Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck--Why Some Thrive Despite Them All

( 15 )

Overview

The new question Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with another groundbreaking work, this time to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research, buttressed by rigorous analysis and infused with engaging stories, Collins and his colleague, Morten Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, ...

See more details below
Hardcover
$21.46
BN.com price
(Save 28%)$29.99 List Price
Pick Up In Store

Pick Up In Store

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Other sellers (Hardcover)
  • All (45) from $11.95   
  • New (31) from $12.00   
  • Used (14) from $11.95   
Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck--Why Some Thrive Despite Them All

Available on NOOK devices and apps  
  • Nook Devices
  • NOOK HD/HD+ Tablet
  • NOOK
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet
  • NOOK for iOS
  • NOOK for Android
  • NOOK Kids for iPad
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK for Windows 8
  • NOOK for PC
  • NOOK for Mac
  • NOOK Study
  • NOOK for Web

Want a NOOK? Explore Now

NOOK Book (eBook)
$19.99
BN.com price

More About This Book

Overview

The new question Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with another groundbreaking work, this time to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research, buttressed by rigorous analysis and infused with engaging stories, Collins and his colleague, Morten Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times.

The new study
Great by Choice distinguishes itself from Collins’s prior work by its focus not just on performance, but also on the type of unstable environments faced by leaders today.

With a team of more than twenty researchers, Collins and Hansen studied companies that rose to greatness—beating their industry indexes by a minimum of ten times over fifteen years—in environments characterized by big forces and rapid shifts that leaders could not predict or control. The research team then contrasted these “10X companies” to a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to achieve greatness in similarly extreme environments.

The new findings The study results were full of provocative surprises. Such as:

  • The best leaders were not more risk taking, more visionary, and more creative than the comparisons; they were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.
  • Innovation by itself turns out not to be the trump card in a chaotic and uncertain world; more important is the ability to scale innovation, to blend creativity with discipline.
  • Following the belief that leading in a “fast world” always requires “fast decisions” and “fast action” is a good way to get killed.
  • The great companies changed less in reaction to a radically changing world than the comparison companies.

The authors challenge conventional wisdom with thought-provoking, sticky, and supremely practical concepts. They include: 10Xers; the 20 Mile March; Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs; Leading above the Death Line; Zoom Out, Then Zoom In; and the SMaC Recipe.

Finally, in the last chapter, Collins and Hansen present their most provocative and original analysis: defining, quantifying, and studying the role of luck. The great companies and the leaders who built them were not luckier than the comparisons, but they did get a higher Return on Luck.

This book is classic Collins: contrarian, data-driven, and uplifting. He and Hansen show convincingly that, even in a chaotic and uncertain world, greatness happens by choice, not chance.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

With top-sellers like Good to Great, Great by Choice and Born to Last, Jim Collins has established his credentials as an expert observer intent on understanding what makes great enterprises work. In Great By Choice, he and co-author Morten T. Hansen apply nine years of research to explain why some companies succeed even in the most tumultuous times. Filled with examples and rigorous analysis, this book is refreshingly free of vapid pep talk. Detailed; stimulating; often counterintuitive.

Financial Times
"A sensible, well-timed and precisely targeted message for companies shaken by macroeconomic crises"
Wall Street Journal
"Collins and Hansen draw some interesting and counterintuitive conclusions from their research….far from a dry work of social science. Mr. Collins has a way with words, not least with metaphor."
Booklist
Entrepreneurs and business leaders may find the concepts in this book useful for making choices to increase their odds of building a great company.
Wall Street Journal
“Collins and Hansen draw some interesting and counterintuitive conclusions from their research….far from a dry work of social science. Mr. Collins has a way with words, not least with metaphor.”
Financial Times
“A sensible, well-timed and precisely targeted message for companies shaken by macroeconomic crises”
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780062120991
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 10/11/2011
  • Pages: 320
  • Sales rank: 15,116
  • Product dimensions: 6.32 (w) x 9.26 (h) x 1.01 (d)

Meet the Author

Jim Collins

Jim Collins is author or coauthor of six books that have sold in total more than ten million copies worldwide, including the bestsellers Good to Great, Built to Last, and How the Mighty Fall. Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. He now operates a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he conducts research, teaches, and consults with executives from the corporate and social sectors.

Morten T. Hansen is a management professor at the University of California, Berkeley (School of Information), and at INSEAD. Formerly a professor at Harvard Business School, Morten holds a PhD from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a Fulbright scholar. He is the author of Collaboration and the winner of the Administrative Science Quarterly Award for exceptional contributions to the field of organization studies. Previously a manager with the Boston Consulting Group, Morten consults and gives talks for companies worldwide.

Good To Know

Collins says he finds the writing process a difficult one. "I can average no more than a page a day of high quality output – and those are long days!" he said in our interview. "If I produce a 30 page chapter, it will take me 30 days of work. I like what Michener said: 'I am not a master writer. I am a master rewriter."'

Collins has been married to wife Joanne for 22 years; the pair got engaged four days after their first date. When I finished Good to Great, Joanne said, “It’s nice to have you back” -- even though I’d been sitting just 20 feet away in the Morris chair for all those months of writing. That’s just the nature of writing a book; it requires a degree of obsession and productive neurosis.

A passionate rock climber, Collins likes to work early in the morning and then take a break to go climbing on the cliffs of Boulder or Eldorado Canyon. "No matter how wrapped up I am in a piece of work," he says, "it all melts away when I’m focused on the next ten feet of rock. I like to return in the afternoon for a good nap of 30 minutes to two hours, followed by a late afternoon creative work session before spending the evening with Joanne."

Read More Show Less
    1. Hometown:
      Boulder, Colorado
    1. Date of Birth:
      January 25, 1958
    2. Place of Birth:
      Aurora, Colorado
    1. Education:
      B.S. in mathematical sciences, Stanford University, 1980; M.B.A., Stanford University, 1983
    2. Website:
      http://www.jimcollins.com

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 15 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(5)

4 Star

(3)

3 Star

(6)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(1)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
Sort by: Showing all of 15 Customer Reviews

  • Posted December 9, 2011

    Make the Choice to be Great

    Following Jim Collins¿ smash success in Good to Great, he has teamed up with Morten T. Hansen to pen Great by Choice.
    The scholarly authors delve into the question: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Right off the bat, they address a common criticism of Good to Great in which some of the companies highlighted are gone or have stumbled. True, that can happen, but what the authors are seeking is to understand the historical dynasty of organizations in what made them great. In essence, just because the company is gone today, does not mean we can¿t learn from its success.
    The chapters are pretty straight forward and are scattered with charts, academic ease and anecdotal commentary. As best stated by management guru Peter Drucker, ¿the best- perhaps even the only- way to predict the future is to create it¿. That¿s exactly what you find that innovative organizations have leaders that are more discipline, empirical, and paranoid. This bizarre blend of creativity and discipline are important in today¿s uncertain world. Besides, even the most amazing great companies changed less in reaction to a radically shifting world than the comparison companies.
    The wacky results are wisdoms under the heading of the 10xers, the 20 mile March; Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs; Leaders above the Death Line; Zoom Out, Then Zoom In; and SMaC Recipe.
    Overall this book is a good read for those yearning for insight on the holy grail that makes companies great.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted April 9, 2013

    Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen represents a de

    Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen represents a detailed assessment of companies thriving in times of uncertainty compared with similar organizations not performing so well. In the analytical tradition of Built to Last, Good to Great, and How the Mighty Fall, Collins and Hansen imperially demonstrate that organizations performing well in tumultuous times:

    - Have leaders who were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid
    - Believed that a `fast world' necessitated `fast decisions' and `fast actions' was a good way to fail
    - Changed less in reaction to the radically evolving world than their poorer performing comparison companies

    I like Great by Choice for its data-driven analysis of organizational performance in turbulent times. I believe this assessment and its findings are particularly relevant given today's highly uncertain marketplace.

    However, I believe there are some flaws in Collins and Hansen's analysis. First, it appears that a majority of the 10x companies were small, fragile, and subsequently more nimble than their comparisons during the early portion of the comparison period. I feel this difference in organizational structure materially influenced the results each company was able to achieve; the 10x companies having `less to lose' were better positioned to take the actions necessary for a higher long-term payoff whereas their peers were laden with `historical scaring' - legacy contracts and obligations, well established shareholder expectations, etcetera - and were subsequently more confined in what they are able to do and so were less likely to be able to take the action needed to achieve 10x gains.

    Another flaw was the comparison of Microsoft to Apple. While both were high tech companies during the assessment period, Microsoft was a software company whereas Apple was an integrated software and hardware company; placing it in a very different business. I disagree that these companies were comparative.

    Finally, Collins and Hansen do not broaden their analysis to include companies such as Microsoft and Apple that change performance positions over time. Subjectively, if a company can be great by choice, then turnarounds such as that which Apple orchestrated in the 2000s should not only be possible but, given the vast number of businesses in the marketplace over the past 100+ years and the several periods of market turbulence, should have occurred in other instances. Validating the Great by Choice principles against several turnaround examples would help strengthen their assertions - assuming they are true.

    In spite of my analytical reservations, I like Great by Choice and believe it offers significant, if not groundbreaking, insight to the principles for building a successful organization regardless of the marketplace environment. For its data-driven insights of how to succeed during uncertain times, Great by Choice is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

    All the Best,
    Nathan Ives
    StrategyDriven Principal

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 12, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 27, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 16, 2013

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 8, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 23, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 6, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 8, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 2, 2013

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 8, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 4, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 14, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 6, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 11, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 15 Customer Reviews
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)