Good to Great is
required reading for Presidential Fellows in YU, and I understand why. The book
goes through basic concepts that, through research, seem to be integral in
creating and sustaining a great company from a good one. Ideas such as these
should be integral to people who are on the path to leadership in the Jewish
and greater community.
At first glance the study seems to be statistically valid. Collins
goes through the study that he did, comparing companies that were similar, but
then one shot up in stock prices dramatically over 15 years. It’s actually this
fact, that the study seems valid, that I don't think I am going to read books
of this kind. There is a major flaw in the research done in this book; a flaw
that I feel is made constantly in similar books. While its true that those
companies which the study followed did embody the qualities detailed in the
book, there is no evidence to say that there aren’t other companies that were
not researched did not follow these same guidelines. There are also other
companies that have grown without these methods. This is only furthered by what
has occurred in the years since the book was released. Companies that were
praised consistently in the book have fallen in the market since. Companies
like Fannie-Mae and Circuit City are not doing well, and are doing even worse
than the general market has been. This seems to imply that the research was to
some extent created by using information that was not complete.
These objections to Good
to Great seem to be the breaking point for bloggers and reviewers of the
book. Those that see this as a problem, write off this book as moneymaking
scheme building off Collins’ earlier books. Those that don't see this as a
problem love the book. In my view, there is a huge middle ground. While by no
means is Good to Great a conclusive
method to make a great company. However, there are many things that Good to Great bring out that are at
least corollaries of making a good company. The book details many ideas, many
of which I will not go through here, but I would like to focus on one of them.
The beginning of the book, focuses on the idea of Level 5 leadership. A Level 5
leader is able to focus completely on the company, not falling to nepotism or
other factors. (S)he is able to care about the companies needs and doesn't look
for his own glory or fame. Good to Great is
full of messages like this that, while it does not prove conclusively, should
be in our minds when we are trying to take the things we are active in from
good to great.
May we all be able to take our own endeavors from a position
where they are doing a good job to a great one.
