Book Review: Built to Last
Posted on December 1st, 2006 by Paul McArdle – 15 Comments.
I first read this book sometime prior to 2007, and we re-visited the book after we had moved to our office in Milton in September 2007 and could initiate our book review process.
Hence, to put this review in context, I have used artistic licence with the post date…
Binary Review
The first of an excellent series of books:
|
The Book |
What we thought |
 “Built to Last” by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras |
 An excellent book. |
| Full Disclosure – yes, that’s a tracked link to Amazon shown above. We buy quite a large number of books on a wide range of topics, all relevant to our business in some way. If you did happen to purchase the book from Amazon, they’d throw a few shekels our way, which would help us to buy (and hence publish reviews of) even more books. Hence, Karma would return the benefits to you… |
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This book was written before “Good to Great” (from memory).
I read it some time ago, and don’t have the time to provide a review, but will come back to this one at some later stage…
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The details:
Some notes, aligned with the chapter headings:
Chapter 2) Clock Building, not Time Telling
Check back later…
Interlude) No “Tyranny of the OR”
Here’s a quote from the book that sums up this principle (p43 in my copy):
The “Tyranny of the OR” pushes people to to believe that things must be either A OR B, but not both. It makes such proclamations as:
- You can have change OR stability
- You can be conservative OR bold
- You can have low cost OR high quality
- You can have creative autonomy OR consistency and control
- You can invest for the future OR do well in the short term
- You can make progress by methodical planning OR by opportunistic groping
- You can create wealth for your shareholders OR do good for the world
- You can be idealistic (values-driven) OR pragmatic (profit-driven).
A page or so later, the authors note:Irrational? Perhaps. Rare? Yes. Difficult? Absolutely. But as F. Scott Fitzgerald pointed out, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function”
A bit like another post I made about paradox!
Chapter 3) More than Profits
Check back later…
Chapter 4) Preserve the Core AND Stimulate Progress
Check back later…
Chapter 5) Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG)
Here’s a quote from the book that sums up this principle (p94 in my copy):
A BHAG engages people - it reaches out and grabs them in the gut. It is tangible, energizing, highly focused. People “get it” right away - it takes little or no explanation.
Read the book for more!
Chapter 6) Cult-Like Cultures
Check back later…
Chapter 7) Try a lot of stuff, and Keep what works
Check back later…
Chapter 8 ) Home-Grown Management
Check back later…
Chapter 9) “Good Enough” never is
Jim and Jerry explain this very clearly in the opening paragraph (p185 in my copy):
The critical question asked by a visionary company is not ‘How well are we doing’ … or ‘How well do we have to perform in order to meet the competition’.
For these companies, the critical question is ‘How can we do better tomorrow than we did today?‘
(with my emphasis added). The authors also note that:
There is no ultimate finish line in a highly visionary company
And finally:
Visionary companies, we learned, attain their extraordinary position not so much because of superior insight or special “secrets” of success, but largely because of the simple fact that they are so demanding of themselves.
[...] Jim Collins phrases this as existing for “more than profits” and aspiring to a “Big Hairy Auda…. [...]
[...] Jim Collins, in “Built to Last” (for instance) labels this “preserving the core and stimulating [...]
[...] Failing Forward The concept has been discussed before in different forums (e.g. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras termed it “try a lot of stuff, and keep what works”).
[...] C.
[...] truth, it is NOT Either / Or: Jim Collins and Jerry Porras termed this not stooping to the “Tyranny of the OR” – something that is all-too-common in society, in our company, and (it seems) in Joel’s as [...]
[...] you will have a focus that rejects the “tyranny of the OR”, in understanding that you can deliver BOTH short-term results, and a sustainable business, [...]
I am not the mind you seek - but as a muser of excellence and potential it occurred to me that an “integral” approach may be worth exploring. It will take you across four unique but vital perspectives and provide many new insights. Good luck and thanks for the journey.
Don
[...] It won’t be easy (but if it was there would probably be no return in it for us, anyway).
[...] it is possible to cascade this “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” down into progressively more [...]
[...] In doing this, we will continue to adopt the approach of “try lots of things and keep what works”, as promoted by Jim Collins & Jerry Porras. [...]
[...] focus on the long-term, to the detriment of short-term results. Rather, you will have a focus that rejects the “tyranny of the OR”, in understanding that you can deliver BOTH short-term results, and a sustainable business, [...]
[...] Then, we continue improving, each and every month, by pursuing a combination of three factors: 1)
[...] 3)
[...] 3)
[...] This comment is made in response to conversations I have had with several people over LinkedIn, whereby they have correctly pointed out that the target above is Ambitious (certainly so), but hardly Audacious (as intended to be read by Jim Collins in “Built to Last”). [...]