Inspired by the fact that Tony Hsieh referenced the book Good to Great, by Jim Collins, so many times in his own book Delivering Happiness (see my review here), I decided to queue it up in my reading list.  

The book, the result of a 5+ year study of thousands of companies, outlines how and why a select few companies have taken the leap from good, to great.  The depth of the study is astounding, proving and re-proving the strength and importance of the six concepts that Collins insists make a company great:

1. Level 5 leadership
2. First who...then what
3. Confront the brutal facts
4. The Hedgehog concept
5. Culture of discipline
6. Technology accelerators

Though I read the book straight through, it offers the option for skimming chapters by providing bold call-out boxes for important points, and a bulleted summary at the end of each chapter.  One of the most interesting chapters was the one outlining "Technology Accelerators". The book, written in 2001, makes no mention of social media, blogging, etc., because, of course, it simply didn't exist.  It would be interesting to see what kind of changes or additional information would be added to the chapter today.  How have the great companies incorporated social media into their strategy and culture? Has social media helped or hindered the enduring greatness of the companies?

I encourage you to pick it up and skim, or even dive in head first, into the plethora of information and insight the book offers.  Even if you are not a C-suite exec, I think the principles and concepts can be applied to anyone's personal goals and objectives in life.