Good to Great Expectations

For Jim Collins, the Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer-turned-management thinker, "the workplace" is a pleasant office suite set amid the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, Colo. Managing generational tension amounts to shepherding a team of smart, curious students who help him with the research projects that have led to blockbuster books like and . And dealing with difficult bosses means stepping outside to do some rock climbing in the mountain air if he gets frustrated with himself.

But the author of , the world's best-selling guide to taking companies to the next level, still has plenty of insights for those of us stuck in gray-walled cubicles where the "scenic view" is often the parking lot of a drab corporate campus. Management Editor Jena McGregor asked Collins to translate some of his popular concepts to today's workplace. Here are edited excerpts of that conversation: