“Built to Last” – Personal Development Book Review

What makes some companies, governments, and families stable, visionary, and successful for decades and even centuries? That’s a question I’ve considered many times.

The business book “Built to Last” provides answers to that question, and here’s the crux of their findings: “The only truly reliable source of stability is a strong inner core and the willingness to change and adapt everything except that core.”

Put another way: Timeless core values and willingness to adapt to realize a compelling envisioned future.

In “Built to Last”, authors Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras identify 18 visionary companies and the specific methods they’ve used to become and remain great for the long-haul.

These strategies are useful for companies, as well as any human enterprise aiming for excellence. As Collins and Porras explain, “Perhaps most intriguing, a significant number of people have reported to us that they’ve found the key concepts useful in their personal and family lives.”

With that close-to-home lens in mind, “Built to Last” is fascinating to me. And you might be inspired by these fabulous strategies for creating a bright future too.

But first, let’s define what we’re talking about here. Collins and Porras use long-term successful companies to make their point. They define these “visionary companies” as the best of the best, with these characteristics:

• 50+ year track record
• Multiple generations of CEOs
• Multiple product/service cycles
• Indelible imprint on the world
• Truly worthy of lasting

“Built to Last” was published in 1994. But like its title, the book stands the test of time. The book was based on 6 years of intensive research. It identifies and examines 18 visionary companies, including Boeing, 3M, Johnson and Johnson, Wal-Mart, Nordstrom, and Walt Disney, among others.

Collins and Porras attribute long-term organizational success of companies – or any human enterprise – to the following concepts:

• Genius of the AND: The authors say it’s important to embrace paradox. Opposites exist together. Stability and change. Conservation and revolution. Profit and idealism. Future plans and the present moment. They explain: “Core ideology and the drive for progress exist together in a visionary company like yin and yang of Chinese dualistic philosophy; each element enables, complements, and reinforces the other.” The authors warn against the “Tyranny of the OR”: choosing one extreme. They suggest instead to allow contradictory forces to exist in harmony. I love this. It makes a lot of sense to me, since paradox in life is an ever-present reality.
• Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs): The authors say BHAGs are supersize long-term goals that create an internal drive for progress. They use the example of John F. Kennedy’s enormous goal to travel to the moon. They explain: “Like the moon mission, a true BHAG is clear and compelling and serves as an underlying focal point of effort – often creating immense team spirit. It has a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal; people like to shoot for finish lines.” Collins and Porras say a BHAG should be exciting on a gut level and seem a little scary in an exciting, motivating way. It should be something that seems unrealistic at first glance, but is achievable with creativity, hard work, and a little luck. The concept of the BHAG comes at a good time for me. My husband and I have been thinking about some big goals. I have a hard time adopting goals when I can’t see exactly how they will be achieved, but I’m now seeing the value in leaps of faith and trusting in our creative problem-solving abilities.
• Cult-Like Cultures: Collins and Porras say it’s extremely important for an enterprise to identify its unique core purpose and core values. Its reason for existing. The things that will never change. A cult-like culture can unify a group of people around shared ideals and goals. The authors explain that mutually held timeless values give an organization a clear identity in the long run. Paradoxically, the authors say strong ideology can be freeing: “Cult-like tightness around an ideology actually enables a company to turn people loose to experiment, change, adapt, and – above all – act.” This idea resonates with me, because I value individual freedom. And at the same time, within a family, company, or organization, it’s extremely important to have shared values and a shared vision for the future. This way, everyone’s individual efforts are in alignment with each other.
• Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works: The authors explain: “Look at well-adapted visionary companies not primarily as the result of brilliant foresight and strategic planning, but largely as consequences of a basic process – namely, try a lot of experiments, seize opportunities, keep those that work well (consistent with the core ideology) and fix or discard those that don’t.” This concept is kind of a relief, because the path to realizing goals is not always obvious or paved with perfection. It’s good to know experimentation, failure, trial-and-error, and course-correction are all expected and unavoidable as part of the journey.
• Home-Grown Management: Collins and Porras discovered their best-of-the-best visionary companies were 6 times more likely to promote CEOs from within the company. This idea makes sense to me, because people who’ve spent years within an enterprise have had the most exposure to the core values and envisioned future of the enterprise. The book’s authors explain that for an organization to go the distance, the fundamentals must remain intact through multiple generations. “A visionary company can tick along for centuries, pursuing its purpose and expressing its core values long beyond the tenure of any individual leader.” These are interesting thoughts, whether you’re considering a company, a government, or a family. Makes me think of my desire to pass along tools of success to my son.
• Good Enough is Never Enough: The authors say consistent hard work, improvement, and continually building for the future are key. Collins and Porras say it can be helpful to use productive discomfort to force discipline – for example, budgeting or refusing to use debt, both of which have been tide-changing tools in my own family. The authors also explain that while philosophy is an important guide, it’s also important to take action and make progress in the real world. “Intentions are all fine and good, but it is the translation of those intentions into concrete items – mechanisms with teeth – that can make the difference between becoming a visionary company of forever remaining a wannabe.” This is a good lesson for me personally, because I sometimes live in the world of thoughts and ideas. It’s good to have a reminder that ideas need to be operationalized to contribute to tangible progress.
• Alignment: All parts of an organization should support its core values and envisioned future, explain the authors. Each enterprise should stay true to what’s right for that enterprise. “The real question to ask is not ‘Is this practice good?’ but ‘Is this practice appropriate for us – does it fit with our ideology and ambitions?’” It’s a never-ending process to fine-tune alignment and prune away habits and strategies that are out of alignment. I find this concept helpful, because life and organizations are so complex; alignment seems like a worthy goal. It’s so nice when everything fits together, feels right, and just flows effectively. 

I find these concepts valuable. These ideas empower me to envision long-term prosperity for my family. They also help me see how I can contribute the company I work for and the well-being of the world in general. And I’m further intrigued because I’ve recently started investing in single stocks.

I hope you find value in these “Built to Last” ideas too, whether you want to nurture the enduring greatness of your family, company, government, organization, or personal life.

You can find “Built to Last” at book sellers everywhere. It’s a great book, even 24 years after publication. The whole text is full of rich, detailed, well-researched goodness, and I highly recommend it.

This is the 4th book by Jim Collins I’ve reviewed. The others are “Great by Choice” (my favorite), “How the Mighty Fall”, and “Good to Great”. I’ve loved them all. Such great stuff.

I’ll finish up this article with one last thought from “Built to Last”: “If there is any one ‘secret’ to an enduring great company, it is the ability to manage continuity and change.”

Next Week: “Prioritize Sleep – My Thoughts on the Good Life”