Building the Vision – Chapter 11

Chapter 11 is basically a review of some very key points from the book.  Like chapter 10 except without the whole hammer it come kind of feel.  Chapter 11 elaborates on how to use their vision framework.  The first part of the vision framework is the building of the core ideology.  It was interested that the authors pointed out the importance that the core ideology is not something which is not created or set.  The company must discover the their own core ideology. Within the core ideology there are a couple of subsections. The core values are the essential and enduring tenets of any organization they need to be included into the core ideology.  They are the building block on which the company runs.  The core purpose of the company is another part of the first section of the framework which provides the company a reason for being.  The second section of the framework is titled Envisioned future.  This is cut down into two subsection: a 10 – 20  year “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” and then a detailed description of what it will look like if that goal is accomplished.  With these two subsections the second part of the framework can be put into practice.

The End of the Beginning – Chapter 10

Vision is a word that everyone throws around.  I feel like this book has done a great job of defining that yes vision is important but that is not the end in itself.  It must only be the beginning.  Chapter 10 focuses on how to implement the vision which is so crucial to the visionary companies.  Just having a vision statement, mission statement or guiding documents is not enough.  You must practice what you are preaching.  If you state in your vision statement that you want to be eco-friendly then you sure better implement something that will show that you are working toward that goal.  It’s the difference between the visionary companies and the comparison companies.  “The essence of a visionary company comes in the translation of its core ideology and its own unique drive for progress into the very fabric of the organization.” (Built to Last page 201)  The core ideology needs to be building into everything.  The company structure, goals, tactics, policies, processes, cultural practices, pay systems.  It must be incorporated into every stitch if you want the company to become a visionary company.

Good enough never is – Chapter 9

Through out the entirety of this book “stimulating progress” has been a key thing which has been echoed in the placement of the symbol at the beginning of every chapter to remind the reader about the two basics: preserving the core and stimulating progress.  Chapter 9 was titled Good enough never is.  The title immediately grabbed my attention and I got excited because I completely agree with the title.  Good never is enough.   We must be striving for better.  The way in which each company strived to be better was absolutely ingenious.  I worked at Wal-Mart for 2 months in the summer and I have had first hand experience with the “Beat Yesterday” ledger book.  It was a very effective tool in stimulating us to beat what we did yesterday, last week or even other stores.  It helped focus the team on an achievable goal for the day.  It gave them inspiration and drive for the day.  It was very effective in stimulating growth, new ideas and innovations.

Home-Grown Management – Chapter 7

Built to Last has been a great book go through.  It provides great perspective for CEOs, managers and entrepreneurs alike.  At the end of every chapter the how to apply this chapter to your situation has been extremely helpful indeed. In chapter 8 the book continues to focus on the importance of preserving the core and stimulating progress.   The idea in this particular charter is in regards to management.  Specifically the authors suggest that to preserver the core and to stimulate progress the best way to go about doing this is through “Home-grown Management”.  The visionary companies which we have been following have some type of management development program which encourages hiring from within before going to external sources.  The chapter focused on CEO’s in particular.  The main point was not that the specific person (CEO) made a difference in the company but the company training up the CEOs themselves made the difference.  It wasn’t the fact that the person was an amazing manager but rather that they became an amazing manager through the steeping of them in the management programs of each visionary company.  This was the difference between the visionary companies and the comparison companies.

Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works – Chapter 7

American Express was a great story in Chapter 7.  They started out as a company that dealt with shipping of parcels.  There was a decline in the demand and they needed to change.  In response to the declining the demand they created their Express Money Order. Later in 1982 there then President travelled to Europe and had problems getting the finances that he needed. This caused him to expand American Express to Europe and become basically a new type currency.  This speaks a great deal to our current society and times.  Demands for certain products might not be there as much any more and so trying a ton of different things and seeing what works is right on track with our current situation as a country. The authors idea of the evolutionary process was an interesting one at that.  I would agree.  The businesses we need to some trial and error.  See what works and what doesn’t work but ultimately keep moving forward.

Cult-Like Cultures – Chatper 6

A couple of newer couples which remind me of having cult-like cultures are Apple Inc and Google Inc.  They both have a strong cult culture.  Either the people who are hired will join the cult after a long indoctrination period or they will be swiftly ejected.  I worked for Wal-Mart which has an amazing cult like culture.  They have a song which they sing every day.  If that’s not cult like I don’t know what is.  They also have a Wal-Mart University like that of Walt Disney.  You are paid to go through this University and the management takes it extremely seriously.  All of the companies which were looked at in this chapter all had an infusion of the Core ideology apart of their introduction or indoctrination into the companies. People that didn’t fit in were ejected like a virus.

Big Hairy Audacious Goals- Chatper 5

My favorite chapter so far has been the one on Big Hairy Audacious Goals.  This is something that I definitely resonate with well.  I have huge, massive, gigantic, absolutely mind blowing goals.  To accomplish these goals I need to make sure like the book states that I am building a clock and not just telling time.  This is something which does not come naturally to me so I will definitely need to work on it. The story about Boeing was extremely impact for me.  Specially the quote by their CEO at the time Mr. Allen when a visitor commented, “ You know, Mr. Allen, [Boeing has] a lot of riding on that plane [747].  What would you do if the first airplane crashed don takeoff?”  Allen replied with, “I’d rather talk about something pleasant – like nuclear war.” This explained perfectly for me how we should view our BHAG’s.  They are basically death do or die.  The majority of companies in this chapter had one thing in common.  All of their BHAG’s were either they would succeed or they would die.  I can only imagine what the employees were thinking when the management laid these goals out in front of them. The look on their faces must have been priceless.

Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress- Chatper 4

I have been greatly encouraged by reading Built to Last.  Through reading through Built to Last I have noticed that I keep needing to work on my projects.  I see all of what these visionary companies have done and I want to do just that.  I end up putting the book down and working on a project then coming back to it.  Makes for reading the book difficult to say the least. In the fourth chapter of Built to Last the chapter discusses how to combine the importance of preserving the Core and stimulating progress.  Among all of the visionary companies they continued to improve and press forward.  They knew that they had to change and not just become static.  Becoming static is the most destructive factor in business.  If you are not moving forward and changing your company is just rolling backward and your competitors will over take you.  This was helpful because I knew that moving forward was important but having this type of confirmation is always helpful.  The authors describe the play between Preserving the Core and Stimulating Progress as equally important.

No “Tryanny of the OR” and More Than Profits – Chatper 3

The 3rd chapter for this series of blog posts was the very helpful for me.  It discussed the idea that companies are more than just profit making machines.  They need to be so much more.  According to the research which was presented in Built to Last the majority of the companies had some sort of guiding principles or even a formal credo or mission statement.   This statement was always bigger then just building the business to make money.  It was something which the employees and staff could cling to in times of trouble or just in general.  This really resonated with me.  To not have just a company whose entire goal is to make a ton of money but to effectively change the world or do something much more than just making money.  For example: Johnson and Johnson have a credo that they filter their decisions by.  The credo has much more than just making money on it.  The making of money is actually the final item in the credo.  Making money is number five in the credo.  The first four are all about being responsible to others in the community.  Weather it be doctors, people that work with them, their management, or the community that they live in.  One fifth of the entire credo is devoted to shareholders and money the other four fifths is devoted too much more than money.

In today’s society with our current economy it is encouraging to see that business that are all about the money are not seen as visionary companies.  With the scandal of AIG’s corporate bonuses and the continuing saga of having people loose there houses its awesome to see companies who really do care about more than just money.  When I build a business I plan on incorporating my faith into a type of credo.  When you read most of the credo’s or statements of core beliefs in the companies you can see a slight over tone of faith which is awesome to hear.  I know that I will incorporate faith into my credo as much as I can without making it a clearly religious document.

The Clock Building, Not Time Telling – Chapter 2

In chapter two the simple myth from chapter 1 was expanded upon with the example of GE which originally thought that DC current would be the prevailing standard for electricity.  They were wrong.  It was not a genius idea! It was a massive mistake and it was a gamble which the company paid for.  Westinghouse had the great idea of AC current which was superior to DC current.

Chapter two was also very focused on the type of leaders who were in the leadership positions of these visionary companies.  The majority of the leaders were not the typical charismatic leader who is the public figure head.  The vast majority of the leaders where, as the book referred to them, clock builders.  These leaders were more excited about building the company and getting a name for themselves.  In general the majority of the leaders were not the typical leader that you would think of a visionary company.  That point relieved a ton of pressure off of me when I thought to myself that I don’t have to be this super charismatic leader who is the public figure head of the entire company.