Chapter 1 - Good is the enemy of the great

- Our five-year quest yielded many insights, a number of them surprising and quite contrary to conventional wisdom, but one giant conclusion stand above the other: We believe that almost any organization can substantially improve its stature and performace, perhaps even become great, if it conscientiously applies the framework of ideas we've uncovered
- It is important to understand that we developed all of the concepts in this book by making empirical deductions directly from the data. We did not begin this project with a theory to test or prove. We sought to build a theory from the ground up, derived directly from the evidence.
- As you immerse yourself in the coming chapters, keep one key point in mind. This book is not about the old economy. Nor is it about the new economy. It is not even about the companies you're reading about, or even about business per se. It is ultimately about one thing: the timeless principles of good to great. It's about how you take a good organization and turn it into one that produces sustained great results, using whatever definition of results best applies to your organization.
1. Level 5 Leadership
2. First who... then what
3. Confront the brutal facts
4. Hedgehog concept
5. culture of discipline
6. technology accelerators.