It’s Finally Time to Retire ‘Good to Great’ From the Leadership Canon

Two decades after Jim Collins’ business bestseller was published, what lessons does it really hold?

“I’m a Level 5 leader.” It’s a phrase I hear frequently from CEOs and senior executives, each assuming familiarity with Jim Collins’ Good to Great. It’s a safe bet; with sales of over four million copies, Collins’ 2001 work is one of the most widely read business books of the last 20 years. Its simple recipe was part of its allure. If you aim high, stay humble, hire the right people, confront brutal facts, and stay disciplined and focused on the metrics that matter while using technology with care, then your business will eventually go from being good to being great.

One of the most successful business books ever written, its publication followed in the wake of the dot-com bust, when business leaders who’d been gorging on indigestible meals of internet promises now hungered for the meat-and-potatoes wisdom Collins offered. That its lessons seemed simple came as a relief: Common sense was back; the status quo was sexy again.

Such simplicity flattered many who thought they did these things already. The beguiling conservatism of the message required no transformational change but persuaded many readers that they were…