Good to Great
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North American (General)Transcript
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Chapter one Good is the enemy of great Good is the enemy of great, and that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great precisely because the vast majority become quite good, and that is their main problem. This point became increasingly clear to me in 1996 when I was having dinner with a group of thought leaders gathered for a discussion about organizational performance. Bill Mehan, the managing director of the San Francisco office of McKinsey and Company, leaned over and casually confided, You know, Jim, we love built to last around here. You and your co author did a very fine job on the research and writing. Unfortunately, it's useless. Curious, I asked him to explain the companies who wrote about where, for the most part, always great, he said. They never had to turn themselves from good companies into great companies. They had parents like David Packard and George Merck, who shaped the character of greatness from early on. But what about the vast majority of companies that wake up part way through life and realize that they're good but not great? I now realize that my hand was exaggerating for effect with its useless comment, but his essential observation was correct. They're truly great Companies, for the most part, have always been great, and the vast majority of good companies remain just that good, but not great. Indeed. My hands comment proved to be an invaluable gift as it planted the seed of a question that became the basis of this entire book. Namely, can a good company become a great company? And if so, how or is the disease of just being good incurable?