James Collins

The good-to-great companies did not focus principally on what to do to become great; they focused equally on what not to do and what to stop doing.

Technology can accelerate a transformation, but technology cannot cause a transformation.

Mergers and acquisitions play virtually no role in igniting a transformation from good to great;

The good-to-great companies paid scant attention to managing change, motivating people, or creating alignment. Under the right conditions, the problems of commitment, alignment, motivation, and change largely melt away.

Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice.

First Who ... Then What.

People are not your most important asset. The right people are.

Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith).

Stockdale Paradox: You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

When you have disciplined people, you don’t need hierarchy. When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need bureaucracy. When you have disciplined action, you don’t need excessive controls. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.