72 Quotes by Jim Collins

The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline.

I don't know where we should take this company, but I do know that if I start with the right people, ask them the right questions, and engage them in vigorous debate, we will find a way to make this company great.

A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people.

If we only have great companies, we will merely have a prosperous society, not a great one. Economic growth and power are the means, not the definition, of a great nation.

Good is the enemy of great

Creativity dies in an indisciplined environment.

When in doubt, vary, change, solve the problem, seize the opportunity, experiment, try something new (consistent, of course, with the core ideology)—even if you can’t predict precisely how things will turn out. Do something. If one thing fails, try another. Fix. Try. Do. Adjust. Move. Act. No matter what, don’t sit still.

Technology and technology-driven change has virtually nothing to do with igniting a transformation from good to great

No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it.