He then asked if i got anything from it that i could apply to business, or a technique for the real world, from it. From jim collins book good to great, the hedgehog concept helps your. In a software as a service saas business, it could be customer. The company finds its successful strategy, called its hedgehog concept, at the intersection where all three of these questions are satisfied. The pretext of this book is how do you take a good company and make it great. From jim collins book good to great, the hedgehog concept helps your organization focus on three main areas. Key words strategy, level 5 leadership, culture of discipline, the hedgehog concept, corporate culture, packards law, the stockdale paradox summary this book is considered as one of the most important management books of the 1990s and has been in the best seller list ever since then. In this book, he uncovers the underlying variables that enable any type of organisation to make the leap from good to great while other organisations remain only good. Even if customers really push us to have a feature that doesnt pass this.
Fannie mae, praised as one of the banks to go good to great, has fallen into the trash heap since 2008 and has never recovered. When i first read the book, i thought jim collins beautifully presented his case studies, and i was quite taken by all. But, finding it means that my work is much more fulfilling and i hope that asking the question might help you find your hedgehog concept as well. Circuit city, another good to great, doesnt even exist anymore, at least by name and as a bricknmortar store. The monograph addresses five issues that social sector leaders often face. Good to great by jim collins posted on march 8, 2012 by liz stinson some quick notes on some of my main takeaways not necessarily the full set of key points, rather the ones that spoke to me from jim collins great book good to great. The hedgehog principle was introduced by jim collins in his book good to great, in which he argues that truly great companies are oriented around a hedgehog concept. This is jim collins strategy framework introduced in his book goodtogreat. Jim collins concepts the hedgehog concept good to great.
Your company should be here disciplined thought relook your companys denominators to gain understanding of your economic. The 7 steps to a goodtogreat content marketing strategy. Second, the goodtogreat companies translated that understanding into a simple, crystalline concept that guided all their effortshence the term hedgehog concept. Second, the goodtogreat companies translated that understanding into a simple, crystalline concept that guided. The concept being the most important in my opinion was having upper management to be brutally honest. How good to great companies think differently about technology. The greatest companies in the world have all found what jim collins refers to as the hedgehog concept in his timeless classic from good to great. This single response is simple and works as a response to any attack. How goodtogreat companies think differently about technology. It focuses on how companies change and evolve, and presents strategies to ensure that your company. Mr collins says that when he charted the factors that led these firms to greatness, he had never claimed that they were.
Its interesting to note the difference that jim collins identifies in. Good to great might be the most celebrated business book of the twentyfirst century perhaps even of all time. In jim collins new book, good to greata study of 14 companies that went from good performance to great performance, he describes one of the first steps as first who, then what. The fourth step of going from good to great is the hedgehog concept. It may be that technology is simply being used to leverage your approach toward your hedgehog concept. The three key things that i got from this book are different levels of leadership hedgehog concept single focus todo vs stop doing list.
Transformations from good to great come about by a series of good decisions made consistently with a hedgehog concept, supremely well executed, accumulating one upon another, over a long period of time. The theories given help the companies to be successful in their business. When confronted by predators, the hedgehog s instinct is to curl up into a protective ball. Good book, shows great examples of what it takes for some companies to be sustainable powerhouses. It focuses on how companies change and evolve, and presents strategies to ensure that your company makes the leap to success correctly. Good to great a presonal retrospection oracle pat shuffs. To transition from good to great, companies should focus on doing one thing better than anyone else in the world. In reality you may find that looking at your hedgehog concept and particularly what you are deeply passionate about that your core purpose or mission needs to be reexamined. In continuing with the current theme of good to great, i would now like to explore the idea that jim collins put forth which he dubbed the hedgehog concept what is the hedgehog concept. To go from good to great means that the comfort of complacency must be overcome. Hedgehog concept great companies figured out 1 what they could be the best in the world at. Your hedgehog concept may not have anything to do with technology once you really get to the heart of it. Jun 25, 2017 the flywheel diagram is a great summary of good to great and a good highlevel framework for thinking about business leadership.
An overview of jim collins book good to great, with a particular focus on finding your hedgehog concept how to get there. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read good to great. In good to great collins notes that it took four years on average for the goodtogreat companies to get a hedgehog concept. The book good to great by jim collins, was hiding at my library for almost a decade. Ppt good to great by jim collins powerpoint presentation.
Collins that describes how companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition. It sees the world in all its complexity and can pursue many goals at once. What jim collins is talking about here is the difference between being what we call a jack of. But insight and understanding dont happen overnightor after one offsite. The hedgehog concept can be summed up in a single word.
A hedgehog concept is a simple concept in response to the complex facts of reality. Aug 23, 20 in short, the question goes back to your companys hedgehog concept. Good to great using the hedgehog concept pete wargent. Good to great by jim collins book summary oberlo blog. Why those who do frequent restructuring fail to make the leap. In good to great collins notes that it took four years on average for the good to great companies to get a hedgehog concept. The hedgehog concept was originally based on an ancient greek parable which stated, the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. Good to great has to rate in the top five of the many business books i have read and digested in my career. In this update ill be covering chapters 7 and 8 from the book.
The stockdale paradox is one of the books most explicit discussions of goodtogreat companies duality. All good to great companies have a hedgehog concept. Oct, 2010 good to great is probably a pipe dream for most big companies the entrenched egos are too giant to shift. Not only is it a great read, but there is data to back up all the research and help the reader draw comparisons between what is a good business and what is a great business. What are the key takeaways from the book good to great by jim. Looking back, i think the concepts in this book helped to prepare me for other business books later on, especially books that had very prescriptive frameworks with instructions on installing an operating system. That said, i got so many recommendations to read jim collins book, good to great, that i couldnt resist. Why some companies make the leapand others dont, by jim collins. In his new book mr collins examines 11 of the 60 great companies studied in his two earlier books that have since deteriorated to mediocrity or worse. This single function will become the organizations hedgehog concept. Nov 02, 2001 good to great has to rate in the top five of the many business books i have read and digested in my career.
Jul, 20 how to use the hedgehog concept to compete with massive competitors 47 july, 20 9 minute read posted by amin. Rather, great organizations are doggedly disciplined around what collins terms a hedgehog concept the singular. The thesis of the monograph is that discipline is a principle of greatness regardless of whether the organization is a business or a nonprofit. A friend recently asked me what the top three, most influential, business books i have read are. In relation to all the other areas level 5 leadership, first who then what, confront the brutal facts we have talked about so far, this idea is.
Order good to great from amazon the original hedgehog concept came from an essay by isaiah berlin in which he talks about leo tolstoys theory of history. Hedgehog concept in the business sectors good to great. Do something you can 1 be the best in the world at 2 are passionate about 3 can make money at. The next principle of good to great companies is the hedgehog concept. In this post, im going to discuss the hedgehog concept and why it is important for tech companies to keep operating with a simple framework to win. A simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of three.
Why some companies make the leap and others dont is a management book by jim collins. In the journey from good to great, defining your hedgehog concept is an essential element. In relation to all the other areas level 5 leadership, first who then what, confront the brutal facts we have talked about so far, this idea is the most pivotal to becoming great. The hedgehog concept comes for the old greek parable about a hedgehog and a fox which states the following. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Good to great in the corporate world, but not only. Mar 09, 2015 good to great might be the most celebrated business book of the twentyfirst century perhaps even of all time. The summary in the answer by yi can give you the salient points. This is part five of a multipart blog, sharing my thoughts on the book good to great by jim collins. There are no quick fixes, and just like the adage goes, good things come to those who wait and who vigorously pursue their hedgehog concept. 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.
First, the goodtogreat companies founded their strategies on deep understanding along three key dimensionswhat we came to call the three circles. To explain this concept lets look at the difference between a fox and a hedgehog. To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. Aug 19, 2008 the three key things that i got from this book are different levels of leadership hedgehog concept single focus todo vs stop doing list. This post is part of my series on how to apply the concepts of the book good to great, by jim collins, to tech companies.
I spent an hour or so last night flipping through and rereading parts of good to great by jim collins, the popular classic business book about the qualities that make companies successful. Business researcher and consultant, jim collins, used this concept as a metaphor for business in his influential book, good to great. That was a time when i began to pick up books on business with the goal of extracting lessons i could apply to barrel. It was an inherently iterative processconsisting of piercing. For those of you already familiar with good to great, certainly the hedgehog concept is perhaps the easiest to remember. Finding your three circles, to transcend the curse of competence. Technology accelerators team 1 crawl, walk, then run companies should respond to new technologies by first crawling, then. After a fiveyear research project, jim collins concludes that good to great can and does happen. In short, this book does a good job of providing a cohesive. How to use the hedgehog concept to compete with massive. Why some companies make the leap and others dont is a book that focuses on the concepts which when followed can make a mere good company, a great one. The hedgehog concept simplicity within the three circles. This is a kens notes summary of the book good to great by jim collins, it is a compelling 10 year research study to find companies who were good for at least fifteen years, then something happened to make them great biggest takeaways. Rather, great organizations are doggedly disciplined around what collins terms a hedgehog concept the singular intersection of what an organization is passionate about, what an organization can be best in the world at, and the economic engine of an organization.
Apr 29, 2008 for those of you already familiar with good to great, certainly the hedgehog concept is perhaps the easiest to remember. Companies that make the change from good to great have no name for their. And you can get the hell over yourself and start getting obsessed about helping people. Jul 01, 2016 the greatest companies in the world have all found what jim collins refers to as the hedgehog concept in his timeless classic from good to great.
The book shares a great example of this with walgreens. Some found it hard to develop, but no matter how awful they were at the start of the process, they all prevailed in the search for a hedgehog concept. All concepts summarised in this presentation belong to the author of the book. Mar 09, 2020 there are no quick fixes, and just like the adage goes, good things come to those who wait and who vigorously pursue their hedgehog concept. The example of stockdales own life is a particularly dramatic one, but its extremity makes it an especially good illustration of collinss point. Collins goes on to state that the people who led goodtogreat companies were all hedgehogs in one way or another, who developed clear, concise hedgehog concepts to guide their decisions. Great ways to think of how businesses should be run and cultures. On average, it took four years for the goodtogreat companies to crystallize their hedgehog concepts. Before he wrote good to great, collins spent six years researching and compiling his other bestselling book, built to last. The hedgehog concept was first introduced in the book good to great, by jim collins. Can we as teachers or schools succeed without a hedgehog concept. When confronted by predators, the hedgehogs instinct is to curl up into a protective ball.
Can we go from good to great in education without answering these questions. Good to great by jim collins kens notes summary ken. This is a kens notes summary of the book good to great by jim collins, it is a compelling 10 year research study to find companies who were good for at least fifteen years, then something happened to make them great. Many of us can recount envy of people for whom everything in life appeared to come all too easily, as epitomised by the charmed life of schoolboy character david watts in the kinks song of the same name. It lays out three separate questions for an organisation to ask itself. Jim collins starts describing the hedgehog concept by talking about. Back then, elbit systems, the company im working at in the last decade, has handed out this book to all. Revisiting good to great and the stop doing list peter kang. When you figure it out it just seems right, it is not some startling revelation. What are the key takeaways from the book good to great by. Collins that can help anyone in the business world to turn their company or organization from a good one to a great one. For example, before wells fargo understood its hedgehog concept, its leaders had tried to. Here are some of the learnings i will be taking away from this book. Here are links to part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5.
Good to great is probably a pipe dream for most big companies the entrenched egos are too giant to shift. Crafting a strategy ultimately leads to clarity with your people, your vendors, your customers. The clients that fit within our hedgehog concept are very happy. These are pretty open questions and i dont pretend to have the answers to them. How to use the hedgehog concept to compete with massive competitors 47 july, 20 9 minute read posted by amin. The hedgehog concept is developed in the book good to great.
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