A few months ago I read Good to Great, a book about the factors that led to companies making a transition from being “good” to being “great”. Collins, the author, defines “great” as companies whose stock performed at least three times better than the overall market over at least fifteen years. While the book is ostensibly about a research study, it feels packaged as a set of recommendations for executives looking to turn their good companies into great ones.
The lessons in the book sound reasonable, but here’s the thing: If Collins’s theory is correct, we should be able to identify companies that will outperform the market by a factor of three in fifteen-years time, by surveying employees to see if they meet the seven criteria outlined in the book.
It has now been almost thirteen years since the book has been published. Where are the “Good to Great” funds?
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