A Book Review

Book reviews aren’t something I normally do, and it isn’t the intention of our blogs at EOS Worldwide, but I hope and trust that you will gain tremendous benefit from this book, as it so validates and compliments our teachings.

The book is Jim Collins’s latest, Great by Choice, and it is a masterpiece. What I love about it is how he dispels many myths about greatness in business—such as how great companies are the ones that innovate the most and get to market first, and how (he doesn’t say it this way, but I interpret it this way) the successful business owner is fearless and takes huge risks.

What is so exciting is that he proves that it’s just the opposite. While the media, many books, and the general public love and focus on the stories about silver bullets and magic pills (all my words), Collins shows that fanatic discipline, productive paranoia, and empirical creativity are the not-so-shiny secrets of success, using test cases such as Southwest Airlines, Intel, and Progressive Insurance.

This book is a must-read. It is not a brand new book, having been out for almost a year now. I gave it to every client over the holidays, and their feedback is similar.

A few nuggets are:

• 20 Mile March. Not growing too fast or too slow. Dialing in the perfect growth rate for your company and staying committed to the decision.
• Firing Bullets, Then Cannonballs. How to test new innovations before putting all of your resources into launching them untested.
• SMaC Recipe. Capturing your company’s unique recipe in one short document that everyone lives by with absolute consistency.

These are just some of the teachings. They seamlessly fit with the EOS process, and they’ve already had an impact on our organization. I am confident they will on yours as well.

You can order copies here .