{"id":3274,"date":"2011-10-26T10:00:16","date_gmt":"2011-10-26T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.achievemax.com\/bookreviews\/?p=3274"},"modified":"2012-10-22T16:44:58","modified_gmt":"2012-10-22T20:44:58","slug":"great-by-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.achievemax.com\/bookreviews\/great-by-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Great by Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck\u2014Why Some Thrive Despite Them All<\/a>\"\"
\nby Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen<\/p>\n

He’s b-a-c-k-k-k-k-k! In 1994, he gave us Built to Last<\/a> (Successful Habits of Visionary Companies), followed by the worldwide bestseller Good to Great<\/a> (Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t). In 2009, it was How the Mighty Fall<\/a> (Any Why Some Companies Never Give In).<\/p>\n

With a track record like that, who better to take us to the next level? Now, teaming with co-author Morten T. Hansen and a team of more than 20 researchers, Jim Collins<\/a> returns with nine years of research, rigorous analysis, and engaging stories focused on the principles for building a truly great business in today’s unpredictable, chaotic, and ever-changing times.<\/p>\n

This talented team spent years trying to determine why some companies thrive during unstable times while other companies do not. In previous books, Collins and his associates highlighted some companies that later on lost their way. This, of course, has, can, and will continue to happen for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n

The point is that we, as readers, can learn a great deal from what these companies did during their periods of success, regardless of what may happen to them in the future.<\/p>\n

In Great by Choice<\/em>, Collins and Hansen select just seven companies (out of an initial list of more than 20,000) as examples of those that have thrived during chaotic times. The companies are Amgen, Biomet, Intel, Microsoft, Progressive Insurance, Southwest Airlines and Stryker. These companies are called “10X” companies, given that their stock prices outdistanced the comparison companies by roughly an order of magnitude during the study period.<\/p>\n

You might be surprised by some of the provocative study results, such as:<\/p>\n