I Started A Book Club
As I have stated before – I’m an avid reader. Every 3 months I receive an employee evaluation, and during each of my evaluations I reference the business books that I have been reading as I continue to develop myself professionally. During one of my latest evaluations it was suggested by my manager that I start a book club within my department to not only further develop my management/leadership skills, but to give all interested parties the ability to add to their professional development plans as well. It took me all of 5 seconds to think about it. The book club was born!
Picking the First Book – Good to Great
Choosing the first book was even easier than deciding to start the club. I had just finished reading a fairly short and easy to read book that I dog-eared throughout. Each of those pages were marked because I could directly relate the words on these pages to something that I had experienced at work. The book that I chose? Good to Great by Jim Collins.
The Great Parts
At less than 300 pages, the book was the perfect size for the club to read over the course of our 4 sessions and each session covered enough content that we continuously had engaging discussions that completely filled our hour and a half time slots. It was clear from the amount of information in the book’s appendix that Jim Collin’s and his team did an enormous amount of research when writing this book. In doing so they identified several key characteristics that help to propel a good company into greatness. These characteristics are clearly explained throughout the book and were referenced frequently to help backup people’s opinions during our discussions.
The book uses several phrases and concepts that just stay with you. The most notable one is “on the bus”, a phrase that is supposed to serve as a comparison of a bus and the members of your organization. Before you can begin to move your bus/organization in the right direction it is necessary to ensure that “the right people are in the right seat”. After reading this book it’s all too common to hear people reference “the bus” in our all-staff meetings. Some other concepts that provoked conversations were “Level 5 Leaders” and “The Hedgehog Concept”.
The Not So Great Parts
While the book received favorable reviews from all book club participants, there are still some notable shortcomings that are worth mentioning. The most glaring issue with the book is that many of the companies profiled as great companies are now experiencing difficult times or have gone out of business completely. The concepts of the book are what really matters, but it’s like an annoying thorn in your side every time you read something about Circuit City and Fannie Mae. It’s evident that Collins and his team knew this would limit the lifespan of this book’s validity and have released another book, How The Mighty Fall, that addresses the downfall of theses companies.
The other issue that I have with this book is it’s one size fits all attitude toward success. Every business is different and sometimes achieving success is complex and needs to be respected as such otherwise you’re just going to be setting yourself up for disappointment.
I Recommend This Book
I’ve read enough business books to know that I’m not going to find one that answers all of my questions and propels me into the awaiting arms of a VC or help me become a VP by 5 o’clock Friday. That being said, I’ve read enough to know that Good to Great is a worthwhile read and would comfortably recommend it to you. Just as I did to 14 of my closest professional peers. Buy it, read it, and pass it along, but most importantly – Come back and let me know what you think!
What’s Next For The Book Club?
Thankfully, the book club was a big hit and we’ve already started reading our next book. After polling the group we’ve finally decided on Why Business People Speak Like Idiots. Stay tuned. The review will be coming within the next week or so.
