Jim Collins is the author of "Good to Great," an influential business and leadership book. In the time since the publication of the book, Collins realized that there exist points of disconnect within the book for leaders of not-for-profit agencies (e.g. churches, local charitable organizations, groups that exist for specific causes like disease eradication or the advancement of art). In an effort to apply the concepts of "Good to Great" to the unique needs of social service organizations, this monograph was produced.

This monograph can best be thought of as an appendix or additional chapter for "Good to Great." Indeed, the reader will be lost unless first reading the work upon which this monograph is based. In it, five points/modifications/explanations are provided that address what Collins perceives to be the five biggest "trouble areas" when applying "Good to Great" to not-for-profit agencies.

First, not-for-profits struggle with the definition of "great." In the definition supplied by Collins in "Good to Great," "great" is partly defined in terms of profit margin. Since not-for-profit agencies, by definition, do not seek profits, a modification must be made. Collins suggests using anecdotal evidence and rubrics instead of budgetary numbers to determine if the organization's goals are being met.

Second, power and authority in social sector organizations are not centralized, but contain nearly limitless checks ("a thousand points of no"). Collins advocates a leadership style that emphasizes the good of the organizations. If the organizational leader can effectively communicate (legitimately, not falsely) that his main concern is the health of the organization and realization of the cause, he buys himself a lot of leeway in decision making.

Third, volunteer-based organizations feel great pressure to simply put warm bodies in positions of authority instead of selectively choosing only the best candidates. Collins argues that the pressures of a volunteer-based culture should only make the leader more determined to practice selectivity. Setting high standards, focusing on creating "pockets of excellence" within organizations, and emphasizing the moral importance of the organization can help to attract high-quality employees and volunteers.

Fourth, the concept of profit margin creeps in again. It is important to recognize that organizations--business as well as social-sector--need money to operate. Even though not-for-profit agencies are not about the money, their "hedgehog concept" should certainly include consideration of their economic engine. That is, their social cause should take into consideration the question, "will people actually buy into our cause and support it with donations of volunteer hours, monetary donations, and in-kind support?"

Finally, the organization must not neglect promoting itself as a "brand." Although the natural inclination of social sector institutions is to keep the focus on the cause, they must also make sure people understand that the organization is meeting the cause effectively...indeed, they are "the best" at what they do. A reputation for excellence tends to attract loyalty and donations. Consider Harvard University, which attracts millions of dollars it doesn't necessarily need because people believe that a Harvard education is "the best" in the world.

In all, as a pastor in a not-for-profit church, this book addressed all the concerns I had in applying Collins' "Good to Great" concepts in my situation. Truth be told, it even addressed problems I had not yet identified. I highly recommend this brief monograph to compliment "Good to Great."

This book by Jim Collins results of a study of several companies which made a sustained quantitative and qualitative jump over a period of at least 15 years. The framework it describes covers six core common principles of these companies: Level 5 Leadership; First Who... Then What; Confront The Brutal Facts; The Hedgehog Concept; A Culture of Discipline; and Technology Accelerators. It's interesting to notice how some the referred companies have developed since the time the book was written, such as : Gillete (bought by Procter & Gamble); Fannie Mae (hit by the subprime) and Circuit City (underperforming). Nevertheless, while I don't believe that companies can be forever great, I do believe that the principles outline in this book are timeless. Highly recommended - together with Built to Last from the same author.

20% of the upper corner of the book was bent - may have been due to the packing type used

I usually gag at these sort of trendy management books (I still bear scars from the Who Moved My Cheese era), but this is smart, down to earth wisdom. Light on jargon, and long on concrete examples and advice, this short read is well worth it. If non profit leaders read this, understood it, and adopted this approach, we could change the world!

I am currently doing my Masters in Organizational Leadership. It is extremely difficult to find literature that explains a non-profit organizational structure. Bravo for Jim Collins in attempting to bridge the gap between theory and the non-profit organization!

The book is an excellent read that captures the uniqueness of social sector organizations. It is a must read and must own for anyone researching organizational design in that it captures the unique view of organizations that do not exists to meet a bottom line.

Alexandra B. Kealey

These are essential underpinnings for effective transformation in non-profit organizational management and leadership. Collin's concepts elucidate meaningful conversations about organizational capacity building.

The high praise by many of the reviewers of this book makes me feel that Jim Collins had his whole staff send in reviews. He defines no terms including non-business entities, business thinking, and social sector; states there are valid ways to assess greatness without metrics but gives no examples or gives examples that ARE metrics; claims the use of business language is naive and then analyzes "non-businesses" (whatever they are, he never says) using the language of business (budgets, financial statements, annual reports, executive compensation, etc); talks about motivation as though he just discovered that money isn't all there is (think Maslow's hierarchy of needs); and talks about building momentum as though he never heard of successful companies whose success destroyed them because they FAILED to follow the rules of business (growing too fast, or expanding into activities too far removed from the core activity, for example). I have not read any of Mr. Collins' other works but this one is just befuddled. The only concrete statement he makes towards greatness is "hire the best people." Duh. Other than that, I did not find anything that made sense in this work. It is filled with the illusion of ideas, that when looked at closely evaporate.

Collins does a great job of contrasting and offering adaptations of the Good to Great for non-profit and government. Conpanion to good to great, must read the original first to make sense of this one. Recommended.

I agree that there is a need for greatness, but stating that business thinking is not the answer??? Yes in the non-profit and government sectors there is no profit. But to go from Good To Great you still need to follow business practices. This book is is really talking about the organization behavior. With the US having an economy that is based in a monetary system you can't ignore the fact that in any organization there will be a need to take business process and money into consideration. I would have given this a high review if the author stated that there is another side to the story.

The item was received in excellent condition. The contents are certainly not Great, and rating it Good is generous. If it isn't mandatory reading, don't buy it.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants a clear definition and a roadmap that takes a public/non-profit from good to great. This book clearly defines differences between the public/non-profit agency versus private/for profitas in terms of their goals and achievements that makes them great. From a marketing perspective this book prepares the public/non-profit marketing department understand how to market their products to insure they achieve their goals, which is unlike the marketing in the private sector.

In my own research on high performance I have found that there is indeed such a thing as a Superperforming nonprofit. The pattern is the same here as well - robust process wed to robust culture. The volunteer and fundraising nature of nonprofits seems to render culture and process a special case, but it does not seem so different to me then the PXC phenomenon in a profit-seeking enterprise. In fact, I have run across incredibly enlightened and spiritual for-profits, and astonishingly evil (yes that's right, and you know who you are) and destructive nonprofits, some even faith-based! The simple truth is still the simple truth - - - look to the tip top of the organization and there you will learn what kind of organization you are dealing with. BTW, this is a great 'monograph' Jim Collins is most definitely a "level 5" thought leader.

also read Superperformance

A friend mentioned Good to Great in a sermon and I thought it might be a worthwhile read for me as the executive director of a non-profit association facing the challenge of how take the organization to the next level.

I found the book fascinating and will share it with my Board of Directors as a roadmap for how we will move our organization from good to great.

The monograph provides a great overview of the concepts developed in the book and is of a very manageable length.

I would strongly recommend it to leaders of non-profits as a basis for a conversation about their organization making the great leap forward.

This is a great companion for Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't for anyone that works in the social sector. As an assistant principal in a large, suburban high school, this book helped to bring into focus the principles reviewed in Good to Great.

The social sector does not need to be more business like; it needs to implement more great business principles tailored for the social entities economic engine - so says Collins in this 35 page, add-on for a future "Good to Great" update. In addition to tailoring some of the Great principles
* Define Great by calibrating success without business (monetary) metrics
* Lead thru a blend of personal humility and professional will to get things done within a diffuse power structure
* Get high quality people with a personal commitment to the cause on-board the bus
* Find the intersection of the social entity's Passion, Best at, and its Resource Engine
* Build brand recognition
to the specifics of the social entity, Collins suggests that the leadership principle of managing within a diffuse power structure is something for the business sector to learn; as business executives do not have the same concentration of pure executive power they once enjoyed.

All in, a useful bit of thinking for those in a not-for-profit enterprise, as well as for business leaders who like to look at organizational effectiveness from different perspectives. Dennis DeWilde, author of The Performance Connection

Jim Collins is always spot on. The insights he presents are presented with such clarity and ease of reading that I look forward to anything he does. I use it as a key part of the extensive Strategic Visioning work I do. While I enjoy all of his work, being in the social service sector, I can personally and professionally validate this offering with enthusiasm.

I thought the book was awesome. The concepts of how to become a Great Leader was quite helpful. These are concepts that I'll use to try and move my organization "From Good to Great.

The monograph is valuable only when the 5 key business concepts are well understood before trying to extrapolate them to the non-profit world. I gave just the mono to my staff and they wound up asking all kinds of questions that the Good to Great book addresses well, albeit with for profit examples.

I used the hardback Good to Great as a text for a class I taught. Then used the monograph for a staff retreat discussion (we are a university department). They both work well as a basis for discussion, analysis of your own organization, and personal challenge to explore organizational change. You don't have to totally agree with everything presented, but it makes for excellent reading and discussion. I used it for class in combination with "First Break All the Rules." Both are great discussion starters.

This book is a cultural phenom. So many companies have adopted it as a way of trying to grow and become and stay great.

I have read it and sat through numerous retreats and discussions. After a few times you can see who you are on the bus with even before they open their mouths.

A great book to keep in your library.

I was a fan of Jim Collins and have given away a number of copies of Good to Great to clients and friends where I thought his insights would be of value. His monograph on how the Good to Great framework can be applied in the social sector is even more unique. As a retired corporate executive who now provides help to a number of not-for-profit organizations, I have found his monograph to be superb way to encourage more discipline in a sector where it is truly needed.

This is the first book that I have been able to put my hands on that deals directly with helping non-profits and churches step up in their organizational approach to excellence. It helps guide directors and pastors from being "fire fighters" to reaching the goals and visions that they set out to do.

This is probably a bit over the top, but Jim Collins book Good to Great changed our entire business concept. We had been using Michael Gerbers E-Myth course to systemise our business model (in an industry that is notoriously 'ad hoc', ie housebuilding) and our E-Myth coach suggested we read Good to Great. All the Directors and staff immediately got the message. Since then we have remodelled ourselves to become 'The Ethical Homebuilders'. Jim Collins new book covers all the issues that we have encountered, particularly in regard to identifying what appear to be intangible metrics. As with Good to Great the new book is a really easy read but with lots of really great insights. I would say that all company directors should read this book because even if you don't think you are in the social sector, your customers probably think you should be!

A must read for those of us in the social sectors. A "should" read for those in business. This 10 year research project provides the kind of data needed to move forward. Read this as a final chapter to the Good to Great Book. Also check out the Jim Collins web site.

Everybody involved in the nonprofit world should read this book. I read it without having read Good to Great and still got a lot of practical, useful ideas out of it. It's a quick read, which is good because we are busy people!

Having read (and enthusiastically enjoyed) Jim Collins' "Good to Great" several months ago and working on a church staff, I was pleased to discover that he wrote this monograph to draw together the conclusions of that wonderful business book and the non-business world. I found this addition to be most helpful.

As with all of Collins' writing, this monograph is extremely accessible. He writes at a very intellectual level without getting overly technical. He presents the basic premise that not everything in "Good to Great" is broadly applicable outside the business world.

For instance, the difference between the executive authority that business leaders have is starkly contrasted with the legislative authority that leaders have in the social sector. Because I work almost exclusively with volunteers within the church, this distinction is important and obvious to me.

He also mentions that issues related to resources are more complicated than the relatively simplistic economic factors that exist in business. Instead, social organizations need to consider all of the available resources, which includes people and time in addition to money.

Despite these and other distinctions that Collins draws between the business world and the social sector, it is interesting to note that the overall principles of "Good to Great" remain valid. For instance, the concept of Level 5 leadership remains prescriptive for high-performing leaders outside of business.

His concluding thoughts are very insightful and instructive. In short, he suggests that the transition from good to great happens in business and outside of business. For my context, though the church may bring to bear particular difficulties and constraints, so does each and every institution. The principles of greatness are common across all organizations, even if they might look slightly different. In his words, "greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline." There is valuable wisdom in those words for those of us who work outside the business community. My one and only complaint about this resource is its price for a mere 30 pages. Nonetheless, just as I recommended the book, I would encourage anyone interested in being part of a great institution, regardless of the setting, to read this monograph.

If you work in a social sector BUY both of his books on good to great...get the foundation by buying the original and then read this to found out how to apply good to great to your non-profit...

A MUST READ!

This monograph outlines practical information and ideas for my non profit work. It's clear that Collins and his team have done a tremendous amount of research and assimilated their findings in very useful ways. I've shared it with other co-workers and have found it very worthwhile.

This book has helped me determine areas within my business that could be improved upon by utilizing specific situations that I examined within our areas social sectors.

This is another chapter of good thoughts from Jim Collins. He demonstrated a good understanding of the non-profit sector and offers valuable insights consistent with the rest of "Good to Great."

Too brief. Lacking in detail. Mr. Collins has written great books, but seems to lack the experience needed in the nonprofit world to write an authoritative book on the subject. That said - I'd still recommend nonprofit executives read it! - Jay Craig

This is a very good companion to the Good to Great book. However, you really need to read the first book to truly understand this one. As someone working in the public sector for a not-for-profit, this book made more sense than G2G alone. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone in the nonprofit sector. Stay focused. Remember your hedgehog.

I thought this was a wonderful book and shared copies with my senior staff as well as officers of the Faculty Senate at the College.

If you loved "Good to Great", you'll love this small monograph that refocuses your thinking to have to apply this to not for profits.

This chapter turned book, provides some nice insights into the intersection of Collins's business practices and the nonprofit sector. A helpful read for those interested in social enterprise.