Summary of Good to Great

Summary of Good to Great “Good to Great”, the phase itself looks quite simple; however, in this book, it reviews us there is many multiple steps, and that require us to use our utmost efforts in order to achieve it. The main purpose is to find answer about how good companies to be great companies and how well of those companies after achieving. To deeper understanding, this paper provides a summary of the core concepts of each chapter as following. Why do we need to have a great enemy? In the book, it introduces the ideas that good to great concept can applies to any organization; for example, a good school to be a great school. Every human wants to be great rather than to be good. This concept, “Having a great enemy”, helps any organization see rooms for improvement, point out the comparison to perform better, and even just light up the idea of getting better.

The book studies eleven companies for 15 years in becoming good-to-great companies and compares the performances to the competitors in their fields. The author, Jim Collins, uses his collecting data and applies them to provide the certain results. What is the leadership style in a good-to-great company? Obviously, Level 5 leader are found in every studied companies. The level 5 leader is the person who the combine humility and will. The leader has a view to bring in the success.

Moreover, that person has a will to create something great to lift the organization up to the top. Most executives from good-to-great companies also points out luck is the factor driving the organization to the success.

This action means the level 5 leaders are humble, and they will not say they make their organizations successful. The key point is every single person has ability and attitude that can become a level 5 leader, and it is worthwhile to give our efforts to achieve that. A good great team is essential for any good-to-great company. Who is the right and appropriate people taking responsibilities and cares on business activities? This is the certain first question should be promptly asked rather than raise the question what the strategies, products, or directions that companies will go through. Creating teamwork basis, it also helps any organization to avoid negative impacts on having alone commanding head in the top. Furthermore, it is more significant in terms of management to establish mind set of high quality and diligent to the team. The tips are finding someone that you surely are good fit to your organization, firing someone who is not matched, and give opportunities to them.

The great company should call any good decision in the right time, and the good decision is made from the fact. The good-to-great companies must confront the reality where they do businesses. In the good-to-great company, it is important to create the climate of truth in the workplace. Without the truth, the top management will be reported something is not useful, and it may be too late for them to fix that certain problem. Four basic principles to create the climate of truth are leading with question, not answers, encouraging the level of debate, giving clear investigation, not to blame, and establish red flag function in order to capture everyone eyes. Additionally, the leader in the good-to-great company should think how to choose and get right people to face the brutal fact in the reality. By doing this, we do not have to waste the time on motivating them. The right people will be self-motivated and know how to act on the implications associated to the fact. The Hedgehog concept – is a simple concept that states having one big important thing to focus is better than having many things to focus. In order to identify your own hedgehog concept by using the three circle concept – circle one is what you are passionate, the circle two is what area you can generate money, and the last circle is what you are the best at. The intersection point of all three circles shows the area that you should concentrate. Moreover, in the economic term, great-to-good companies view the area they are specialized on profit per x by which they will focus on. Passion is also one main component that people need to have in contributing to become a great company, and people perceive this from doing things.

Furthermore, since the hedgehog concept is the iterative process guided by three circle, the useful method that help drive the process is using the council. The council acted by the right people who engage in the debate on significant issues and decision confronting organizations. The good-to-great company has a team of right people who help each other create the culture of full-self disciplines along with three circle explained above. Those disciplined people take disciplined actions resulting in less hierarchical organizations. The right people are self disciplined that help organization avoid of many conflicts while the company is growing.

For example, if you fit the wrong people in the position to perform a certain job, they need a set of rules, directions, and procedures to control and guide them in order to avoid some problems. This creates the hierarchy and makes the company stop at as a good company. Furthermore, the useful approach to create disciplines is creating “Stop doing” lists. They points out the many unnecessary things that interrupt the improvement of the organization. With the technology, we can say it supports the great company to have the ability to adapt and survive. It enhances the company’s performances. The great companies mostly use the technology as the tool to increase their power and leverage. Technology is not a change agent at all, but it acts as an accelerator.

Notably, to become good-to-great company, those companies initiate transformation by their own – not by the rise of any new technology. All they do for the technology is just pick the right one from the basket at the right time and apply them with their three powerful circles.

The flywheel and the doom loop represent both positive and negative forces accordingly. In the flywheel perspective, it requires a time to do consistent working efforts. The process of transformation of the good-to-great companies does not happen within a short period of times, as Rome was not built within one day. The change from good to great companies is based on sustainable transformation process. With hard working, the process is taken slowly but steadily and repeatedly creates the right momentum to put the good companies to be great. On the other hand, the good companies follow the doom loop perspective. They hope with its sudden and clear direction will strengthen the entire organizations such as urgent acquisition. However, because of too rushing, the good companies will fall in the wrong direction and never achieve the greatness.

The good to great articles is the beginning for the good companies to obtain the great result. Therefore, in order to endure as the great companies, build-to-last concept is required. The great companies that endure in the real business world consider their business activities in terms of values, uniqueness, and distinguishing cultures rather than of money. This makes them survive and last long the in tough environments. Moreover, there is the concept of Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) in Build to Last study. This concept should be considered and combined carefully with the full understanding of three circle of the Hedgehog concept. By doing this, it will help any good but not great companies avoid the pitfall of BHAG – a set of brave goals that allow and encourage any companies to defined a clear strategic visions or goals; however, there are certain risks needed to take.

All in all, is the greatness essential for every one? My answer is “No”. In my opinion, it depends on what people want to be and need to have. It can be the case that I satisfy what I am doing, I do not want to change to gain more money, and I can live with the sufficient economy. However, since becoming great is not harder than becoming good, it could be the enthusiastic way to try practicing. If you think that putting the fresh red cherry on the top of the ice cream sundae is easy and makes your ice cream look more delicious, so finding the motivation and inspiration for good to be great is not that difficult either.

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