BE 2.0 by Jim Collins and Bill Lazier
Jim Collins is one of my favorite authors. Beginning with his first best-seller Built to Last followed by his mega-hit Good to Great, each of his books provides invaluable prescriptions and insights for business leaders looking to grow their respective companies.
Collin’s first book, Beyond Entrepreneurship, was co-written with Stanford University colleague Bill Lazier over 30 years ago. The book showed readers how to turn an entrepreneurial business into an enduring company. While the first book did not enjoy the same commercial success as his later work, it did have a strong cult-like following among small and early-stage company owners and remains a favorite among his most loyal readers.
In his newest book, BE 2.0, Collins actually re-shares many of the timeless insights from Beyond Entrepreneurship. For me, the best takeaway from the new book may be The Map, a diagram that pulls together many of the key concepts developed by Collins. The result of over 30 years of research, it provides a framework for building a company that delivers superior results, makes a distinctive impact, and achieves long-term endurance.
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of new content in this book and enjoyed the takeaways from his past writing that were also included. In a nutshell, Be 2.0 provides readers with a handy "best of Jim Collins" collection along with new research that continues to challenge the reader to aspire to “greatness”.
I highly recommend this book to all small business owners/leaders.