One of the most significant leadership books in my lifetime is Good To Great by Jim Collins. What made it so powerful is his team did a tremendous amount of research on what were the consistent factors in place that allowed good companies to grow and sustain Greatness. This HBR post is placed in the context of modern disruption and presents some fascinating conclusions:
“The average lifespan of a U.S. S&P 500 company has fallen by 80% in the last 80 years (from 67 to 15 years), and 76% of UK FTSE 100 companies have disappeared in the last 30 years. In stark contrast, organizations in other sectors celebrate their 100th birthday and look like they’ll be here forever. How do they do it? And what can business learn from them?”