Great by Choice

By: Jim Collins, Morten T. Hansen

Narrated by: Jim Collins

The new question: Ten years after the worldwide best seller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? In Great by Choice, Collins and his colleague, Morten T. 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 on the type of unstable environments faced by leaders today.

The new findings:

• The best leaders were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.
• 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.

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 by chance.

©2011 Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Exceptional !!!

Wow!! One of the greatest books ever! A must read for every executive and entrepreneur on a quest to build greatness!

Great book!!!

What did you love best about Great by Choice?

This book was a real eye-opener. It helped me to see things outside the box and gives you a recipe for sucess. I thing it should be required reading for any business person.

What did you like best about this story?

The stories used in the book help me to retain the message that goes with the story, making it easier to keep things fresh.

What does Jim Collins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jim doesn't just read the book, he tells you what he wants you to learn from the book. There are graphs and pictures in the book that he is able to help you visualize in his narration.

Still a good listening!

I very much respect the value of Jim Collins researches. While I was reading this book I often thought I was re-reading Good to Great. Many exemples and conclusions were the same. The subject title is the same. If you read one of these books, there's no need to read the other.

Second time through and still learning to apply

Continuously improving in knowledge and application. Will continue to review every few years. Outstanding lessons.

Same comparison method with a new twist

Collins uses a similar comparison technique he used in his Built to Last, Good to Great, and How the Mighty Fall books however the focus is now comparison of companies during times of great turmoil. The discussion around how companies deal with good and bad luck and how the great companies are prepared ahead of time to gain from both good and bad luck was very eye opening idea. Very similar to the other books but still a very worthwhile read.

Great, Interesting Read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The story was engaging and interesting. I can't think of a Jim Collins book that would bore, but take that from an engineer with a keen interest in people. It isn't always easy listening to statistics.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Great by Choice?

The story about the race to the pole was fascinating.

Which scene was your favorite?

The book is more of a

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not exactly.

Any additional comments?

The book is good, very business-oriented and focuses on some common-sense ways to be successful. It's not going to blow you away with revelations, but it will probably inspire you.

Great Book!

Great book with tons of good examples. As always with Jim Collins highly researched and intelligently put together. Highly recommended for anyone looking to make a conscience to do great things.

One of the best business books I have listened

If you could sum up Great by Choice in three words, what would they be?

Exact to the point.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Great by Choice?

Zoom out then zoom in & fire bullets then cannonballs

What about Jim Collins’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed him reading the book. He sounded really sincere, pointed out important sections and the narration style made it easy to listen

Great insight into Business

A great look into how some of the great minds of business think, yet applicable to many aspects of life and work.

We are lucky Jim wrote this book!

If you don't understand the headline then you have not read the book. Luck does not make many great leaders or destroy many great leaders. This book does the best job of explaining what that means of any book I have read to date.