Today I started listening to a recording of the book From Good to Great by Jim Collins.

There was no particular reason to why I wanted to get my hands on this other than curiosity. I’d read several references to the book in material written by our executive director of schools, and just wanted to know what on earth all the talk about hedgehogs and buses was about and what on earth it had to do with the leadership of our system of schools. I suppose if I wanted to critique the ideas, I really could not do it without being properly informed; which meant learning more about Collins’ work.

So I got my hands on a copy of the recording from one of my favourite book stores (I could have bought the book, but I think I’ve got enough to read, what with trying to get through The World is Flat) and started to listen to it today in the car. Collins suggests that his book can be applied to any apsect of work or personal life.

If the beginnings of Collins’ work is anything to go by, he’s probably right. In the little I’ve listened to so far, I’ve been taken most by one of the earliest comments he made, namely:

Good is the greatest enemy of great

Suprisingly enough, I agreed with this statement from the get go. Not from my school experience, but from my experience elsewhere. The hardest thing is not to bring yourself/your classroom/your organisation up to a standard where you’re satisified, but to take it beyond that level. “Goodness” can be a comfort zone. Too many times people settle for good, and cannot see themselves out of it to move further forward to greatness.

Collins also goes on to talk about (something along the lines of - I’m sorry, I don’t remember verbatim) the need to relentlessly believe that you can succeed, while at the same time being able to honestly (and even brutally honestly) acknowledge what holds you back, what needs improvement.

It just seems to make sense.  Now I’ll have to listen to the rest of the CDs to see if I agree with the rest.

Imagine if we could empower every single student in our classrooms to relentlessly believe that they can succeed…  Now that really would be empowering…