Small Giants
Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big
Bo Burlingham - Author
ISBN 9781591840930 | 256 pages | 29 Dec 2005 | Portfolio | 5.98 x 9.01in | 18 - AND UP
How maverick companies have passed up revenue growth - and focused on greatness instead
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How maverick companies have passed up revenue growth—and focused on greatness instead
This well-written book should inspire thousands of entrepreneurs to reject a mantra of growth for growth’s sake in favor of a passionate dedication to becoming the absolute best. Bo Burlingham reminds us of a vital truth: big does not equal great, and great does not equal big. (Jim Collins, author of Good to Great)Most books about successful businesses focus on public companies, where the definition for success is steady growth in revenue and profits. Yet there are many excellent, privately held companies marching to the beat of a different drum; they have stricken revenue and profit growth from the top of their mission statements. Instead, they define themselves by their passion for their products and their commitment to their employees, customers, and community—embracing a clarity and loyalty to purpose that’s an anomaly in today’s environment. Small Giants is a fascinating book about the unconventional people who run these purpose-driven companies. Longtime Inc. magazine editor Bo Burlingham takes us deep inside these companies to determine the secret ingredient, the elusive “mojo” that makes them great. He profiles fourteen of the best, including Anchor Brewing, CitiStorage, Clif Bar Inc., Righteous Babe Records, Reel Precision Manufacturing, and Zingerman’s Community of Businesses. These companies are consistently profitable yet have consciously resisted convention by staying small and great instead of becoming large and mediocre. For anyone who wants to explore America’s most innovative and inspiring small business successes, this unique book is the place to start. It aims to do for small private companies what In Search of Excellence did two decades ago for big public companies: shine a light on a handful of business practices the author admires, and which he believes are the reason some companies consistently do better than others. (Joseph Nocera, The New York Times) Small Giants is one of the most relevant and articulate arguments for staying bold and creative, intimate and manageable as I have ever read. I guarantee that expression and the arguments for staying small will cause a collective sigh of relief from thousands of entrepreneurs. (Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop) With new management books arriving by the boatload, Bo Burlingham has somehow managed the near impossible—he’s given us a true original. Moreover, in the process he may have ‘discovered’ the most interesting and under-reported corner of the U.S. economy. In short, Small Giants is a Large Masterpiece. Bo’s reporting is stupendous, and his writing and storytelling skills make the book equal parts fun and profound. (Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence) The fourteen companies that Bo Burlingham... features in his new book Small Giants demonstrate conclusively that a company can resist the temptation to keep getting bigger and bigger—and wind up better for it. (Cecil Johnson, The Fort Worth Star- Telegram) For all you harried entrepreneurs out there, Bo Burlingham has a reassuring message: Relax. Bigger isn’t necessarily better. The wonderful stories in Small Giants show you how to prosper by retaining the vision of excellence that got you into business in the first place. (Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author of Confidence) Bo Burlingham’s done for private companies what Jim Collins did for public companies in Good to Great. (Steve Pearlstein, The Washington Post) |
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