Most folks are familiar with the book, “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t.” Written by Jim Collins, the book became a fixture on The New York Times bestseller list, among others. In this interesting interview conducted by Marcia Stepanek of New York Contribute Magazine, Collins discusses a recent 36-page monograph he wrote on applying the principles of “Good to Great” to the social sector. Here is an excerpt of the interview:

Contribute: What can charities learn about greatness from business?
We have to reject the idea, well intentioned but dead wrong, that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is simply to become more like a business.Collins: The truth is that most businesses aren’t great, and so we can’t learn about greatness by just looking at what the average business does. Most businesses are just average by definition.So the really critical difference is not between business and nonbusiness. It’s the difference between great and good: there are great social sector enterprises, there are great companies, and there are mediocre social enterprises and there are mediocre companies. The disciplines of greatness are not the disciplines of business. In fact, truly great nonprofits will share more in common with a great corporation than a great corporation will share in common with an average corporation.

You can read the full interview by clicking here. What are your thoughts? Do you think great nonprofits have a lot in common with great corporations?

Categories: Default, Nonprofit News
Tags: features, Nonprofit News