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Loading... Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companiesby James C. CollinsLibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Very well written and compelling. One of my favorites. There is tremendous credibility with a well documented research study. I hold this book in the same regard as Leading the Revolution by Gary Hamel. The 12 myths about companies are great. Very basic and easy to internalize about your business. You will learn the characteristic of visionary companies. A must read for any CEO or business person. (  ) markdeo | Apr 3, 2009 |  This is on the reading list I have of best all-time business books. It's thoughtful but not on par with "In Search of Excellence" or Collin's more recent "Good to Great." Their approach is valid for picking up a list of excellent performers and comparison firms that had the same opportunity. I'm not sure these firms will continue to last (Wal-Mart is already faltering), but the authors point out it's a matter of continuing the habits. Regarding the "genius of And" I've observed that certain leaders assume this means they should try to have it all. One former co-CEO of my current firm often spoke about and did this. There is some genius in going down one path or another. Their 5 methods are: 1. Big, Hairy Audacious Goals, 2. Cult-like Cultures, 3. Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works, 4. Home-Grown Management, 5. Good Enough Never Is. Other important points: the value of trying things (bias for action and appreciating the value of failures). Quoting Richard Carlton of 3M: "We must possess a two-fisted generating and testing [process] for ideas... Every idea evolved should have a chance to prove its worth, and this true for two reasons: 1) if it is good, we want it; 2) if it is not good, we will have purchased our insurance and peace of mind when we have proved it impractical." ( ) jpsnow | May 3, 2008 | Evidence-Based Success muir | Nov 9, 2007 | I was given this as a welcoming gift when I joined a start-up company. I never read it. I'm really not entreprenuerially minded. nillacat | Oct 22, 2007 | An innovative business book. Collins - a business school professor - decided to do an experiment using the scientific method to identify using stock performance companies that were majorly outperforming peers, then comparing them to sister companies or competitors who were performing on par with the market. From that comparison, Collins identified-through extensive, exhaustive research and interviews-the differences in the company pairings. Regardless of the findings, the model of approach and study is worth reading the book. However, the findings are very intriguing and definitely unexpected. Compelling. ( )1  shawnd | Jul 20, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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Built to Last identifies 18 "visionary" companies and sets out to determine what's special about them. To get on the list, a company had to be world famous, have a stellar brand image, and be at least 50 years old. We're talking about companies that even a layperson knows to be, well, different: the Disneys, the Wal-Marts, the Mercks.
Whatever the key to the success of these companies, the key to the success of this book is that the authors don't waste time comparing them to business failures. Instead, they use a control group of "successful-but-second-rank" companies to highlight what's special about their 18 "visionary" picks. Thus Disney is compared to Columbia Pictures, Ford to GM, Hewlett Packard to Texas Instruments, and so on.
The core myth, according to the authors, is that visionary companies must start with a great product and be pushed into the future by charismatic leaders. There are examples of that pattern, they admit: Johnson & Johnson, for one. But there are also just too many counterexamples--in fact, the majority of the "visionary" companies, including giants like 3M, Sony, and TI, don't fit the model. They were characterized by total lack of an initial business plan or key idea and by remarkably self-effacing leaders. Collins and Porras are much more impressed with something else they shared: an almost cult-like devotion to a "core ideology" or identity, and active indoctrination of employees into "ideologically commitment" to the company.
The comparison with the business "B"-team does tend to raise a significant methodological problem: which companies are to be counted as "visionary" in the first place? There's an air of circularity here, as if you achieve "visionary" status by ... achieving visionary status. So many roads lead to Rome that the book is less practical than it might appear. But that's exactly the point of an eloquent chapter on 3M. This wildly successful company had no master plan, little structure, and no prima donnas. Instead it had an atmosphere in which bright people were both keen to see the company succeed and unafraid to "try a lot of stuff and keep what works." --Richard Farr
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:19 -0400)
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