Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies | James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras |...

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies | James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras | Great insight

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Built to Last: Suc...

	Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras HarperCollins Publishers, 1997 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 150 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent Research, Very Helpful Findings

I would not necessarily agree that the predecessor was a better book. The two books have different purposes, and I believe both are very helpful.

The authors present their research process and findings, as well as 12 myths:

Myth #1: It takes a great idea to start a great company.
Myth #2: Visionary companies require great and charismatic visionary leaders.
Myth #3: The most successful companies exist first and foremost to maximize profits.
Myth #4: Visionary companies share a common subset of "correct" core values. [Note: by this, they do not mean to say that values are not important; on the contrary. However, they explain that there is no specific set of values common to all successful companies, but that these vary from one to another.]
Myth #5: The only constant is change.
Myth #6: Blue-chip companies play it safe.
Myth #7: Visionary companies are great places to work, for everyone.
Myth #8: Highly successful companies make their best moves by brilliant and complex strategic planning.
Myth #9: Companies should hire outside CEOs to stimulate fundamental change.
Myth #10: The most successful companies focus primarily on the competition.
Myth #11: You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Myth #12: Companies become visionary primarily through "vision statements".

The authors debunk each of these myths by presenting their findings.

One of the most powerful lessons, which I underlined, is this: "... most of them view their products and services as making useful and important contributions to customers' lives... they exist to do something useful..."

The authors show that companies with long-term and solid success throughout time are not simply focused on making money or growing their business by X% annually. They have a stronger and greater mission, and their products and service exist primarily to support that vision. This is why, even when products become obsolete, the company with a strong sense of purpose continues to change and evolve beyond product life cycles. An important lesson for most companies in corporate America.

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Great insight

Both Built to Last and Good to Great are the best business books anyone can ever read. Nice work!

Built to last

This is the most relevant, well-presented, easy-to-read research project I've seen. The data is easily transferable to to practical use. I have seen its implementation make a really big positive difference in groups within organizations.

Must-read for anyone interested in business

This book can be aptly tagged as a textbook for Leadership 101. It is a must read for every career-conscious person, at any level of organizational hierarchy. The best thing about this book is that every reader will be able to get something useful and meaningful out of it. Unlike other run-of-the-mill leadership books/material which just mention stories for motivation, this book is completely based on real concrete data. Rather it is presented in the form a thesis/dissertation after about six years of research. Before reading this book, I did believe in some of the myths which are shattered in the first chapter and then proved to be only myths. The conclusions are completely data-driven.

Choosing a set of companies as visionary companies on the basis of their overall past performance (not just financial) and an another comparison company, authors cite the fundamental elements of a visionary company. I will not go in detail of those reasons and would recommend one to read it directly as you go through the book.

Authors have done a great job in explaining and justifying their research and data through the appendices and bibliography. A study of all the existing companies to find the visionary ones is really a daunting task and this research team has done a terrific job in establishing a definition of a "visionary company".

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Easy to read and makes lot of sense

Built to Last explains the differences between the great and the REALLY GREAT companies. The book asks the question why settle for being great when you can be monumentally stupendous? It is an impecably researched book (the appendix in the back of this book is excellent) that breaks many of the stereotypical beliefs of success experienced by large corporations.

We can learn new things and new ways of looking into things. Also we can discover why visionary companies stay forever. Money seems to be everything in our lives and it is the reason for these companies' existence. However, it is not what drives these visionary companies.

The characteristics defined to select the most successful companies are excellent measures of quantity and quality. The key idea, that success does not depend on having an early vision and charismatic leaders but on identity, culture and commitment to the company steer us into different paths for future success.

The focus is not only on the executive team to set the tone, but also on the hiring process and the freedom people are given to create. It will give you new insights and most importantly ways to implement

And by the way, nice guys (and nice corporations) DO finish first.

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