turning the momentum and understand there won’t be a miracle moment, you might not hit a deadline but you’ll eventually hit the greatest result.
Be focused and specialized on your strength and excel in it with a simple concept or strategy that you are the best at and passionate about which you know will generate prosperity. If you don’t think you can be the best at it, just avoid it, it takes time to figure out what you’re best at.