Hong’s Cave

Some time ago, I was flipping through late-night TV channels and caught the Charlie Rose’s interview with Jim Collins. They were talking about his current BusinessWeek #1 Hardcover, Good to Great. That interview intrigued me about his books. Since he mentioned that Good to Great was a follow-up to his previous book, Built to Last, I decided to read them both, in order.

Anyway, Built to Last is a result of the 7-year research that Mr. Collins lead to figure out what distinguishes “visionary” companies. His “visionary” companies included 3M, IBM, Merck, Procter and Gamble, Wal-Mart, Citicorp, etc. But to reduce the chances of drawing obvious and stupid conclusions, he also picked comparison companies for respective “visionary” companies. The book’s appendices go into detail their selection processes.

What Mr. Collins and his team concluded as the common characteristics of these “visionary” companies was that they each had their own core ideologies that they tried their best to preserve but they also allowed changing everything else to adapt and grow. They also concluded that it was all about putting in place systems and processes so that an organization could sustain itself and grow into the future, not about having one charismatic leader to lead the rest. There were a couple of more points, but I forget.

It definitely was an interesting read with the description of how those successful (not one-hit wonders) companies survived. Most of them didn’t start out with successful products. Their founders and leaders thought about the future of their companies well past their own tenures and put in systems for it. Most of them tried their best to keep their integrity and their core ideologies.

While reading this book, it occurred to me many times, that a lot of the qualities Mr. Collins describe not only applies to these companies, but to individuals. Although they might be considered a bit old-fashioned, but I’d say those are what makes (or describes) a “good” person.