Built to Last by Jim Collins & Jerry Porras.

Recently, I was reintroduced to “Built to Last” By Jim Collins and Jerry Porras (ISBN: 978-0060566104) by a friend. I had previously read the book during my MBA years. Over the years I have muddled in the management labyrinth, but have retained the ability to look retrospectively and to cherish good books to learn from them time and again. See Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_to_Last:_Successful_Habits_of_Visionary_Companies


As I start to (re) read the Built to Last, I can see the difference between when I read it as a MBA student and now with real-world management experience. The first question that comes to me is “How do you start a company or organization in the first place without some key drivers?” See other posts for more analysis - http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/88/built-to-last.html

The authors begin the book with “great companies focus on the organization and the quality of work; not to make the founders/owners/managers rich, or to introduce a revolutionary product.” So the question is “How do you start a company or an organization in the first place without the key drivers? – riches, revolutionary products, fame, etc.” Isn’t that what our education, society and environment tell us?

The answer lies in the semantic difference between starting a company and an organization. A company is started by people for those very key drivers – riches, revolutionary products, fame, etc. Bereft of those it is extremely hard to start a company. But as companies grow they must become organizations. Take for example Google (http://www.google.com/). They started a company with a revolutionary product in a space that was already crowded. But over time it has become an organization. Or take for example various Mortgage services companies(http://www.mortgagedaily.com/MortgageGraveyard.asp). They were good companies but have failed to become organizations. You can see the difference yourself.

Ram.