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How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In by James C. Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the last book in the Jim Collins trilogy, a follow-up to his hit “Good to Great”, which itself followed “Built to Last”. I actually read this one first because it was given to me by the head of my company during a hospital stay. I was so impressed I grabbed “Good to Great” off of my wife’s bookshelf, and then went to the bookstore to buy the first one, “Built to Last”. So I read them in reverse order, but I think the main thing is that you should read all three to get the full picture of what Collins is talking about.

Although these are primarily Business books, I think there is a lot of useful information here about leading any organization.



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Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by James C. Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the big smash hit from Jim Collins, and you probably don’t need me to promote this this book. But you may not know that this is the middle book of a three book series that shares a common methodology and should be read as a group. The first book is “Built to Last”, and the final book is “How the Mighty Fall”. I actually read them in reverse order due to an odd combination of circumstances, but the three books together tell a very interesting story.

Jim has a big idea that involves the metaphor of a flywheel. He sees the really great companies as ones that find the key process and then keep “pushing the flywheel”. This metaphor works if you understand that a flywheel is a great way to store a lot of energy that you can then tap to keep moving. It is a metaphor I have used in my own life to keep doing things like exercising.



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Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James C. Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Oddly enough, though this was the first of the big Jim Collins books, it was the last one I read. Since this was first published in 1994 you can note that one or two of those companies may not last much longer. Motorola, for instance, may be on the edge. But the core concept of this book is still relevant, that you need to stick to your core values but be willing to change everything else.

This book preceded Collins’ smash hit “Good to Great”, but in fact I would read all three of them together (the most recent is “How the Mighty Fall”), as together they tell a story. They also share a methodology that makes a great deal of sense: match each “success” company with another very similar, but not as successful company. That way you can pick out the distinguishing factors that separate the great from the merely good.



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The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a great introduction to Lean ideas. I think this would be a good starting point for someone who wanted to implement Lean processes where they work. I did have to wonder, though, after reading how Toyota does everything so well, just how that accelerator problem came about. Did they stop following thier own rules? Hmmm…

The other thing is that I am somewhat skeptical that very many American companies could become Lean organizations. Toyota had the ability to take a long view, and stay on their strategy over decades. American companies are constantly trying to produce quarterly numbers to satisfy Wall St. analysts, and tend to go with the management fad of the week. Combine that with the tendency of Boards to look for “charismatic” leaders, and you have to wonder. I did find it interesting to look at this book together with Jim Collins’ books. Both of them really push the idea of doing a few things well over a long period of time.



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