A 'Great' Second Act; Biz guru Jim Collins has advice for do-gooders.(Good to Great and the Social Sector)(Book Review)

Byline: Daniel McGinn (With Jessica Silver-Greenberg)

In certain professions, there's a standard set of ambitions. Every TV star wants to be in movies. Every teeny-bopper starlet wants to record an album. And every business-book author wants to write a crossover hit, a tome that appeals to folks who prefer Us Weekly to The Wall Street Journal and couldn't tell a widget from a wedgie. In early 2001, Jim Collins was already a superstar among the M.B.A. set thanks to "Built to Last," the 1994 book he'd coauthored that had spent years on best-seller lists. But in 2001 he was hoping that his next book, "Good to Great," would be read by school principals and church pastors. After years of helping businesses boost profits, Collins hoped to teach America's do-gooders to do even better.

He's getting his wish. "Good to Great" remains a fixture on best-seller lists more than four years after publication. But more important, it's found an audience among folks who rarely buy business books. Today Collins estimates that nearly half his speaking invitations are from the nonprofit sector. But many have had trouble applying his wisdom to their ventures, which can't measure success by stock price or offer big raises to motivate employees. So last month Collins self-published a 35-page booklet, available for less than $10 through online booksellers like Amazon.com, called "Good to Great and the Social Sectors."

For a celebrity author to self-publish a low-priced tract is an unorthodox move but then, Collins's own path to the best-seller lists has been anything but ordinary. A former management consultant, Collins taught at Stanford before, according to lore, he was pushed out by rivals who were jealous of his popularity. Using profits from "Built to Last," he set up his own research center in Boulder, Colorado, staffed with a team of grad students who tackle multiyear research projects aimed at answering big-business questions.

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