Reading through “Good to Great” by Jim Collins was like pulling teeth. It is too solid and objective that I could not read more than ten pages at a time. However, the prize is well worth the agony. The amount of learning packed within this book is probably enough to create ten others, each equivalent to some of the greatest books on business out there. The idea behind the book came from an earlier book that Collins wrote; another best seller titled “Built to Last.” The funny thing is that the new book, “Good to Great,” is the prequel not sequel to the earlier book. Collins feels that the application of the knowledge from the new book, which talks about how to make the leap from just a good company to a great company, should precede that of his earlier one, which talks about how to keep the momentum and sustain growth for years to come.

The nice thing about the research is that it avoided any bias based on currently accepted knowledge of what makes companies great. This proved important as many of the currently held beliefs were proven wrong based on this research. One of them is growth for the sake of growth. The other is about the importance of building employees’ motivation.

Starting with a list of 1,435 established companies, Collins and his team set out to research extraordinary ones that made a leap from good to great results. To define “great,” the team set a benchmark that “screened in” only companies that generated cumulative stock returns that exceeded the general stock market by at least three times over 15 years, independent from the industry. As a result, the team short listed 11 good-to-great companies that averaged almost seven times higher than the market.

The surprising good-to-great list was not what one would expect; it did not include companies that usually steal the media spotlight and achieve celebrity status. The list included known but not stunning companies like Kimberly-Clark, Nucor, Fannie Mae, Abbott Laboratories, and a grocery chain; Kroger.

Next, the team of researchers led by Collins went on to interview the great companies’ personnel and management as well as researching everything that was written about the companies in the media, trying to identify that transition point from good to greatness and to answer the question: What characteristics did the Good To Great companies have that others did not? The book contained the results of there five year long research along with answers to the question.

 There were many things in common among the good to great companies. Most of these things are so subtle that they can easily be missed albeit careful examination. At the heart of these great establishments was a simple but deeply engraved framework that kept the company and its leaders focused on what matters on the long term, and not get derailed by “quick fixes.”

I liked the reality of the stories being told and the depth and strength of the companies researched. They are not fad-type companies, but solid companies with deep roots. I also liked the down to earth but real advice in the book. There is no dazzle in the way Collins lays out his research results. He puts it in a very simple and down to earth fashion that makes it easy for anyone to understand, without being a business guru. There is no preaching either, but a statement of facts. More than anything else, or any management fad or fancy words, it is about simplicity, clarity, and reality.

My favorite chapter of the book is where Jim talks about the “level five leader.” Originally Jim was not a proponent of the leadership theories about great men leading great companies. His own research won him over when he found that an essential ingredient to greatness was a level five leader. He describes this leader as "a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will." Contrary to what people expect, the great leaders were not miracle makers that became celebrities and wrote great books and biographies. Instead, they were mostly unsung heroes that put their companies above their personal aspirations. They were not complex personalities with special genius genes, but were committed to doing what they believed was right for the company day in and day out.

The book is about three hundred pages, divided into nine chapters and a very important epilogue section. Given the research nature of the book, it does not make a good choice for light reading or skimming, but a great source of valuable information on achieving organizational greatness.

It would be nice if a similar research was done on companies here in the Middle East. Of course the criteria for choosing great companies would have to be different as the stock markets here are relatively young, and hardly any company would make it through the “great” criteria that Collins put. Now given that we do have some great companies, it is important to put customized criteria and based on them perform the research to find out how different or similar Middle East companies are.

When he released his book in 2001 Collins hoped to get readership from non business people and it seems he got his wish. As his book remained a best seller for more than four years now, half of his speaking invitations came from non business sectors. But many had trouble applying the wisdom to their not for profit entities, as they do not measure success by stock price. For them, Collins only last month self-published a 35-page booklet called "Good to Great and the Social Sectors." It is available for under $10 online at sites like Amazon.

Because of the amount of time Collins spends researching his subjects before writing, he is putting out books at a rate of one every five years or so. This month, he told Newsweek that he is a year or two away from finishing his next research project. it reportedly looks at how companies perform in turbulent industries. In anticipation of his new book, people are still buying “Good to Great,” which sold over two million copies and still looks strong in top ten best seller lists. .