BUILT BUILT TO LAST Successful Habits of Visionary Companies James C. Col ins Jerry I. Porras Dedication Dedication To Joanne and Charlene Contents Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Introduction to the Paperback Edition Preface Chapter 1: The Best of the Best Chapter 2: Clock Building, Not Time Tel ing Interlude: No “Tyranny of the OR” Chapter 3: More Than Profits Chapter 4: Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress Chapter 5: Big Hairy Audacious Goals Chapter 6: Cult-Like Cultures Chapter 7: Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works Chapter 8: Home-Grown Management Chapter 9: Good Enough Never Is Chapter 10: The End of the Beginning Chapter 11: Building the Vision Epilogue: Frequently Asked Questions Appendix 1: Research Issues Appendix 2: Founding Roots of Visionary Companies and Comparison Companies Companies and Comparison Companies Appendix 3: Tables Appendix 4: Chapter Notes Index Acknowledgments About the Authors Back Ad Author’s Note More Praise for Built to Last Credits Copyright About the Publisher Introduction to the Paperback Edition Introduction to the Paperback Edition On March 14, 1994, we shipped the nal manuscript for Built to Last to our publisher. Like al authors, we had hopes and dreams for the book, but never dared al ow these hopes to become predictions. We knew that for every successful book, ten or twenty equal y good (or bet er) works languish in obscurity. Two years later, as we write this introduction to the paperback edition, we nd ourselves somewhat astonished by the success of the book: more than forty printings worldwide, translation into thirteen languages, and best-sel er status in North America, Japan, South America, and parts of Europe. There are many ways to measure the success of a book, but for us the quality of our readership stands at the top of the list. Fueled initial y by favorable coverage in a wide range of magazines and journals, the book quickly found an audience and ignited a word-of-mouth chain reaction among thoughtful readers. And that is a key word: readers. What is the true price of a book? Not the fteen-to twenty- ve-dol ar cover price. For a busy person, the cover price pales in comparison to the hours required to read and digest a book, especial y a research-based, idea- driven work like ours. Most people don’t read the books they buy, or at least not al of them. We’ve been pleasantly surprised not only by how many people have bought the book, but by how many have actual y read it. From CEOs and senior executives to aspiring entrepreneurs, leaders of nonpro ts, investors, journalists, and managers early in their careers, busy people have invested in Built to Last with their most precious resource—time. We at ribute this widespread readership to four primary factors. First, people feel inspired by the very notion of building an enduring, great company. We’ve met executives from al over the world who aspire to create something bigger and more lasting than world who aspire to create something bigger and more lasting than themselves— an ongoing institution rooted in a set of timeless core values, that exists for a purpose beyond just making money, and that stands the test of time by virtue of the ability to continual y renew itself from within. We’ve seen this motivation not only in those who shoulder the responsibility of stewardship in large organizations, but also—and perhaps especial y—in entrepreneurs and leaders of smal to midsized companies. The examples set by people like David Packard, George Merck, Walt Disney, Masaru Ibuka, Paul Galvin, and Wil iam McKnight—the Thomas Jef ersons and James Madisons of the business world—set a high standard of values and performance that many feel compel ed to try to live up to. Packard and his peers did not begin as