Reddit Reddit reviews Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't

We found 22 Reddit comments about Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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22 Reddit comments about Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't:

u/a_lumberjack · 43 pointsr/reddevils

Sorry, this is bullshit tabloid stuff. Good to Great is a business strategy book, it tends to make "best business books of all time" lists. If he'd been reading "Inverting the Pyramid" or some shit like that, fine. But I'd expect the guy to continue to read stuff like this, like most executives do to keep themselves challenged and learning.

Amazon link to the book FWIW

If reading that book is embarrassing, you're probably lacking some perspective.

u/JetFuelCereals · 27 pointsr/socialskills

Between 14 and 25 I felt exactly this way. At 25 I started combating this state of mind after my motivation dropped dead for 5 months because of depression. It took me 3 years to improve and I'm still working at it. I'm not a natural leader or an extrovert, so I trained myself to become one. I'll try to describe as briefly as possible the methods I used.


Introspect and understand the forces that shaped your mind
Your personality is the accumulation of all of the events in your life. Start listing on paper all the major bad and good events from your whole life. Then start analyzing, find your own explanations on how these events affected your mind and personality. Try to go deep and search the root cause of each event and the habits that you developed afterwards. This took me months of self-examination and countless interpretations of the events. In time the best explanations will keep recurring. Don't forget to also examine your present actions and the reasons behind them. You will notice the same patterns that keep recurring. This will help you to pin point what are you fighting against and be constantly aware of them. Spend at least 2 hours a week on this task.


Study scientific literature that explains how the mind works
Take some time to improve your know-how about the inner workings of the mind and body. I am an avid documentary watcher. This is ok to get started but to really understand how the mind works you need more. I recall how many things clicked after reading Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps: How We're Different and What to Do About It. Afterwards I had an exceptional great time binge watching this course from Stanford University: Introduction to Human Behavioral Biology, professor Robert Sapolsky. Fantastic lessons and also a lot more things clicked. Feel free to search your own materials to study.


--> Pro tip: Don't fool yourself by chasing astrology, faith BS, the secret, good energies and yada yada. Stay on the clear path. The scientific method has took the beating over the centuries and has constantly survived and thrived by exposing itself to investigation.


Develop a succinct list of the top factors that shaped you, use mnemonics
The purpose of repeatedly writing your thoughts is twofold: first you find out how you got the bad habits and what to do about them, secondly you laser etch in your memory the top most important steps you want to exercise daily in order to improve. My mnemonic is PE-WF which expands to: Personality - Experiences / Work - Fun. What that means? For me, it means that my personality creates/triggers the events that I experience and the experiences that I encounter in return shape my personality. Good experiences shape good habits and vice versa. I see these two as an uninterrupted cycle that feeds itself. There's a saying "Garbage in, garbage out". You get the point. Work-Fun cycle is also important because the feeling that I hadn't had enough fun, makes me work really bad. I'm unfocused, constantly day dreaming and procrastinating. And worse, when I'm supposed to have fun, such as at a party, I cannot enjoy myself because my mind is constantly annoying me with thoughts about the work that I haven't done on time, the money that I don't have, and so and so. Main take-away: be aware of these cycles, don't live on autopilot, take initiative and do something to improve these life cycles.


Start unlearning the bad habits, get going on good habits and thought patterns
By studying about biology, neurology, psychology, evolution, civilization history, economics I got a few jems stuck in my mind.

  • Humans have evolved to be social creatures, and by developing language they got the edge in the evolution/survival game. All the elements from the habitat of the ancient human have shaped the modern humans in some distinct ways. By joining in tribes humans were able to share resources and also specialize on certain tasks. Those more willing to take risks, explore and learn new things we're naturally rewarded with resources and success and also became leaders. Good Leaders are a powerful asset for a tribe/community and can mean the difference between starvation and excellent life conditions.
  • Evolution just cares about the survival of the genes and will do anything for this. In some scenarios it is advantageous to collaborate in harmony, but in other scenarios, predatory behavior and exploitation tend to be just fine. This means there is no actual intrinsic need for a perfect utopia. Survival is enough, and this by itself can bring tons of misery in the world.
  • Humans need to feel important, it's hardwired in the DNA. You need it, period. Ancient humans, got plenty of food and reproduction opportunities by becoming important in the community. The question is how? What are your expectations. What is enough for you? You want a decent life, or you want to be a exceptional person and go in history? Find what suits you and remember to cater to this need. Pro tip: You don't need to be a jerk while you are at it. Read Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't. This can also turn ugly, people become narcissistic, self-interested and toxic in society. Narcissism breads narcissism.
  • Long Term Potentiation. In lay man terms: the more you excite a neuron the more it is prone to receive the signal and also it reacts with more powerful signals and more often. In practice this means, the more you think of yourself as being pathetic the more you believe and act like this. Also the reverse is true: the more you think you are powerful, the more you act like that and this in turn reinforces the belief itself.
    There are many more gems to learn but I will leave this to you! These are the tools that help you inspect and debug your behavior. Do this as often as possible.


    <!>PITFALS<!>

  • Giving up to early. Diets take time, studying takes time, body building takes time... well you see where I'm going with this. Take your time and don't give up early!
  • Caring too much of the way you are perceived. This blocks your ability to distinguish yourself and become interesting. You inhibit any action because you fear the critics, and you become boring and invisible. Remember: fear of rejection is hardwired in DNA. Ancient man who were cast out of tribes suffered a lot even facing certain death. Modern society has tons of safety nets. If you fail with some friends, you are able at anytime to find new and better friends. Be strong, and accept rejection, this will make you more happy on the long run. Don’t trade compromises that leave you frustrated for social confort.
  • Chasing fame. Fame is toxic venom. Just don't let it alter your brain. Chase what makes you happy. Fame is a trap. Fame is a dead end. Good life experiences, wonderful friends, healthy diet and exercise, these are the things you need. Not fame.
  • Vices of all sorts: TV, Gaming, Betting, Drugs, etc. Nothing good comes out of addiction. Here's a nice and short video about the mechanics of Addiction. Addiction is all about compensating for lack of good social life.
  • Don’t confuse love with power Be strong, self sufficient and love somebody just because you love them, not because you feel weak and you need comfort. Don’t chase somebody just for the feeling of empowerment and social status.


    TIPS & TRICKS

  • Meditate/Introspect weekly You know the benefits. Just don't get lazy! The more you accept yourself the faster you will progress.
  • Become good at your hobbies Excellence in hobbies can boost your self esteem a lot. Why not have fun and also improve your mindset at the same time?
  • Running, diet and good sleep I cannot overstate the benefits of running and dieting. I recently started a serious training plan, and the benefits manifested almost instantly. Good physical shape builds self-esteem. You get complimented. You train your motivation. You get healthy, fast!
  • Find social groups that gather around a certain activity For me is running. I don't feel awkward being there. I can make lots of friends fast. I can feel good sharing stories of things I like and I can praise other for their achievements.
  • Learn to understand people and support them Knowing how your mind works means knowing how anybody's mind works. This enables you to be a supportive and a patient friend for others. This will improve your social life a lot. Read How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnagie
  • Information gathering I find Reddit and outstanding source of information that allows me to stay up to date in the shortest time possible. No clickbait, no wasted time. Thank you Reddit! Also YouTube has some great channels. I recommend Stefan Molyneux as good source to get started on politics, geopolitics, social issues, philosophy, etc. Great commentary and explanations on his channel. Also other channels are available that cover topics from different angles.

    TLDR: Understand how your past experiences shaped your personality. Find what triggers your bad habits. Learn how the mind functions (the science behind biology, neurology, psychology, evolution) and use these as your tools to improve your mindset. Exercise daily your mindset and try to review your actions, find better ways to react and apply these findings in the present. Find wonderful people trough hobbies. Enjoy life!
u/nostrademons · 10 pointsr/jobs

> A useful asset would seem to be someone the company couldn't afford to turn away. An unpaid intern is use a valuable resource to exploit. How do you reconcile these ideas?

Both the company and the employee should be useful assets to each other. (Or, if you're more cynical about it, both the company and employee will be mutually exploiting each other.)

One of the top-selling business books - Good to Great says that the best leaders "Confront the brutal facts, but never give up hope." It's talking about CEOs, but you can apply it to new grads just entering the job market. Brutal facts for a new grad:

  • You have less experience and fewer tangible skills than anybody else on the job market.
  • You lack a track record or any public information about your past accomplishments. It's hard to convince a hiring manager to trust you when you have no data.
  • You lack connections and a network of people that have worked with you before.
  • You often lack a conceptual framework for what professional success in the working world looks like or what employers are looking for.

    Balancing that, you do have some assets:

  • First and foremost, you have time. When you're a new grad, your whole working life is ahead of you. Many companies hire new grads specifically because they hope that they will get a long, fruitful career out of them.
  • You're often willing to work very hard and try new things.
  • You have few commitments as a young 20-something, meaning that you have freedom to take bold career moves like relocating, or the ability to work extra hours to complete a project.
  • If you completed a 4-year degree, you have demonstrated the ability to show persistence and follow through on something challenge.
  • You hopefully have decent social skills and experience hanging out with other people.
  • You often have better technology skills than older people, and are more in touch with recent cultural developments than them.

    If you want to approach your career strategically, you should leverage the assets you have to convince other people to give you the assets you need. You do this by giving them what they want and asking for things in return. So pretty much all of the advice that the OP gave is about highlighting the assets you have:

  • When you request a face-to-face meeting with a hiring manager, you have a chance to demonstrate social skills and ability to work with people.
  • When you do this politely but repeatedly, you show persistence.
  • When you go for the hiring manager instead of HR, you show that you are thinking of what others need and not what you need.
  • When you talk face-to-face and offer to shadow the team, you demonstrate time and flexibility.

    In return, you should be looking to acquire the assets that you don't have, so that you are not so disadvantaged in your next job hunt. For example:

  • By entering the workforce, you learn tangible skills that you can apply to a future employer.
  • You get the brand name of your previous employer, which makes future ones more inclined to trust you.
  • You can build a network of people that are personally acquainted with your skills, all of whom have their own networks of personal contacts.

    The OP suggested going blue-chip, which is the traditional advice. I personally didn't - I worked for a couple startups, founded my own, and then ended up at Google, relying much more heavily on skill development than the brand name. It doesn't actually matter - your actual career path will depend heavily on the opportunities that are available to you. (I wasn't looking to end up at Google, for example, but they said "yes" and I figured it was an opportunity worth taking.) The important thing is that you very honestly take stock of what you lack as an employee and then take the steps to acquire that, using all the resources you have available to you.
u/cyklone · 8 pointsr/smallbusiness

The way I see it; it sounds like you have a staff member abusing your lax policies and shouldn't work for you.

Jim Collins says "Your people are not the most important asset to your company, the right people are" and I couldn't agree more.

Ask yourself, if he quit today would you be relieved?

Would you hire this staff member again if given the opportunity?

u/hyperrreal · 8 pointsr/PurplePillDebate

Leaving aside aside the issue of TRP dating advice vs. 'mainstream' dating advice, what you have written here is not advice.

> Before you go about attracting women, you need to be worth having one attracted to you. Don't be an ass, basically.

This is a great example of non-advice. You don't define any of the key terms you use- attract, worth, ass. It's so vague its meaningless.

> They aren't numbers on a hotness scale. They aren't prizes. They aren't vaginas with a guard-body attached. They are individual people.

Again, while many would agree with you here, this is still just a set of truisms. Even if you phrased it to be advice, "you'll have more success with women if you treat them like people, not objects," it is still basically worthless because of your lack of investigation into what these terms mean. What does it mean to treat someone like a person? If I don't know how to do that, what are some ways I can move forward?

> The important thing to remember about approaching women is that many of them are approached a lot, and not necessarily by nice guys. Many women will reject any kind of approach from a strange man, and there's nothing you can do about it. If you are approaching in a setting where that is not expected (walking down the street), the intrusion is probably unwelcome. You know canvassers who call out to you and try to get you to sign stuff, and you feel awkward about it and avoid their eyes and keep on walking? It's like that.

This section is no doubt a valid statement of your experience, and possibly many other women's as well. Still, no advice to be found. You just say that many women are uncomfortable with being cold approached out of nowhere. Advice would be building on that to advise a specific course of actions. For example, "help women feel more comfortable by doing x, y, or z. Or "So avoid cold approaches and try to meeting women by expanding your social circle."

> Also, to many women, it comes off as offensive. After all, you are literally approaching a random stranger. She knows that a guy approaching her in this context knows nothing about her except that he's attracted to her.
Sex is also a bigger risk to the average woman than the average man. They fear potential rape and violence. There's also the risk of pregnancy. Odds of her enjoying the experience are lower as well.

More of the same here. Just more discussion of what some women's reality may be with no actionable items.

> Why are you trying to have sex? Is it because that's what you want...or are you embarrassed by being a virgin at your age? Is your self-esteem dependent on it? Make sure you aren't trying to solve a completely different problem.

Introspection is very important to self-improvement no argument here. You fail to provide any specifics though. Simply stating the need for introspective thought in regard to people's sex lives is not advice.

> Self-assurance is sexy, and it makes for better relationships. Figure out what an idealized version of you looks like, and aim for it. Get happy.

Seriously? This is what you think of as advice? Imagine going to a therapist and asking for help, and all they give you is 'get happy'. If you ever go over to /r/depression you will find tons of posts complaining about people treating emotional dysfunctional this way. "Why aren't you just happy? Why don't you just get over it? Just find your true self and become that. Become self-confident".

> Google for details, as there's plenty of stuff out there that's better than what I can give you.

When it comes to a point where you might have to give some specifics, you just tell people to google it. I've got news for you. Everyone already knows to do that. You have just passed the advice burden off to a set of algorithms and search engine marketers.

> Be positive, confident, authentic, funny, and friendly. Don't push. Focus on creating an enjoyable interaction instead of trying to pass some kind of test. Also, flirt.

If I am not already positive, how to I adopt this attitude? Same question for every attribute. What is authenticity? What is flirting? How do I flirt effectively? I could go on. There is nothing here that has not been said a thousand times before, or that anyone could make any use of if they are struggling.

> Use dat Google to find lots of info on fashion, exercise, etc. Don't try to be something you're not; instead, find a sexy style that works for you and go for that. Try to make yourself feel sexy.

More passing off advice here. What is a sexy style? Will the kinds of women I am into be into this style or that style? How do I go about feeling sexy if I don't already?

> I like Doctor Nerdlove. Use him.

Imagine if I posted an article to /r/investing or something claiming to have advice about how to get rich. And then just told people to "think big," "companies are more than their credit rating," "many times it will be hard to get into hot private equity deals, but remember, fund managers are people too," "idk google".

Or if my bulimic cousin came to me and asked about how to improve her self-image, and I said "get happy," "be self-assured," "be positive," "start feeling sexy," "idk google it".

I am not sure if you inability to truly advise on this issue is a lack of experience, an by-product of your view on gender relations, lack of strategic insight, or something else. But whatever it is please try to understand that what you have written does not constitute advice.

I highly recommend reading some books on business strategy just to get a sense of what real strategic and tactical advice is. Good Strategy Bad Strategy and Good to Great are decent places to start.


> I like Doctor Nerdlove. Use him.

About the only advice you have given here is to go to people other than you for advice. Which is frankly good advice.

u/mkawick · 7 pointsr/gamedev

Two books may change that outlook:

Growing great people: http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Great-Employees-Extraordinary-Performers/dp/1591841909

Good to great: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406870853&sr=1-1&keywords=good+to+great

These books will show you that really successful companies never treat their employees as cogs or slaves. The really great companies treat mgmt as a coaching responsibility and most people at these kinds of companies love their employers.

As a manager, your primary responsibilities are retention and recruiting, removing obstacles, and assisting people with their careers. All of that starts with listening.

u/Lavender_poop · 5 pointsr/marketing

I have a few, not all specifically about marketing but related to business, growth, customer experience, etc.

u/hawksfan82 · 4 pointsr/Documentaries

I remember reading Good to Great back in college business class about these transitions in business. Pretty interesting.

u/MasterLJ · 3 pointsr/politics

"Good To Great" is a great read on what fantastic leadership looks like.

While I'd be cautious to form opinions based on one article, it seems to coincide with the findings of the 10-year research project "Good To Great" underwent... namely that the best CEOs aren't motivated by money, and that internally vetting successors is crucial to a company's sustainability.

u/fatless · 3 pointsr/seduction

This is basically the classic "Good vs Great" argument that CEOs love to talk about in business.

Check out the book- Good to Great.

u/Wurm42 · 2 pointsr/nonprofit

Happy belated birthday. I finally have some time to respond to this when I'm at the office and have relevant things handy.

Books to read:

u/digital99 · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur
u/mikeyouse · 2 pointsr/Entrepreneur
u/sheeshhh · 2 pointsr/business

Personally, I'm not huge on social media, especially FB. You need feet in the door as you are a physical business. Just getting virtual clicks isn't enough.

What you need is good old fashioned business advice. The fundamentals of business never change even though the tools (such as social media) do.

I recommend these two books:
Good to Great

Fish!

u/Reddevil313 · 2 pointsr/smallbusiness

How are you marketing your business currently?

Here's some good books to read although they're geared more towards managing and motivating a workforce. Others may have better recommendations for books on growing as a startup or small business. Ultimately, you need to focus on marketing your company and targeting your ideal customer.

Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet
https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Ship-Around-Turning-Followers/dp/1591846404

How to Become a Great Boss by Jeffrey Fox
https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Great-Boss-Employees/dp/0786868236/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484506909&sr=1-2&keywords=how+to+a+great+boss

How to Be a Great Boss by Gino Wickman
https://www.amazon.com/How-Great-Boss-Gino-Wickman/dp/1942952848/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484506909&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+a+great+boss

Good to Great by Jim Collins (I just started this)
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484507074&sr=1-1&keywords=good+to+great

EDIT: Here's another one.

Traction. Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman. I haven't read this but the CEO did and we use the structure and methods from this book to run our company. https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

u/mikkom · 1 pointr/startups

This is one of the best books I've read.

From good to great

Books on negotiation skills are also really worth reading and marketing and so on. I don't even remember how many books I have read on business.

ps. yes, I added my referral code so I can order some more books if someone finds the book interesting.

u/BigPlunk · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

Good to Great is a fantastic book that interviews CEO's from different companies and looks at what the great ones did differently from the good ones.

How to Win Friends and Influence People is an old book (early 1900's) that interviews people like Henry Ford and others to see how they "get their way" in business.

I'm drawing a blank, but I'll come back when I remember the others.

u/dave250 · 1 pointr/startups

A few books that I absolutely love are; Good to Great, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (this isn't exactly a business book, but a lot of the principles in it help you be a better leader/person which is extremely important when running a business) and Rework

u/G3E9 · 1 pointr/startups

Two other related books I've enjoyed are Good To Great by Jim Collins and The Master Switch by Tim Wu, maybe others here are familiar with them too?

I've got a week long trip planned soon and because I've read 2 books out of your list (Zero to One and Rework,) I'll be looking into the rest of your list for some suggestions, thanks!

u/janelle29 · 0 pointsr/Christianity

I usually stick to Christian books - there’s some great one’s out there. I value learning new ideas based on scripture.

However these are good books recommended by my pastor -
The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385513518/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_IjuZDbQQ2VTZX

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't https://www.amazon.com/dp/0066620996/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_cmuZDb23KNDR1

Both are related to leadership - which we all are leaders as Christians.

u/ValueInvestingIsDead · -20 pointsr/wallstreetbets

Certainly, no other successful businesses hire/promote from within and certainly not a disproportionate amount of exponentially successful ones in the past 75-100 years of capitalism.

(That's right, that's an Amazon Canada link, big whoop, at least there's no referral shit)

But of course, that doesn't sell like the TSLAQ headline would. That's just boooooring ol' highly-respected textbooks by highly-respected authors.