Usa today ran a nice article today on good to great, written by jim collins, and its exploding popularity heres some highlights from the book. Okay, so i want you to imagine a fox who hunts through the woods trying to get some food. A hedgehog concept is a simple concept in response to the complex facts of reality. Second, the goodtogreat companies translated that understanding into a simple, crystalline concept that guided all their effortshence the term hedgehog concept. Goodtogreat companies set their goals and strategies based. An overview of jim collins book good to great, with a particular focus on finding your hedgehog concept how to get there. Technology is used by good to great companies as an accelerator, not a creator of growth. Collins sorted out the 11 most successful companies of all time based on their performance compared to the market minimal 3 times better, up to even 18x time better for a minimal of 15 years in a row to sort out personal leadership influences of. Jim collins book, frances hesselbein points out that most nonbusiness leaders simply do not have the concentrated decision power of a business ceo. A companion guidebook to the numberone bestselling good to great, focused on implementation of the flywheel concept, one of jim collins most memorable ideas that has been used across industries and the social sectors, and with startups. The culture of discipline allows people to gain more responsibilities and freedom. The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing in the story, the fox tries all the possible tricks he knows in order to try catch the hedgehog.
It is a fair assumption that as the seminal importance of this audiobook begins to. How good to great companies think differently about technology. The hedgehog concept by the american business consultant jim collins shows how a company or person can be successful in business. Its interesting to note the difference that jim collins identifies in good to great. A simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of three circles. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Core concepts from jim collins good to great faithmaps blog. In 2001, jim collins published his influential book, good to great. This book was written after 5 years or research conducted on companies that have moved from being good to becoming good some of the great companies we know today. This monograph grows out of two decades of jims observations of how leaders have employed the flywheel concept to build and accelerate momentum. Hedgehog concept in the business sectors good to great.
The key to business success is not a single innovation or one plan. However after reading the monograph and receiving so many recommendations to read his best seller that inspired it, i finally decided to pick it up. Know when a charismatic personality becomes a liability for a leader with regard to vision and confronting the brutal facts bottom of page 72 and top of page 73. This single function will become the organizations hedgehog concept.
From jim collins book good to great, the hedgehog concept helps your organization focus on three main areas. The hedgehog concept comes for the old greek parable about a hedgehog and a fox which states the following. However, jim points out that the good to great companies dont pursue new technologies unless they fit in with their hedgehog concept. Disciplined action level 5 leadership the type of leaders required for going from good to great are level 5 leaders. Finding your three circles, to transcend the curse of competence. The fourth step of going from good to great is the hedgehog concept. It sees the world in all its complexity and can pursue many goals at once. The fox has a pretty large rate of success with most of the animals, but with the hedgehog, it struggles. After finding the right people and defining the 3 circles of the hedgehog concept, the good to great companies need to take disciplined action and carefully follow the hedgehog concept in order to sustain great results. This single response is simple and works as a response to any attack. The hedgehog concept is from the book good to great by jim collins. No matter how dramatic the end result, good to great transformations never happen in one fell swoop. Jim collins hedgehog concept good to great alan philips.
The theme of success is shown through 11 companies who start out less or equal to sharemarket value, then sky rocket to a substantial increase becoming a great company, which in terms of collins, at least three times. The hedgehog concept simplicity within the three circles. Why some companies make the leap and others dont was published by harperbusiness in 2001 to international acclaim, both publisher and author jim collins were intrigued to discover that a significant number of the book s purchasers and readers came from the nonprofit sector and while somewhat surprising initially, according to collins, this phenomenon was both. A fun video showing the concept from the book good to great and how important it is to focus in on one thing that you do that you can be the best. Level 5 leadership first who, then what hedgehog concept bhag the flywheel 20 mile march all concepts social sectors researchreflections. Good to great businesses find a simple hedgehog concept and pursue it relentlessly. It is the act of turning the flywheel, slowly gaining momentum and. When confronted by predators, the hedgehogs instinct is to curl up into a protective ball. Collins also emphasizes that hedgehog concepts can only be created through sustained debate, with most good to great companies taking at least four years to clarify theirs. No matter what sneaky or sly plan the fox has, the hedgehog will roll into a spikey, unbreachable ball. Chapter 4 confront the brutal facts yet never lose faith chapter 5 the hedgehog concept simplicity within the three circles. Drawing upon cases from massive growth corporations like amazon to small companies, nonprofits, hospitals, and even k12 schools, this work breaks new intellectual ground. Good is the enemy of great the process going from good to great is a process of build up followed by breakthrough. He also brings up the idea of what he calls the council, which is a group of people devoted to working through the three circles in order to find the hedgehog concept.
The flywheel effect is a concept developed in the book good to great. The concept is drawn from a greek poem in which a cunning fox tries and continually fails to eat a hedgehog who was always able to roll into a ball at the key moment. In his book, good to great, jim collins describes 6 concepts that a leadership team should apply to transform a good organization into a great one. Jim collins concepts the flywheel effect good to great. First, the goodtogreat companies founded their strategies on deep understanding along three key dimensionswhat we came to call the three circles. Technology is a great ally for success, it is a great friend to.
To find your hedgehog concept, you must answer 3 questions. That is, if the new technology is unrelated or will provide no new opportunities then they will not spend time on it. Good to great is divided into 9 chapters, which represent the key elements of the book. The good to great approach does the opposite it gets the right people on the bus a superior executive team and then decides where the best path is for greatness. The book was a bestseller, selling four million copies and going far beyond the traditional audience of business books. The hedgehog principle was introduced by jim collins in his book good to great, in which he argues that truly great companies are oriented around a hedgehog concept.
Hedgehog concept great companies figured out 1 what they could be the best in the world at, 2 what they. Jims latest monograph, in which he shares new and practical insights into one of his most impactful ideas. The hedgehog concept from good to great part 1 youtube. The hedgehog concept is developed in the book good to great. Explain the difference between the good to great concept of defining and measuring great between the business sector and the social sectors. Collins that can help anyone in the business world to turn their company or organization from a good one to a great one. Egelprincipe hedgehog concept van jim collins toolshero. To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. To transition from good to great, companies should focus on doing one thing better than anyone else in the world. Jim collins says companies that go from goodtogreat always figure out their very own hedgehog concept a strategy they can keep pushing for ages, which will eventually take them to number 1. The hedgehog concept essentially is the strategic difference between good and. Why those who do radical restructuring fail to make the leap. To explain this concept lets look at the difference between a fox and a hedgehog.
The hedgehog concept is a corporate leadership strategy outlined in jim collins 2001 book, good to great. Level 5 leadership level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. A simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of three. The hedgehog concept a simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of three circles. In building a great company or social sector enterprise, there is no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle. Technology accelerators november 10, 2012 the team supporting jim collins research for his book good to great debated whether or not a chapter needed to be dedicated to the use of technology by great companies whether technology is a principle that took companies from good to great. Good to great by jim collins is a compelling and informative book about how to be successful, and how to stay successful. Collins that describes how companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition. In his research, jim collins the author, has found out systematic phases. Its the simple idea that is at the intersection of three circles.
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