GOOD TO GREAT/COLLINS 1-5

1. Good is the enemy of great.

Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become, great precisely because the vast majority become quite good--and that is their main problem.

5. Our five-year quest yielded many insights, a number of them surprising and quite contrary to conventional wisdom, but one giant conclusion stands above the others: We believe that almost any organization can substantially improve its stature and performance, perhaps even become great, it it conscientiously applies the framework of ideas we've uncovered.