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Small Giants
Book

Small Giants

Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big

Bo Burlingham
Portfolio, 2005

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Editorial Rating

7

Recommendation

Some companies intentionally stay small so that they can be the best at what they do. In the world of globalization, these companies oppose the trend toward unbridled growth. They want to be strong, local and contained. Magazine writer and author Bo Burlingham provides profiles, or "field reports," covering 14 "small giants" - companies whose hands-on leaders kept them small, involved in their communities and focused on quality. Burlingham sometimes takes you up close and personal with his characters, so you read about their divorces, kids, personal finances and how long they worked in the stock room, as well as about the history of their companies. This magazine-style level of personal detail makes it clear that his mission isn’t to teach you how to run a small giant, but to explore the nature of locally rooted, passionately led, deliberately small companies. getAbstract finds that the author’s focus on unique privately held companies is very valuable for the leaders of small businesses, especially those who are deciding just how big they want their companies to become.

Take-Aways

  • "Small giants" are excellent companies whose leaders decide against expansion, in the belief that size would detract from fulfilling their goals.
  • These companies are consistently profitable, yet they consciously resist convention by staying small and great, instead of becoming large and risking mediocrity.
  • The founders of small giants refuse to compromise the quality of their business.

About the Author

Bo Burlingham is editor-at-large for Inc. magazine. His work has also appeared in Esquire, Harpers, Mother Jones and the Boston Globe. He is the co-author of The Great Game of Business and A Stake in the Outcome.

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