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Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Jim Collins (Author, Narrator), HarperAudio (Publisher)
4.5 out of 5 stars 9,284 ratings

Built to Last, the defining management study of the '90s, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning.

But what about companies that are not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? Are there those that convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? If so, what are the distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

Over five years, Jim Collins and his research team have analyzed the histories of 28 companies, discovering why some companies make the leap and others don't. The findings include:

  • Level 5 Leadership: A surprising style, required for greatness
  • The Hedgehog Concept: Finding your three circles, to transcend the curse of competence
  • A Culture of Discipline: The alchemy of great results
  • Technology Accelerators: How good-to-great companies think differently about technology
  • The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Why those who do frequent restructuring fail to make the leap
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Previous slide of product details
  1. Listening Length
    10 hours and 1 minute
  2. Author
    Jim Collins
  3. Narrator
    Jim Collins
  4. Audible release date
    July 13, 2010
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    HarperAudio
  7. ASIN
    B003VXI5MS
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
Next slide of product details

Product details

Listening Length 10 hours and 1 minute
Author Jim Collins
Narrator Jim Collins
Audible.com Release Date July 13, 2010
Publisher HarperAudio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B003VXI5MS
Best Sellers Rank #463 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#3 in Business Management (Audible Books & Originals)
#3 in Business Management (Books)

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
9,284 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book very readable and well-written, with highly valuable concepts that provide a thorough look into success factors for business. Moreover, the content is relevant to becoming a great company and can be applied to various organizations. However, the book receives mixed feedback regarding its story quality, with some appreciating the real-life examples while others find it contrived. Additionally, the flow receives mixed reviews, with some praising its great flow while others struggle with it. The book is considered worth its price, though customers note it is somewhat dated.

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872 customers mention "Readability"849 positive23 negative

Customers find the book well-written and easy to read, describing it as a fascinating and amazing read.

"One of the best books I ve ever read. Every business person should read it and practice its principles. I recommend it." Read more

"...Generally the book is a very easy read which makes it that much more interesting to want to apply to your company or even for yourself...." Read more

"...“great” companies and some of their similar characteristics, this is a fun, quick read that is great in terms of party trivia and information… but it..." Read more

"...This book offers a lot of thought-provoking information. It is a widely-read book because of the methodology Collins used in his data collection...." Read more

688 customers mention "Insight"661 positive27 negative

Customers find the book highly insightful, appreciating its detailed study and amazing amount of information, with one customer noting its systematic and technical approach to uncovering good to great companies.

"...It takes the feeling of the impossible away, like Collin stated, "We believe that almost any organization can substantially improve its stature and..." Read more

"...characteristics, this is a fun, quick read that is great in terms of party trivia and information… but it’s tougher to judge if you’re looking for..." Read more

"...Principles are applicable in life and business. I'd love to see updated version with Google, Meta, NVIDEA etc..." Read more

"...This book offers a lot of thought-provoking information. It is a widely-read book because of the methodology Collins used in his data collection...." Read more

97 customers mention "Value for companies"90 positive7 negative

Customers find the book valuable for companies, appreciating its incredible research and thorough analysis of success factors.

"...are great books if you’re looking to read something interesting about the business world, but I’m not sure I’d really call them instructive per se." Read more

"...We are presented with comparisons of great companies and their comparable counterparts, from which we can pick apart their differences of what..." Read more

"...factors and behaviors that have a very high correlation to outstanding business success measured by sustained, long term stock returns much higher..." Read more

"...of technology, an optimistic yet realistic attitude and a talented group of people who are picked before anything is done...." Read more

69 customers mention "Value for money"51 positive18 negative

Customers find the book worth its price and consider it a great buy, with one customer noting it provides valuable insights into their economic engine.

"...picked it up Good to Great and, as expected, it is as valuable today as it was then...." Read more

"...content in the 2005 unabridged audio recording to be well worth the small additional expense...." Read more

"...this book is, complacency is the root of mediocrity, and mediocrity slowly kills greatness before it even has a chance to grow...." Read more

"...The data alone is worth the price of the book...." Read more

36 customers mention "Application"36 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's concepts very applicable to other organizations and businesses, with one customer noting that the advice works for both companies and individuals.

"...That said, there’s a lot of core stuff in here that is applicable to a variety of endeavors, so I do recommend the read." Read more

"...This indicates that the strategy laid out in this book is applicable and practical." Read more

"...The principles can apply to any organization." Read more

"The concepts developed in this book are as good for individuals as for corporations. I found the hedgehog concept particularly interesting...." Read more

43 customers mention "Story quality"27 positive16 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the stories in the book, with some appreciating the real-life examples while others find them contrived.

"...Collins artfully combines rigorous research with engaging storytelling, pulling out lessons that are both actionable and profound...." Read more

"...the research process scientific, at times I felt like the book veered too far from facts and into the concepts invented by the authors to support..." Read more

"...depth of analysis is outstanding; the lack of bias and the aversion to mold the facts to fit the theory or let the high filtering standards lapse..." Read more

"...When he's done, his conclusions not only have the ring of truth, but of common sense. You think to yourself, "Of course, that makes such sense...." Read more

20 customers mention "Flow"8 positive12 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the flow of the book, with some finding it great while others struggle to get through it.

"...where the concepts would be repeated, which made the reading seem a little redundant at times...." Read more

"...His flow of chapters is quite fluid and his research is extremely well prepared for the analyses that he supports...." Read more

"...The flywheel brings it all together. The tapes total six hours and are hard to turn off, but they beat a six hour seminar anyday." Read more

"...It keeped my attention and the chapters flowed...." Read more

30 customers mention "Dated content"6 positive24 negative

Customers find the content of the book outdated.

"...unfair, however, to discredit the book due to the fact that the book is a little old...." Read more

"...However, the book suffers from its original publication date - which was well before the economic crisis that began in the late 2000's...." Read more

"There are some helpful ideas in the book, but some of the examples are a bit dated...." Read more

"...of a how to go from good to great, and more of an interesting, almost historical read, about how these particular companies made the jump..." Read more

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Top reviews from the United States

  • manolo
    5.0 out of 5 stars incredible
    Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    One of the best books I ve ever read. Every business person should read it and practice its principles. I recommend it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • BJHarris
    5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD to GREAT...Highly Recommend
    Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Jim Collins states in his book, "Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that become great...We believe that almost any organization can substantially improve its stature and performance, perhaps even become great, if it conscientiously applies the frame work of ideas we've uncovered." After reading that statement I became very curious and wanting to continue reading to see what are the components that make a good company to be a great company, in hopes of maybe being apply it myself one day I really enjoyed the way in which Collins organized the book. From his five year research study of 28 different companies Good to Great discusses key critical concepts revealed through his studies as to why some companies became successful great companies, while the others continued to be good. Collins found from his research within a great company you will have discipline people, with discipline thought, drives discipline actions. Within each discipline it is broken down into a subset of two components:
    I. Discipline People
    a. Level 5 Leadership
    b. First Who... Then What
    II. Discipline Thought
    a. Confront the Brutal facts
    b. Hedgehog Concepts
    III. Discipline Action
    a. Culture of Discipline
    b. Technology Accelerators
    I believe by organizing the book in this matter enabled me to really understand the severity of the critical components and how their relationships if applied will in allow a good company to become a great company. Starting with Discipline People, Collins conducted and analyzed his research by introducing the types of leaders you would find in a great company versus those in a just a good company and the characteristics that these great leaders possessed, such as humility and will. They lead with the interest of the company and not for their own selfish reasoning. Next was the First Who ...Then what which discuss getting the right people on board and the wrong people out. Collins states, "People are not your most important assets. The right people are." Collins stresses the importance of first getting the right people in the right places in your company and weeding out the wrong and then figure out where your company wants to go.
    Next is the Discipline Thought, within the subset of discipline thought a company must possess the ability to confront the brutal facts and not live in denial. Being able to do this will allow the company to stay updated and proactive when faced with making decisions. Collins presented a methodology for the companies to be able to face the truth. He says an organization must lead with questions not answers, engage in dialogue and debate, and use the "red flag mechanism" where anything that is red flagged is information that cannot be ignored and must be handled immediately. Collins also mentioned under the category of discipline thought is the Hedgehog Concept. The Hedgehog Concept is about a Fox and Hedgehog, where the Fox (good companies) knows a lot about variety of things whereas the Hedgehog (great companies) knew a lot about one thing. Being hedgehog is more beneficial for both the company and the individual because it the clarity drives focus and direction whereas the fox has neither one direction nor focus which can backfire later down the road.
    Lastly, having discipline people with discipline thoughts will drive to discipline action which uses the culture of discipline and technology as another tool to help transform the company from good to great. Collins also refers to the Flywheel Concept. He says that a good to great company never happens all at once it take a lot of effort and time to get it going, like the flywheel. The flywheel requires a lot of pushing to get it to turn and after x amount of time it will begin to gain momentum.
    Throughout the book Collins gives great examples for each discipline and its component and how it either went from good to great or continued to be good. Along with the examples Collins provides pleather of diagrams and charts in the appendix, which becomes a great reference for the reader and creates a better understanding of what is needed to go from a good company to a great company. Generally the book is a very easy read which makes it that much more interesting to want to apply to your company or even for yourself. It takes the feeling of the impossible away, like Collin stated, "We believe that almost any organization can substantially improve its stature and performance, perhaps even become great, if it conscientiously applies the frame work of ideas we've uncovered." Overall if you are looking to transform your company, Good to Great is a read that I highly recommend.
    18 people found this helpful
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  • booknosh
    4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhere between good and great... though all of Collins's books are starting to blur together a bit...
    Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Cut to the Chase:
    A well-written synopsis of 11 “great” companies and some of their similar characteristics, this is a fun, quick read that is great in terms of party trivia and information… but it’s tougher to judge if you’re looking for more of a business how-to. Partially, it has aged poorly — many of the companies selected have since had meltdowns of epic proportions (for example: Fannie Mae, Circuit City), and the “how to” part of the book feels generalized and far more subjective than the methodology/selection criteria would have you believe. Still, you’ll learn quite a few fun facts about how some of these business started and/or converted to become the giants they are today.

    Greater Detail:
    The main premise of this book is that though there are many very successful, long-lasting corporations out there (Coca Cola, GE, etc), there are a handful of companies that transcend just long-lasting durability, and become truly “great” companies. The selection criteria (mostly explained in the appendices) identified 11 “great” companies out of 1,435 analyzed, mostly via things like stock performance (the companies chosen were at about market average for about 15 years, and then jumped to being about seven times better than market over a period of 15 years, hence the title: good to great).

    The idea was to then take a more in-depth look at the 11 companies to see what similarities existed, and to then compile kind of a how-to in terms of what distinguishes the greats. Some of the ideas explored are things like:

    1. The Level 5 Leader — Collins proposes the idea of a leadership hierarchy of skills; a Level 5 leader is a dual personality of sorts — someone who is basically modest, but willful and stubborn, almost introverted and shy, but simultaneously fearless (this is kind of the opposite of say the CEO-centric view where Apple was in part defined by Steve Jobs as a leader and a personality, Bill Gates by Microsoft, etc). He argues that the Level 5 leader is someone who does what’s in the best interests of the company — no matter what (preparing for crises before they happen, sacrificing part of their lives often, etc). Counter examples given are leaders who so define the role that they’re unable to appoint successors, or have a successful successor — the argument here is about systematic management, filling the role that the company needs, for the good of the company, and almost without personal ego.

    2. The Flywheel and the Doom Loop — Even though the media sometimes portrays changes as though they’re instantaneously effective or immediately impactful, in reality, most companies that are successful slowly build momentum via a flywheel effect, constantly confronting the “brutal” truths and having faith that with discipline and continued effort and momentum, a breakthrough will happen. The Doom Loop is when there is a lack of patience that leads to continued cycles of new leaders, new directions, and new innovations, without ever waiting to see something through.

    3. The Hedgehog Concept — This is the concept of doing one thing really, really well. Here the argument is that you don’t have to be the best at everything, that Walgreens became a great company by getting rid of its restaurants (it had over 500 at one point) and focusing on what it was strongest in — being a convenient drug store. It focused on location, location, location (always being on a corner, for example), offering 24-hour pharmacies, flu shots, expanding into poorer neighborhoods, and being an almost pervasively convenient option for its customers. It basically asks companies to think about what they can really be best at and specialize a little, find something they are passionate about that they can truly excel at.

    As I’ve said, it’s an interesting read. and in terms of things to make you think, there’s a lot of good cocktail party fodder — is it better to have an invisible leader who sacrifices everything for their company? Or is there benefit to having a targeted leader to focus on (the Zuckerbergs and Jobses, leaders who are synonymous with a company’s image). But if you’re reading it now, more than a decade after its initial publication, it’s hard to take it as seriously when it talks about Fannie Mae (which has gone through a federal takeover/bailout) or Circuit City (which has filed for bankruptcy) or even Wells Fargo, which has had its share of legal and financial troubles. Also, though it’s a nice retroactive, backwards-looking book about what has helped 11 particular companies, it’s hard to know how much is truly applicable going forward. So in that sense, it’s less of a how to go from good to great, and more of an interesting, almost historical read, about how these particular companies made the jump (and then sometimes plummeted back).

    Comparisons to Other Books:
    I had a similar experience with Collins’s Built to Last, which was supposed to detail the successful habits of “visionary” companies. It was a fun synopsis of a six-year research project by Stanford, and I learned all sorts of interesting trivia, but, as with many books that are backwards-looking studies of still-in-business companies, it’s sometimes hard to take the overarching messages seriously knowing how some of the chosen companies have performed since publication. I think these are great books if you’re looking to read something interesting about the business world, but I’m not sure I’d really call them instructive per se.
    58 people found this helpful
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  • NKTT
    5.0 out of 5 stars Grrat breakdown of traditional businesses
    Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    I've read over 100 books in the last 3 years, and both Good to Great and Built to Last are vital for any CEO/Founder to understand. Principles are applicable in life and business. I'd love to see updated version with Google, Meta, NVIDEA etc...
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Amazon Customer
    1.0 out of 5 stars My review for the Book Quality not content
    Reviewed in the United Arab Emirates on May 21, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    My review is not about the content of the book. My review is about the quality of the book. It says hardcover but it comes a printed in loose paper and wrapped in what it seems a copy not original book.. with the price paid for the book, it was shocking and disappointing.
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  • ESA14
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lectura obligatoria
    Reviewed in Spain on April 4, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    De los mejores libros que he leído sobre gestión empresarial. No vas a encontrar muchos tecnicismos ni estrategias financieras o corporativas específicas, sino todo un conjunto de directrices y paradigmas que debe adoptar una empresa que pretende diferenciarse de las demás. Se centra en principios tan importantes como el liderazgo, la proactividad, sesgos irracionales que provocan excesos de confianza y de alejan de la realidad, etc.

    Un muy buen libro, en definitiva.
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  • ベイリー・ナイジェル
    5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome research behind this book
    Reviewed in Japan on December 11, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This is a fascinating book, based on several years of research, as opposed to just one person's experience/opinion. If becoming great is interesting to you, this is probably a good read.
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  • RODOLFO GUTIERREZ VERA
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gran libro
    Reviewed in Mexico on February 28, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Gran libro, lo recomiendo mucho, te abre la mente. Mas si tienes un negocio y lo quieres llevar al siguiente nivel
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  • The Salary Coach
    5.0 out of 5 stars 9/10: Useful lessons to improve your business
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Good to great summarises the findings from extensive research into what makes certain high performing companies outperform their peers. The findings are both interesting and capable of being replicated by any company that wishes to improve performance.

    This book is very concise and full of interesting case studies. It was one of the few occasions when I wished the book could have been a bit longer.

    Well researched, well written, well done!

    Here are some of the learnings I will be taking away from this book:
    • All Good to great (“GTG”) companies had a Level 5 leader
    • Level 5 leaders consistently exhibit humility, modesty and an ability to reign in their ego.
    • Many companies are drawn towards outgoing egocentric leaders and this is often the wrong choice.
    • Level 5 leaders are more interested in something larger and more lasting than their own career
    • GTG leaders concentrate on hiring the right people before deciding on strategy
    • Don’t compromise when hiring. If you’re not confident then keep looking
    • When someone needs to leave the company act quickly
    • Give your best people the best opportunities and not your biggest problems
    • GTG management teams have rigorous debates and aren’t afraid to share their views. But when a decision is made they act as one
    • GTG companies ensure information flows give management the right facts to manage the business effectively
    • GTG companies foster a culture where employee’s views are heard and acted upon
    • GTG companies review failures without negative consequences for the people involved
    • Figuring out how to motivate people is a waste of time. If you hire the right people they will motivate themselves.
    • Good to great companies did one thing exceptionally well and stuck to it (the hedgehog process)
    • GTG companies developed their strategy from a deep understanding of what they could be world class at. This was not a goal or intention but an understanding of reality
    • GTG companies typically focussed on one KPI e.g. profit per customer
    • GTG companies were incredibly disciplined and did not waste time and money on unrelated activities and acquisitions
    • GTG companies used technology as an accelerator of, not creator of, momentum
    • Careful consideration should be given to whether a given technology fits with your hedgehog concept
    • GTG companies often looked like an overnight success from the outside but in reality they were long in the making and a result of persistent action over a long period of time.
    • Preserve core values and purpose while strategies and practices endlessly adapt with the changing world
    6 people found this helpful
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