Review: How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins
Mike Hurley
How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins
Genre: Business
Media : Hardcover Paper
Publisher: Jim Collins (2009)
Link: CLICK HERE
Mike’s Bookmark rating: (3.99 out of 5)
Pre-ramble: 09/16/10: Of Acorns and Demagogues
Every August they slam into the roof of my neighbor’s hollow panel van. When the wind kicks up, they drive down like wooden bullets. The radio talks about Castro and Cuba. He’s laying off ten percent of the government workforce, hoping they will become entrepreneurs. Our Mayor for Life decides to step down. Things do fall. Hard or soft. Rich or poor. Sooner or later.
Book Haiku: How the Mighty Fall
Five Steps mark the fall
Hubris, Neglect, Denial
You choose your demise
In a Nutshell…:
This book is “Good to Great” analyzed and categorized in reverse. Collins’ previous tomes “Good to Great” and “Built to Last” described how companies make the leap to greatness and then stay there for one hundred years. This book examines the flip side. What are the stages of death for a company that is dying? Collins makes it clear that most companies that go from great to bad do so by believing their own PR departments. At any point they can look away from the rosy press releases and grab reality by the throat. Some do and turn before they hit the final iceberg. This book describes the process of those that decide to keep reading and steer directly into the ice.
…A Little Bit More:
I have to admit, this book is a bit depressing. It uses Collins’ comparative model to show what Collins calls the “Five Stages of Decline. Collins uses very detailed criteria to down select companies that truly went through this process of decline while finding a comparable company that did very well while the other tanked. It is remarkably well researched, leveraging data from his previous works. It is hard to argue with the findings and does provide a very nice bookend to the Good to Great model.
I liked the book, but thought it would have been better served as a series of Business Week articles. At 122 pages without appendices, it is light in both depth or breadth. Actually, that was something of a blessing. It was sad and frustrating to see the moronic series of decisions that led these companies to fall. Perhaps that is the key point of the book (and perhaps the most interesting). The myth is that some external catastrophe causes companies to die. Collins makes it clear that this is exceedingly rare and that most fall because that fail to manage their companies with sound business principles and planning. Depressing as it might be, I think it is worth the read in order to avoid the icebergs.
Killer Idea: Most companies that fall choose their method of failure.
Zen Applicability:
Greatness and failure have more in common than we like to admit. For most, they are decisions. Greatness comes with a clear vision, relentless, single-minded pursuit and passionate execution. Failure is simply the opposite. No vision, no ambition, no action… no problem. Get in line behind those that chose excellence.
NOW GO READ SOMETHING!
Mike Hurley
September 16, 2010