7 Non-Fiction Books Like Good to Great

Collins’s insights have helped countless businesses achieve greater performance. But what about businesses that don’t make the leap? There is no one right way to become successful, but there are many great books that can help you on your journey. These books discuss different concepts and methods that can help you achieve success. They aren’t perfect, but they will direct you in the right direction.

Good to Great Summary

Good to Great book was written by James C. Collins and published in 2001. The book is all about how businesses can go from being good to great. In Good to Great, Collins argues that there are certain principles that can help organizations transition from good to great. He identifies five key factors:

1. Driving performance through clarity of purpose and strategy;
2. Building a culture of accountability and responsibility;
3. Creating a relentless focus on customers;
4. Developing people into Leaders;
5. Creating shareholder value.

Collins’ book has been highly influential in business circles and his principles are widely accepted.

Books Like Good to Great

These are the most effective books that provide incredible insights on businesses and organizations.

1. Start with Why, by Simon Sinek

In his seminal work “Start with Why,” Simon Sinek proposes that starting with the question “why” can help us uncover and build a meaningful life. He argues that by understanding our purpose in a day, we can create some compelling reasons to do what we do every day. In practice, this means beginning with the why behind your current actions and working backwards to figure out how they can help you achieve your overarching goal.

2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was first published in 1989 and has sold over 20 million copies. The book is based on the premise that there are certain habits that most successful people share. The book is divided into 3 sections:

1. Personal habits.
2. Interpersonal habits.
3. Organizational habits.

Each section covers a different area of life and provide ideas on how to become more effective in that area. One of the must read books like Good to Great in this list without a doubt.

The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton M. Christensen

In his book The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen outlines the problem that many new businesses face:

Startups can’t survive when their competitors are able to copy their innovations.

Drawing on examples from the computer industry, Christensen argues that there are two main reasons for this. The first is that it is difficult for a company to change its innovation quickly enough to keep up with its competitor.

3. The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferris

In his new book, “The 4-Hour Workweek,” Timothy Ferriss argues that if you want to achieve the American dream of a life of leisure, you don’t have to work more than four hours a week.

Ferriss, who has sold over two million copies of his books and blog posts on the subject, asserts that by eliminating the monotony of daytime work and automating many tasks, you can reduce your working time to just four hours a week. Undoubtedly, this is one of the must-read books like Good to Great in this list.

4. Zero to One, by Peter Thiel

Zero to One is an ambitious book by PayPal co-founder and Facebook board member Peter Thiel.

In his new book Zero to One, Thiel argues that there is a fundamental difference between successful companies and unsuccessful ones. The unsuccessful companies are the ones that keep making the same mistakes over and over again. The successful companies, on the other hand, are the ones that find a way to create something new.

5. The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg

Habits are powerful things. They can help you lose weight, stick to a budget, or even stay safe on the road. But sometimes habits can be hard to break. That’s where habits of change come in. Habits of change are small tweaks to your behavior that will result in big changes overtime. And that’s why they’re so powerful. By changing just a few small habits, you can start to make big changes in your life.

6. The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries

In his book, “The Lean Startup,” Eric Ries introduces a new way of thinking about startups. The Lean Startup is based on the idea that startups should never be afraid to experiment and that they should not focus on creating a perfect product from the beginning. They should instead focus on creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and then iterating until they have an effective product. This approach has led to many successful startups, such as Airbnb and Uber.

Final Words

In conclusion, you can learn a great deal from the seven books like Good to Great. These books all share a common theme of creating a culture of excellence and aspiring to be the best they can be. 

While there is no single recipe for success, these books provide valuable insights into how to create an environment that allows people to reach their full potential. We can all apply these lessons to our own organizations and strive for greatness.