Harper Business

Great by choice; uncertainty, chaos, and luck — why some thrive despite them all.

Collins, a business author and researcher who teaches executives from the corporate and social sectors, and Hansen (management, U. of California, Berkeley, and INSEAD) analyze companies that have achieved greatness in tough environments, such as Amgen, Intel, Microsoft, Progressive Insurance, and Southwest Airlines, to understand what it takes to achieve greatness in the extreme business world of today and compare them to those that failed in similar environments, such as Genentech, AMD, Apple, and PSA. They consider the differences in these companies from their founding up to 2002, concluding that the best leaders were more disciplined, empirical, and paranoid (rather than more risk taking, visionary, and creative); that the ability to scale innovation is more important than innovation by itself; that fast decisions and actions do not work; that great enterprises do not have more good luck; and that they change less, not more, in reaction to a rapidly changing world. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)