The
enduring great companies from Built to Last followed the good‐to‐great
framework.
There
was a buildup‐breakthrough
flywheel process for many. It took Sam Walton 25 years of building up momentum
before the transition in 1970 where Wal‐Marts
grew from 38 chains to over 3,000 by the year 2000. Then there is Bill Hewlett
and David Packard of Hewlett‐Packard,
whose entire founding concept for HP was not what, but who – starting with each
other of course. The founding meeting in 1937, begin by stating that they would
design, manufacture, and sell products in the electrical engineering fields,
but the question of what to manufacture was postponed.
2.
Good to Great is not a sequel to Built to Last but a prequel.
Apply
the finding of Good to Great to create sustained great results, as a start‐up or an established company, and then
apply the findings Built to Last to go from great results to an enduring great
company.
3.
To make the shift form a company with sustained great results to an enduring
great company of iconic stature, apply the central concept from Built to Last:
Discover your core values and purpose beyond making money and combine this with
the dynamic of preserve the core/stimulate progress.
4.
Good to Great answers a fundamental question raised, but not answered, in Built
to Last: What is the difference between a “good” BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious
Goal) and a “bad” BHAG.
A.
Clock building, not time telling
Build
an organization that can endure and adapt through multiple generations of
leaders and multiple life cycles.
B.
Genius of AND
Instead
of choosing A or B, figure out how to have A and B – purpose AND profit,
continuity AND change, freedom AND responsibility
C.
Core ideology
Instill
core values and core purpose as principles to guide decisions and inspire
people
D.
Preserve the core/stimulate the progress
Preserve
the core ideology as an anchor point while stimulating change, innovation, and
renewal in everything else.
*Why Greatness
The real question is not, “Why Greatness?” but “What work
makes you feel compelled to try to create greatness?” If you have to ask the
question, “Why should we try to make it great? Isn’t success enough?” then
you’re probably engaged in the wrong line of work.
