Built to Last
by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras
A study of visionary companies and what distinguished them from comparison firms: core ideology preserved while everything else changes, big hairy audacious goals, cult-like cultures, trying lots of stuff, home-grown management, and the tyranny of the or. Several exemplars have since faltered, but the concepts shaped a generation of strategy and remain useful.
Read it if…
you lead an organization and want a vocabulary for enduring culture and purpose.
Skip it if…
you want current evidence; the research is from the 1990s and retrospective.
Three things you will actually use
- Preserve the core; stimulate progress.
- Set goals that scare and unite.
- Build a clock, not just a product.
Do this first
Write your core purpose and three core values, and check which practices contradict them.
Our verdict
Influential and still relevant, with caveats.
Compare with other Leadership books
Great by Choice
Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen · Leadership
Practical and vivid; discipline over daring.
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The Power of Positive Leadership
Jon Gordon · Leadership
Upbeat and approachable; a first leadership book, not a last one.
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First, Break All the Rules
Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman · Leadership
The original data-backed management book; still the one to read first.
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