Summary: How the Mighty Fall Jim Collins

This work offers a summary of the book “HOW THE MIGHTY FALL: And Why Some Companies Never Give In” by Jim Collins.

No successful business is immune from failure, regardless of previous performance. External circumstances are often blamed, but Jim Collins suggests that “whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you.” In other words, there are always warning signs that your business is in trouble: if you identify them early enough, you can change the situation. Collins believes there are 5 stages of company's failure lifecycle: hubris of success, pursuit of more, denial of risk, grasping at straws, and capitulation.

Each of these stages contains pitfalls and signals of what's to come. For example, companies often get caught up in their own product hype, believing all praise and dismissing all criticism. Another common mistake is to expand too quickly into a new product, which diverts attention and resources. Collins provides the reader with a checklist at every stage, so that the reader can identify possible problems in their own business: what proportion of your senior management are in the right seats? Do you confuse big with great?

How the Mighty Fall is an eminently sensible book that's very practical. Every selfaware business should own a copy.