This weekend while camping in the Grand Tetons I had the chance to read How the Might Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins. If you are familiar with Jim Collins you will know that he writes on the subject of business management. I have gleaned a lot of useful information from reading some of his other books (Good to Great, Built to Last) and would highly recommend them to anyone wishing to learn more about what factors are key to having a successful business organization.
How the Might Fall strays from Collins typical focus on excellence as he focuses on what factors lead to failure. The book as a whole was interesting and entertaining. The main theme of the book is that there is a general process of failure (5 Stages) that companies go through.
Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success
Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More
Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Peril
Stage 4: Grasping for Salvation
Stage 5: Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death
Collins explores each stage and provides examples of companies that illustrate each stage. The book does a great job explaining what habits leader should avoid in order to stay successful.
Since I am not currently leading an organization and am still in school I tried to apply the principles as much as I could to my life. I have seen the same pattern of failure in different areas of my life. After having success in a particular area I find it easier to become undisciplined in my continued pursuit of more. You could almost say that I get "high on my success". After a while my confidence is such that I deny the chance of failure. Then because of my neglect of the principles that led me to success I have to grasp for salvation by altering my life. But at that point I have lost my edge in my particular area and it is too late to regain my success as others pass me by.
My main take-away is: In order to avoid failure in anything, one must stay continually focused on those ideas and habits that are proven to lead to success. When hard times come reverting back to those successful principles will turn you from failure to success.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the book I do have some complaints. The book seemed rushed and lacked the usual amount of data for which Collins is known. That might be in response to what people want to read because I do understand that reading through pages of numbers and ratios can be boring. I also would have liked to see him talk more about the recent banking and financial crisis. He did mention that he did not have sufficient time to include those companies in the book but I was pleased to see several appendices dedicated to the subject.
Overall I highly recommend How the Might Fall for anyone interested in business looking for a quick and entertaining read. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the book.
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