By: Geoff Lee on September 14, 2016
Jason mentioned recently his desire to throw a book across a room in frustration at the contorted writing of the author. While I did not ultimately use this book as a projectile, it was a close run thing, and the volume did teeter on the tips of my fingers on several occasions. First of…
By: Pablo Morales on September 9, 2016
My journey with Jim Collins has been an unexpected one. I was first introduced to Good to Great by a missionary serving in Nicaragua. I read it for the first time out of curiosity and I found it engaging. Years later, I read the book a second time while I was pastoring a declining church.…
By: Jason Kennedy on September 9, 2016
One of the most quintessential leadership books that has had a major impact on my ministry and leadership has been Jim Collins’, Good To Great. Collins’ basic premise for his work is that good companies never achieve greatness because they are satisfied with the status quo of being good. Collins, in his monograph Good to…
By: Stu Cocanougher on September 9, 2016
The title How to Read a Book sounds like an instructional manual. And in many ways, it is. No, the book does not teach the alphabet, nor does it illustrate how to make letters into words. Punctuation is not discussed in detail. Yet, the book has a lot to say about the experience of reading,…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on September 9, 2016
Dancing comes to mind when describing the author’s concept of reading a book. There is a rhythm, flow, and movement both the reader and the writer need to subscribe to in order for there to be a graceful, beautiful experience. If there is not a clear writing process, the reader gets lost and frustrated in…
By: Kristin Hamilton on September 8, 2016
I have to admit I was less than thrilled about the prospect of reading How to Read a Book by Adler and Van Doren for the first book of my doctoral studies. It just seemed odd. At this point in my academic career, reading a book about how to read seemed a little redundant. When…
By: Kevin Norwood on September 8, 2016
Level 5 Leadership In his “extra chapter,” Jim Collins really brings some great insight into the difference of leadership between a “for profit” business and the social sector or “not for profit” organizations.[1] I have been keenly aware over the past year that most of the “great” authors of the books that we have read…
By: Phil Goldsberry on September 8, 2016
Introduction The leadership market is filled with a plethora of authors and principles that vacillate from “snake oil” to legitimate and practical practices and theories. Among the best is widely acclaimed and respected author Jim Collins. In my opinion, Collins is considered a canonized author on the sacred writings of leadership. Since its release, then…
By: Chip Stapleton on September 8, 2016
When I was in high school and college in the late 80’s and early 90’s Cliff’s Notes (then with the apostrophe) were a sort of a taboo in the schools I attended. [Cliff’s Notes, if you aren’t familiar are ‘study guides’ designed to help you pass a class/assignment without having read the text. In the…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on September 8, 2016
I found it ironic that the first book that I am asked to read in my doctoral program is the book “How to Read a Book” by Mortimer J Adler and Charles Van Doren. The irony is in the fact that it can be assumed that once you reach this level of academia you should…
By: Katy Drage Lines on September 8, 2016
I am working under the following assumptions: those who venture to read this blog post are intelligent people; perhaps they have even read the book I review here. For whatever reason you have happened onto this post, welcome! Mortimer Adler’s classic 1940 book, updated with Charles Van Doren in 1972, guides the reader through a…
By: Lynda Gittens on September 8, 2016
It was a challenge for me to read a book about how to read a book. The author shared his points on the levels of reading, types of books, and the ways to approach reading. He stated that there were four levels of reading: elementary, inspectional, analytical, and syntopical. He dissected each level to provide…
By: Aaron Cole on September 8, 2016
Introduction: Good to Great by Jim Collins is one of the best books on leadership. Collins not only engages the reader with the simplicity and highly applicable nature of his writing, but also supports his theories and leadership principles with real data and research. Although Collins is addressing companies the application goes all the way…
By: Jim Sabella on September 8, 2016
When I saw that Adler’s and Van Doren’s How to Read a Book was listed as part of our course reading, it brought to mind an encounter I had when I first read the book several years ago. While I was reading the book on a park bench, a man came up to me and…
By: Marc Andresen on September 8, 2016
I am not interested in George Fox Evangelical Seminary producing good ministry leaders (pursuant to its mission). I am interested in the seminary applying the principles of Jim Collins’ Good to Great to its Doctor of Ministry program. If we as students were content to be part of good ministries, we would not be investing…
By: Aaron Peterson on September 8, 2016
What I like most about Good to Great and Good to Great and the Social Sectors is the call for a new way to evaluate churches and schools. It is a breath of fresh air to have someone as respected as Jim Collins essentially say that measuring churches is not about Sunday attendance and budgets.…
By: Geoff Lee on September 8, 2016
How to Read a Book – Adler and van Doren This book looks at the four different types of reading, ranging from elementary reading, to inspectional reading, to analytical reading to syntopical reading, focusing in particular detail on the latter two categories. All books are not equal, and they should be read in different ways,…
By: Claire Appiah on September 8, 2016
James C. Collins – Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great Introduction James C.…
By: Garfield Harvey on September 8, 2016
The premise of “Good to Great and the Social Sectors” is easy to interpret and accept. Jim Collins’ thought behind this book is how to build a framework (or formula) of greatness while exposing principles that has the potential to lead to greatness. “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, as it turns out,…
By: Rose Anding on September 7, 2016
Introduction Written by J. C. Collins and published in 2011, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap—and Others Don’t describes how companies have actually transitioned from average to huge, while also examining the other side: why this transition does not happen and why those companies end up in failure. The first book focuses…
