Great by Choice

The world is an uncertain place, constantly changing and often chaotic. While many companies cannot survive in this chaos, some companies can survive in these shifting conditions and even thrive in them.

Great by Choice analyses why these companies succeed while most others fail.

Great By Choice results from exhaustive, in-depth research into the business environment. It argues that success is not the result of a company being more innovative, bold, or open to taking risks, nor is it a result of mere luck or chance. Success in fact comes from a mixture of discipline, evidence-based innovation, and a fear of failure that borders on paranoia. It is this recipe, rather than luck, which enables specific companies to become great.

About the authors of this book

Jim Collins is a business consultant and author of many bestsellers including Good to Great and Built to Last. His books have sold over ten million copies worldwide. He now operates a management laboratory where he conducts research and teaches.

Morten T. Hansen is a management professor at the University of California. He is the author of Collaboration: How Leaders Avoid the Traps, Build Common Ground, and Reap Big Results. He consults and gives talks for companies across the globe.

This course includes:

• In unpredictable business environments, companies that are well prepared prevail.

• Companies that thrive in uncertainty rely on discipline, evidence-based innovation and preparedness based on paranoia.

• 10X companies set themselves targets which they hit precisely year after year – no matter what the conditions

• 10Xers are bold and innovative, but only when the evidence supports such a tactic.

• Innovation isn’t everything; it must be combined with discipline in business practice.

• 10Xers are "productively paranoid" – they fear the worst and obsessively prepare for it.

• 10X companies create durable and specific operating procedures which breed consistency and success.

• Neither luck nor circumstance make 10X companies great – hard work and ambition do.