Book Review : Built To Last by Jim Collins

Readers who have been following my blog will probably be able to identify the singular reason for identifying this book for a review. For those readers who haven’t, I have chosen this book to hear the stories about organizations sustaining over years and changing market conditions. For the past few weeks I have been interviewing CEOs of start-ups in Nigeria. Start-ups I believe have the potential to bring about change and positive transformation in the economic milieu of Nigeria. But despite the promise these start-ups hold, the question about their sustenance is always there. It’s not unusual for a start-up to be financed, do good business for a year or two and then falter. And I am not speaking of businesses in Nigeria alone, but globally. Today, even an established financial institution like Diamond Bank is competing with internal and external players, and in order to sustain and expand our market share, we too have to play by new rules – do something different and build ourselves to last.

The Premise

The main premise of Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras’ Built To Last is a comparative study – a comparison between great and good organizations. Collins has accordingly identified 18 great performing companies (“The Best of the Best”) from different industries that have stood the test of time and leadership, have undergone change and innovation often moving away from their comfort zone, have seen several product life cycles etc. and have compared them with organizations that have an excellent track record of performance but have not been able to distinguish themselves. The one element that separated the ‘great’ and ‘good’ performers was the vision that each of these 18 leading organizations had, and that’s what he elaborates in this book.

So what is Built To Last all about

In a nutshell, the book discusses why certain organizations are able to endure challenging situations across generations and last, while others are not. Visionary organizations have been able to distinguish themselves and Built To Last defines what makes them different.

• A visionary organization has a purpose for existence. Though there are other factors like timing, great system, perseverance etc. that make a great company, it’s the right purpose that distinguishes them. And this purpose often breaks the paradox of profit-making. Though profits are important for sustenance, money singularly is not the reason for existence. The case of the pharmaceutical company Merck is the best example of how such companies have held on to their vision even in the face of adversity and no-profits. Merck developed the drug Mectizan to cure river blindness. But even when they didn’t receive much aid, they didn’t move away from the initial purpose of providing medical assistance when required. They distributed millions of doses Mectizan, thus holding true to their purpose, even without profits.

• Another factor that makes a great company is that they have two or three core ideologies or principles that they hold on to. For instance, IBM was unable to hold on to their core principles, hence leading to their subsequent non-performance.

Take our bank for instance. One of our core principles is customer satisfaction. We never miss an opportunity to interact with them, to understand their needs and serve them. We have even tried to make banking more convenient for them with our mobile apps and internet banking facility. And the best part is that everyone across the organization believes in this principle. At Diamond Bank, customer satisfaction is our core principle – and in order to achieve greatness we can never compromise on that.

• Experimenting is another factor that is a key indicator – “Visionary companies make some of their best moves by experimentation, trial and error, opportunism, and- quite literally- accident.” It has been identified that visionary companies don’t miss on any opportunity to experiment and try something new. We all know how this works at The electronics giant is known for trying new technology and encourages the culture of innovation. The same can be said of 3M – a company ready to experiment as long as they are aligned to its core ideology i.e. it must be a new idea and serve a human problem. Among contemporary organizations Apple and Google’s names tops the list.

• The ability to identify leaders so as to carry on the legacy of the organization is another important factor. CEOs and other leaders must to able to build a definite succession plan so as to train people when they are no more. For instance how many of us actually know the current CEO of Disney? What works is the image that Disney has created and working towards through years and changing leadership. The reverse is the case with a company like Though the company is in safe hands and is doing great business, it lacks the craze that was created by Steve Jobs.

For succession planning, though the author supports the idea to get someone from within – I am personally not in support of it completely. I do believe that succession planning is necessary but not always from within the company. There are times that we require people with a global perspective. Built To Last is essentially discussing success stories of companies in America. But the market today has significantly moved to the global arena. In my opinion therefore, limiting to regional knowledge and expertise can often prove limiting.

• And last but not the least, it breaks conventional myths about building an organization. In the section “Clock Building, Not Time Telling” it breaks the myth about having a great idea for starting an organization. It takes up the cases of Sony and Hewlett & Packard – both ‘visionary companies’ – but neither knew what they were going to make when it started off. What it tries to say is that you will have to make the start, face failure and then figure out what to do.

My Feedback

Although the book emphasizes on why certain organizations last longer than others, there is however a feeling of incomplete fulfilment. In that it lacked the very essence of discussing how a company achieves greatness. The book could have incorporated real time examples about 3M or Boeing or Sony or HP or Disney’s growth with their visionary outlook; which would have been a more satisfactory read. It took six years of research to identify the distinctive characteristics of ‘visionary companies’ so as to share that knowledge with present day management – something that is missed by not emphasizing more on individual company achievements.

Also, it is necessary to remember that the book was first published in 1994. Therefore the study only talks about companies that were at its peak during that time. A company like Motorola for instance is long past its days of glory. However, the point is that irrespective of its present status it’s the value that these companies have been holding on to which is key to their success.