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Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big
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Sales rank 268,605
Customers rating (based on 48 reviews)
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How maverick companies have passed up revenue growth—and focused on greatness instead 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.
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| Publisher | Portfolio Hardcover | | Release date | 12/2005 | | Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours | | Edition | Hardcover |
| | List price | $24.95 | | Our price | $16.47 (you save 33.99%) | | Used price | from $0.39 |
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 Inspiring
According to Norm Brodsky, "[y]ou need to feel in your gut that whatever you do is the most interesting, exciting, worthwhile thing you could be doing at that moment. Otherwise, how do convince anyone else?"
To be sure, these are inspiring words. Of course, this begs the question: Who is Norm Brodsky, other than a pretty passionate guy. What does he do, exactly?
You might think that he's an artist of some sort. You'd be wrong. He must be a crusader. Nope, try again. Getting annoyed at guessing? Fine. I'll tell you. He works for a document management and storage company, CitiStorage.
And there are plenty of people like Norm in the pages of the excellent book, Small Giants. In it, Bo Burlingham tells amazing stories about particularly passionate entrepreneurs who intentionally keep their companies small. It's a great read about how many people have found that it's much better to run a small company--as opposed to a large one.
Burlingham starts and ends the book with a detailed description of something very difficult to define: mojo. The small giants have it and face constant challenges to keep it. Many companies start with it and, at some point, lose it. Once that happens, its practically impossible to get back.
Particularly noteworthy was the story of Gary Erickson of Clif Bar. I don't want to give away too much here, but let's just say that the musician and rock climber faced challenges unlike any that he could have possibly imagined. His commitment to preserve the company and culture he had created almost by accident simply blew my mind.
Small Giants resonated with me on a number of levels. As a small business person, I enjoy what I do and working for myself. Some of my clients are large organizations, many of which are rife with internal politics and dissatisfied employees--never mind customers. Over the course of my career, I have enjoyed working with small companies because you could actually solve more problems and make more of a difference. Evidently, I'm not the only person who feels this way.
On a completely different level, it was very refreshing to read about companies that are doing the right things. They are cultivating interesting places and creating meaningful jobs. They're not beholden to quarterly earnings. Customers are loyal beyond belief. Reading about so many problems and issues gets tedious. Sometimes it's simply a nice change of pace to read about people that get it.
Worth reading
Sort of the opposite of "Good to Great". Relates the history of 14 small U.S. companies from inception, through growth, struggles, and finally the choice to remain small. Illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of growth, and offers support to enterprises that aren't quite sure bigger is always better.
This book is in that sweet spot between dry business tomes and a flimsy collection of platitudes. "Small Giants" is a worthy addition to a choice selection of business books. It's well written. It's easy to read. It's engaging and informative.
Perhaps a bit too much focus on Zingerman's. (That may just be my perception, as they are located nearby.) But I appreciated the variety of companies profiled - some manufacturing, some service, different locations, different mind sets. No one right answer emerged, but with the variety of issues and decisions discussed, everyone will find something that is applicable to their situation. Even big companies.
A thourough understanding of what is required for high performance.entrepreneurs
Bo Burlingham provides an understandable guide for achieving effective, high performing companies. As a consultant who works with growing entrepreneurs, I strive to instill these principles in all my clients. I have given my clients copies of this book, and I've never done that before.
 Missed a lot of the basics
This book is a bit of a dream. It spends almost no time exploring what it takes to build a great company from the ground up. Rather, it marvels at the things that companies can do once they have become "great" by Burlingham's measures. If 99% of companies tried the things that these companies do, and thought it would contribute to their success, they would fail almost immediately for lack of a focus on the basics.
The problem with Small Giants is that is starts at the equivalent of one of the later stages of the Maslow Scale of Self-Actualization. While they obviously still have to put food on the table, these companies are all past the basics - some are luxuriously turning away business from customers they don't like - and focused on higher-level priorities like what they can do for their communities. What we do not read about at any great length is how the companies grew from scratch, what it took to put them together, the business rules they follow, the way they handled crises, etc. They operate within a business Neverland.
Some companies have that luxury. They created a healthy cash flow because they are good at what they do, they operate in a "hidden" industry that others have not discovered yet because they are technically obscure or require special skills or other reasons. Burlingham does not talk about what it really takes to build the kind of strong foundation for a company that will let it grow to become one of these small giants. Instead, it's as if he's saying that as long as you create a great culture and do good for your community, profitability will come your way. As an entrepreneur, I had a very hard time connecting his small giant criteria with anything that made sense as part of the foundation of a strong business. Our company does plenty of "good" that is unrelated to our business but I'd never fool myself into thinking that those contributions and other community efforts really do anything for the core business.
Bottom line for me: if you are already a small giant, here are some things you can do to look more like a few other small giants. If you are not a small giant, get a copy of Hidden Champions of the 21st Century by Hermann Simon for a more realistic guide to what it takes to build a leading company from the ground up instead of the blue sky down.
 Not a Small Book
Small Giants was a delightful read for me. It gave me hope that running a business doesn't necessarily have to be without a bigger purpose, instead it can be liberating if done right.
The author is brilliant in getting his point across and throughout the book I pondered endlessly over possible steps to create a 'Small Giant.' As much as that would be helpful I concluded that it would be near impossible. The key ingredient though I figured had to be the vision of the founding fathers and ofcourse the execution.
I took my time reading this book and several other books came in the way. Somehow though I put all the rest down to finish 'Small Giants,' I say give it a shot, it wont let you down.
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