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Good is the enemy of great.. The vast majority of good companies remain just that - good, but not great.
James C. Collins
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Striving for greatness requires moving beyond being just good.

This quote by James C. Collins emphasizes that settling for 'good' can hinder the pursuit of 'greatness.' Many organizations and individuals often become complacent with being good, thereby preventing them from achieving their full potential and reaching higher levels of success.

Themes

SuccessGreatnessComplacencyPotentialAchievement

In practice

Example use cases

Motivating a team during a company meeting by encouraging them to strive for greatness.

More from James C. Collins

Those who turn good organizations into great organizations are motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake.
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The kind of commitment I find among the best performers across virtually every field is a single-minded passion for what they do, an unwavering desire for excellence in the way they think and the way they work. Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step.
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If we allow the celebrity rock-star model of leadership to triumph, we will see the decline of corporations and institutions of all types. The twentieth century was a century of greatness, but we face the very real prospect that the next century will see very few enduring great institutions.
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...the question, Why try for greatness? would seem almost tautological. If you're doing something you care that much about, and you believe in its purpose deeply enough, then it is impossible to imagine not trying to make it great. It's just a given.
James C. CollinsRead
Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats...
James C. CollinsRead
It may seem odd to talk about something as soft and fuzzy as "passion" as an integral part of a strategic framework. But throughout the good-to-great companies, passion became a key part of the Hedgehog Concept.
James C. CollinsRead

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