Good to Great…


Good to Great
I think this book is better than E-Myth Revisited. Plus, if you think about it. Completely stands out as the exact opposite of E-Myth Revisited! Think about it for a second. E-Myth Revisited argues you can get anybody to do a task as long as you have the right systems in place to do that work…
Good to Great argues you need to get the right people on board your company or business idea FIRST. Of course, this book is about going from good to great and you have to be good first, whatever that means. (Link to Amazon about Good to Great)

This concludes the short book review for Monday March 28th. Thank you.


4 responses to “Good to Great…”

  1. I have to disagree with you here. The scope of each of these two books is different. E-myth deals with starting a business and it’s prescriptive in nature, while GTG deals with existing copanies and is descriptive in nature.

    E-myth lays a foundation for a new business and shows you how to go about starting. GTG assumes the principles that E-myth outlines have long been in place and tells how some copanies went above and beyond. People are the greatest asset, but you have to lay a foundation before you can get those people on board. I see them as covering two different scopes of business. Both good books. My 2 cents.

  2. Well Don, I know you’ve read them so I can’t argue with your personal opinion. But I disagree.

    E-Myth basically says that the individual people don’t matter. Instead, it is the processes, documentation, and job descriptions that make up those positions. Having a “system for everything.”

    I’ve spent thousands of dollars trying to make the E-Myth ideals work and was very dissapointed. E-Myth teaches that the people don’t matter. Maybe it doesn’t say it in a blunt way like that, but that’s what it says. E-Myth says the processes and “systems” in your business matter the most and that you only need to find the people to fill those roles.

    Good to Great says that people do matter. It says that if you get a superb team on board first, and then figure out what you are going to do. Not the other way around.

    Good to Great says: get the BEST.
    E-Myth says: Get the people who fit the role, but no more than you need.

    Now I’m going to pick up the books again and read them once more.

  3. By the way, the E-Myth does bring up one very good point and that is about the different roles of “technician and manager.” It’s a great way of thinking about your role in a business.

    E-Myth can also be quite an eye opener because it’s easy to see yourself in it. I know I did when I read it.

    I’m not saying I disagree with those things, what I’m saying is I disagree with the idea of people being unimportant, of systems being more important than good people. Which is exactly what it teaches.

  4. […] Those of you dissapointed I’m not reading anything web related and only one business book should know I read all of those books in the dot com days and nothing has really changed except CSS is more important and smaller is better (I know I heard that somewhere! haha). Business books are still business books and design books are still design books. I do look through them though at the bookstore. In an upcoming article for 2006 I’m hoping to analyze at a deep level the serious flaws in E-Myth Revisited and how Good to Great is better. That’s sure to spark some serious debate! Those two books are seriously at odds against each other. […]

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