Introduction
In the first chapter of this book they teach us about what is they book be about and
explain all the investigations the team made to actually made a conclusion and be
able to write the book. The second chapter talks us about the difference between
the level five leaders and the comparison CEOs, it is very interesting to see how the
mentality of the leader is what affects the most in the success of the company. Level
five leaders take the responsibility when something goes wrong and if they have
success they always say it is because of the team they have. Comparison CEOs, in
the other hand, they always but the blame in something else when something bad
happens and they always say it is thanks to them when something good happens.
The third chapter talks about how the level five leaders focus on at the moment to
hire someone to work on their company. They always look for the right person and
put them in the right spot so the company can go on for a long time without the need
of the leader to be there all the time. A mistake that the comparisons leaders make
is to hire people that only is capable to do their job but, if the leader leaves, then the
company will go down. On chapter four we see that it is important to hear the facts
of the reality of the company, that way you can concentrate on the important
information that cannot be ignored. Also we learn about the Stockdale Paradox
which means that you need to retain absolute faith that you can and will prevail in
the end, and at the same time confront the most brutal facts of you current reality,
whatever they might be. Then we have chapter five. In this chapter we learn about
how the companies, the workers or leaders have to have the mentality in which they
can recognize when they are good at something and when they are not. This is
known as the Hedgehog Concept. This concept will help the companies improve in
the places where they are good at. On chapter six we see that it is important to have
a culture of discipline inside your company. You need to have people you are willing
to follow the rules and are already disciplined. Chapter seven, it is not necessary to
use all kinds of technology, only the ones that fit in you hedgehog concept, if no,
then ignore them. Chapter eight, their breakthrough didn’t come by look but by hard
work. And chapter nine, from good to great to built to last.
Best chapter
It was really hard to choose which of the chapters my favorite one was since I was
between two chapters: chapter three and chapter five. Every single chapter had
something that I like a lot, but this two had me very immerse in the explanation the
writer was making of that segment of the process to make your company to go from
good to great. At the end I choose chapter five because I thought that its topic was
more interesting than chapter three. It starts with a small explanation of the
Hedgehog Concept which says that there are two types of leaders, the hedgehogs
and the foxes. The foxes sees the world in all its complexity and never concentrate
into only one overall concept or vision, they usually pursue different ends at the same
time. The hedgehogs concentrate into one single concept or principle which unifies
and guides everything. Then we have the three circles of the hedgehog concept, the
first one is the representation of you doing something which you been born with the
talent with as if you were born to do that thing. The second circle is the representation
of you getting paid for doing what you love and what you are good at. The third and
the final one is the representation of you doing what you love and you actually look
forward doing so every time you wake up in the morning. This chapter helps us
understand that one of the key points you have to learn to be able to go from good
to great is that you have to be able to identify where are the things where you are
good at and concentrating in them to actually get better and better at them, and is
the way your company will get way better results. Concentrating in getting better at
the things you are not good at is a waste of time because you did not have the ability
to do so and maybe the competition is great at doing that task better. Then they
showed us that it is better to have one denominator than three or four because that
way you can concentrate on what is better for your company. It is very helpful to
know that if you apply the ideas of the hedgehog concept you will continue to be
successful but, if you stop doing them, then you will go back from great to good or
even worse. The only way to keep your company in a great place is to keep doing
the fundamental principles that made you go from good to great. Every decision you
make has to be so the company keeps being successful.
As a business manager what concepts did you get from the book that you
could apply in your future Jobs?
When we talk about hiring the good workers and firing the bad workers, I found
interesting a concept mentioned in chapter three, it is better to get rid of the workers
that you don’t see a role for in your company right away than wasting the time that
they could be using to move on with their lives and find a work that suits them better.
Mention an example (or a few examples) of a good (bad) management decision
(s) that helped (hurt) the organization (s) in its performance.
The first thing that I think it was a good decision is that the leader in the company
chooses first the right people to get in the company, put them in the right place, and
getting the wrong people off the company. This way the company only has people
who doesn’t need to be fired up to give all their efforts to get the company to a better
place. One of the bad things that I saw was that the 4 level leaders choose first the
destination of their company and this is a bad move because when the genius leader
leaves the company, their workers doesn’t know what to do making the company fall
again.
Mention some of the characteristics that made this (these) organization (s)
successful or made it (them) struggle.
They focused on maintaining the right people and getting the wrong people of the
company. One struggle some companies had was that their leader was so
charismatic that their workers were afraid of telling them the true facts of the
company so they can focus on what it is important and not about what the leader is
going to do or what is going to think about certain things. Sometimes having
charisma is a liability as well as an asset.
How does this book compare to others you have read about similar subjects?
I honestly have not read another book with the same or a similar topic. This is the
first time I read something like this. But it is actually a pretty good book and has some
humor in it too.
Provide your overall opinion about the book.
This is a really good book. It is very well written and it has a lot of information.
Honestly, at first, I thought it was going to be hard to read because this is not the
type of book I would normally buy to read. Even the topic of the book was not of my
interest. Then I started reading it and, every time I read another chapter, I found
myself even more immerse in the book in each page. It was very interesting to learn
more about how the best companies were able to achieve what they achieve and to
be what they are now. This book made me feel as if I was talking with the writer. It
had a feeling as if the writer and I were in a conversation in which I was listening to
them explain all about what does it take to make a good company to a great
company. All the investigation that was made just to be able to write this book,
personally, I think it was really worth it. Every single topic in this book was well
explain than even a beginner in the world of finances and companies like myself
(and I believe the rest of my classmates as well) will understand perfectly what the
book is trying to teach to the people who reads the book. Another thing that I liked a
lot of this book is that it even was some parts that actually made me laugh. The writer
really made it so the reader wouldn’t get bored. It doesn’t feel heavy in the way that
you don’t feel like it is an eternal book with infinite pages and you will never going to
finish reading.
Did the book achieve its goal?
Absolutely, everything that the writer said was very well explain. You really learn a
lot by reading this book. It is very interesting to learn all the process this companies
have to go through to be as big as they are today. It not only showed us what are
the good mentalities, movements, and actions the leader has to do to make their
company from good to great, it also showed us that not all the leaders can reach that
level. It is something that comes naturally to you.
What recommendation (s) you would do to improve this book?
I actually think that the book is already well made. In my opinion, there is nothing I
would change about it, just one thing. There are some graphics throughout the book,
yes they have information about them just after the picture but, in my opinion and as
a beginner in this topic, it would have been nice if the writer would have explained
more those graphics. Everything else in the book, I think the writer and his team did
a very good job with their investigation and then describing every single part of their
investigation in the book in a way every person who reads it will understand
everything they wanted to tell the world. I never thought I would like a book like this
one.
What was the best information/concepts you got from this book?
One of the concepts or information that I liked the most was the mentality of hiring
the perfect people for each site of the organization first and then analyze where you
want your company to go. Another one is that, in a company, is way better to have
a meeting with all the managers and start to ask questions about the facts of the
company, this way you can focus more on the things you actually have to change in
the company so it can improve.
What did the book miss (in your opinion) or what you did not like about this
book? (Explain why)
There is not a lot of things that I disliked of this book, as I said before, I think this
book was very well made. The only thing that I didn’t like about this book was each
chapter had certain numbers at the end of some phrases which meant that you can
find more information about that chapter or about the specific topic that sentence
was talking about at the end of the book. The thing is that I had to keep looking for
pages at the end of the book, back and forth, back and forth and, honestly, it was a
bit annoying. Sometimes this made me lost the page I was in or totally forget the
number of the page and wasted some of my time trying to find that page again.
Did this book change the way you thought about this (these) organization(s)?
Yes, totally. This book helped me understand more about what we need if we want
to start our own business. It is very fascinating to learn everything all those big
worldwide companies have been trough to get to where they are today. After reading
this book, I just saw all those companies as just that, a company. Just a building
where you can get products or services and makes your life easier. But I was wrong,
they are way more than that. Now I see them life a human being which one have to
raise them, educate them, and prepare them to when they have to keep growing
without your help.
What did this book leave you as a student of LNI?
Personally, I think this book helped me a lot to learn more about business. In my
career, almost every single subject teaches us how to be an entrepreneur. Every
PIA is about investigating companies, how do they work, why are they so big, etc. or
they make us do our own company, store, restaurant, etc. The point of this is that
this book really helped me see that opening a new company is not easy and you
have to analyze very well who do you want to work with, who is better at what, where
do you want to company to go, what are you good at and what are not. It is a whole
experience that I would like to be part of someday. This book change my point of
view of business in a good way. I am glad I had the opportunity of reading this book.
Highly recommend it to everyone who wants to open a business.