“Build To Last” is the best seller with more than one million copies sold.
As written in the subtitle, we can learn about “Successful Habits of Visionary Companies”.
As the authors said, the most important takeaway from this book is
Critical importance of create tangible mechanisms aligned to preserve the core and stimulate progress.
So we need to build the mechanisms to preserve the core and stimulate progress without relying on Charismatic leaders.
And there are five essential categories for “Preserve the Core” and “Stimulate Progress“.
Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAGs)
The first one is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal which stands for BHGA.
It is a goal that is
- So clear and no explanation
- Difficult to achieve
- Motivate team
- Aligned with the core ideology
It’s like a big mountain that everyone knows, and difficult to climb but achievable with patience & long time effort then make us motivated.
Cult-like Cultures
This doesn’t mean we should create a cult of personality.
But it is to build an organization that preserves our core ideology. It’s a culture and a system. It is as natural in the company as the air.
Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works
This is the evolutionary process like “branching and pruning.” It’s like a tree with lots of branches, and this image is very straightforward to me. Suppose we add a sufficient number of branches and then cut off except for healthy branches.
Home-grown Management
The important thing is to build a system that internally develops human resources who can promote healthy change and progress with maintaining the core.
Good Enough Never Is
Taking into account mechanisms of discomfort and long-term investments for the future, we found that the visionary companies have driven themselves harder for self-improvement in sixteen out of eighteen cases.
We need to keep walking toward our goal and then continue toward our next goal.
Thank you for reading this post.
This book has an essence not only for corporate management but also for small group management.
Please check the website of Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras.
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