The book makes certain things about my own employer a little more interesting to me as well. We just articulated our core values, and this books shows me they can be handy. Plus, someone was recently venting about how one of the higher ups had done something so shockingly bad that it was impossible to know how to respond. At the time, I thought that the best way to have responded would have been a reminder of our core values, and this book confirms that.

Now I’m looking for evidence that we are stimulating growth in some way. This book has made me decide to bring a copy of our vision statement and core values to some committee meetings where I’m going to be helping to decide what to do next.

Reading this book also reminded me of _The Art of War_ which is about waging war but is also read by businessmen for ideas on running businesses. Similarly, some of this book’s ideas for creating and maintaining visionary businesses could also be used to create and maintain a visionary life.

I especially like the idea of nailing down my own core values (although unlike the book’s advice, I wouldn’t actually mind if some of these evolved over time) along with the idea of trying multiple things and keeping the good ones. I think a lot of grown-ups do stagnate, and the idea of stimulating progress is a great one.

Probably you could also use it in family decision making. You probably have some core family values like mutual love and respect, good works, and good health. And then when something scary comes along (like a teenager’s new hobby or love interest), you can have a more reasonable response by remembering your family’s core values and goals.

This book is also giving me ideas for how to evaluate companies to see if I want to invest in them or even buy from them. (It could also be a way to decide which companies to apply for, but I like my current employer.)

I wonder how the companies selected almost 20 years ago are doing now and whether any changes are correlated with straying from the traits described in the book.

Thanks for the recommendation.

@Jonathan – I think that trend isn’t just the bloggers fault, but once you have the basics down… you are right, you don’t need to read 50 pf articles a day. I read less blogs that offer “advice” and more that offer stories. If I want knowledge, I usually google it, or serach archives of reputable blots with more meaty information.

And Trent… I do agree with the comment about the blog being Trent-centric lately. I also applaud your decision, but don’t blow off those comments. I remember in one post you were talking about one reason your blog and another blog were popluar and you said something along the lines of “we don’t write about how our cat got sick” because people don’t care. While you haven’t taken it that far, it has trended slightly in that direction, so just be careful.

[Sorry if it is creepy that i remember that sentence. I have a really good memory for random things I read/hear]

I think the corporations in Built to Last should be emulated.
–Build something great that will outlive the founders.
–Put people ahead of profits like Merck did, and the profits will come later.
–Build clocks, don’t just tell time.
–Never stop improving.
–Try new and different things and keep what works.
–Set huge goals (Boeing’s 747 was an example in the book)

Corporations don’t have the same status as people. They can’t vote. They can’t die (they just “dissolve”). They can’t run for office. They have limited liability. They can be bought and sold.

There is really no such thing as the “they” I’ve been using. The “they” is really just a group of people. They have names and families. I’ve owned three corporations, all sub chapter S. They were small entities that were run by me, though two of them became quite large and I cashed out. To say that “we the people” need to take back the country from the corporations doesn’t make any sense if you’ve owned and run one. The people ARE the corporations.

Don’t ignore just the positive comments (or the negatives, for that matter)–simply ignore all comments without content. Someone who says “this post sucks” is just as useless as someone who says “this post is great!”

Negative comments can help show you where your weaknesses are, and help you figure out what you need to improve on. But positive comments can show you or remind you of your strengths, and help you figure out HOW to improve on your weak points.

Read positive comments not as affirmations, or as people telling you there’s no room for improvement, but as people reminding you which of your tools work the best.

It’s one thing to rant. It’s another to have an actual solution. The problem with coming up with a solution is that it quickly becomes a socialistic endeavor and we all know how socialism fails everywhere it’s tried.

Here two thinks I particularly dislike about the book:

1- there is nothing actionable, it’s only commonplaces.

2- far much worse, the book is flawed by selection bias: having identified a pattern among successful companies, there is no check among failed companies to see whether the pattern does actually make a difference.

The last flaw makes the book’s contribution useless: seeing a pattern doesn’t mean there is something to see.

But wait a minute, corporations don’t do all those things. People do. So, if you want to blame a faceless corporation, that’s your prerogative. But in reality, the problem isn’t the supplier of consumer goods, it’s the demander. If one supplier doesn’t fill a void, another one will. So who is really to blame? The demander who has zero self control.

http://www.theinnovativetraveler.com

Yes, it is a fantastic book and I wholeheartedly agree with your recommendation. Jim Collins said that he should have written this one after Good to Great instead of the other way around because this book ironically seems to carry on the themes from Good to Great.

When I read it a while back, I found myself realizing a lot of mistakes at my own company and resolved to try to get others to “build clocks” not just “tell time.” Time telling is so ingrained in our psyche that it’s difficult to even get upper management to understand what I’m talking about.

When we look to hire additional sales staff, I always emphasize that the principles of selling are the same, regardless of the product or service. For management, the same truths apply as well. But Noooo. We only hire from within the industry . . .

Great blog post.