In Built to Last, authors Jim Collins and Jerry Porras talk about a hypothetical person who could look at the sun or stars and tell the exact time down to the second. That person would be an amazing “time teller”. However, wouldn’t it be much more amazing if that person created a clock which could help many people tell time whenever they wanted, long after that person was gone and became a “clock builder”?
Being a charismatic leader or having a great idea is “time telling”. Companies built around “time tellers” might look like a genius with a thousand helpers. Building a company that can thrive long after the leader is gone is “clock building”. The greatest creation of a “time teller” might be his or her amazing and innovative ideas or products. The greatest creation of a “clock builder” is the company itself and what it stands for. The company itself is the ultimate creation.
For example, Sam Walton valued change, experimentation and constant improvement. However, instead of simply preaching these values, Walton implemented organizational mechanisms to stimulate change and improvement. For example, when an employee in a store had an idea, that idea was immediately distributed throughout appropriate parts of the world-wide company.
Great companies, like Wal-Mart, Sony, Marriott, Merck, Boeing, Nordstrom, 3M and HP started without great ideas (they weren’t “time telling”). Instead great people focused first on building good companies (“clock building”). In fact, several of these companies failed with their first ideas. According to Build to Last research, great ideas brought forth by charismatic leaders might be negatively correlated with building a visionary company.
This doesn’t mean that charismatic leaders cannot be successful; it just means charismatic leadership is not necessary to create a successful, visionary company. In fact, according to Built to Last research, companies without charismatic founders are in great company along with 3M, P&G, Sony, Boeing, HP and Merck.
This also doesn’t mean that great ideas are not important. Each of the great companies ultimately had many great ideas. However, the great companies started their organizations first, hired the right people, and then developed their great ideas and products. In the visionary companies, the companies were not vehicles for products, but products were vehicles for great companies. The constant development of innovative products from visionary companies results from being outstanding organizations, and not the other way around.
Built to Last teaches:
The single most important point to take away from this book is the critical importance of creating tangible mechanisms aligned to preserve the core and stimulate progress. This is the essence of clock building.
In the past, I have lead far too much with “time telling” as the visionary creator with many helpers. As I develop new organizations, I will focus more on “clock building”, and developing the best organizations I can, which can thrive long after I am involved.
Find Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
(Source: Built to Last)
Posted on April 14th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Book Reviews, Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Leadership
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