How To Incubate A Business Goliath

Author James Collins has spent decades studying what distinguishes the people who created successful companies from those who did not.

Collins, whose most noteworthy work was "Good to Great," holds the history of more than 6,000 corporations in his database, and has rewound the tape of history to find leaders in similar circumstances in which one rose to become great and the other did not.

"We believe it is very dangerous to study success," Collins said. "We believe it's far more powerful to study the contrast between success and failure."

Collins spoke this week to more than 1,900 attendees Ingram Micro ONE in Nashville, Tenn., about how they can turn their businesses into great companies.