James Collins - Built to Last book review

In a nutshell (368 pages) Built to Last is Collins's insight into how the greatest companies have built themselves to last beyond a single, or group of employees. This includes CEOs. The analogy he uses is the difference between what he calls a Visionary company and a comparative company (a similar company in size, scope, and opportunity) is the difference between building a clock so that others can use what you’ve built easily going forward, with or without you, versus Tim Tellers, whose companies are reliant on them to get ‘the time’. The book goes far beyond the mere succession of upper management.

What I got out of it

The core principles in this book are founded on namely working as a group, for the betterment of yourself, your company, and your customers. It goes to show that the better side of business, and capitalism, is that when people work hard, suppress their ego, work as a team, and never rest on their laurels, the world is a better place for it. At least a part of the world, as in the case of Sony’s work to improve the image of Japanese goods as a whole or the head of a single department in a public high school.

What was difficult

The book is well written, well laid out, and easy to understand, the only thing I can see people struggling with is if they want to make themselves the center of their company's universe, forcing everyone to rely on their direction, guidance, or relationships. Also, if you run, or work for a company that has a product or service that is currently being threatened by competitors or one day will be (and it will be one day), but you don’t want to ‘cannibalize sale’ or invest too much in R&D, then you won’t find this book very enjoyable at all, and you’ll have wasted your time.

Recommendation

Even if you don’t run a company, just for the sake of your family, you should read this book. If you are the aforementioned person whose company or products/services are under siege, read this book if you want to win. I don’t recommend settling for a summary because he fleshes out important ideas that are well worth the extra pages.