Eleven companies were identified and compared to similar companies within industry that had not transitioned from good to great. For example, Abbott was compared with Upjohn; Circuit City with Silo; Gillette with Warner-Lambert, Kroger with A&P, etc.

The project involved coding 6,000 articles, 2,000 pages of interview transcripts, and 384Million bytes of computer data.

What was learned?

Since THE key role of the Board of the hiring and firing of the CEO, we will focus on this area only. But the book has lots of strategic implications for Board members and senior executives beyond CEO recruiting.

Boards of public companies often assume that salvation can be achieved by hiring a well-known, charismatic CEO from outside the company. In a world of supply & demand, Boards ask shareholders to pay dearly for such rare talent. Are the results worth it?

According to Collins and his team, such charismatic leaders are NEGATIVELY associated with good to great companies.

Ten of the eleven good to great CEOs came from within the company. Good to great CEOs are self-effacing, even shy. They have a blend of personal humility combined with fierce determination for the organization as a whole. Boards of Directors are looking for Julius Caesar when they should be looking for Abraham Lincoln.

The research-based nature of this effort takes the book out of the ordinary category of "pop" management books. It is a book to read, digest, and re-read.

Larry Stybel & Maryanne Peabody

The "Hedgehog Concept" and the "Flywheel" findings explained in the book reiterate that, achieving true greatness is not simply a matter of capitalizing on being in the right place at the right time, but it is achieved through well thought out, focused, and sustained work. And in a highly competitive world, companies that want to stand out from the crowd need to get the best people on board first.

While these findings seem like self-evident truths, during times of trouble, companies almost always feel like they do not have time for such "idealistic" approaches. What this book does, is provide the right ideas to enable good companies to move towards greatness before getting into crisis. Collins great presentation of these findings, borne out of research on the present day good-to-great companies, brings a kind of clarity and understanding that will act like fresh fuel for companies on their way to greatness.