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Resources for product teams from industry experts.

Attaining alignment is not just a process of adding new things; it is also a never-ending process of identifying and doggedly correcting misalignments that push a company away from its core ideology or impede progress. If the building layout impedes progress, change the building layout or move. If the strategy is misaligned with the core, change the strategy.

If the organization structure inhibits progress, change the organization structure. If the incentive system rewards behavior inconsistent with the core, change the incentive system. Keep in mind that the only sacred cow in a visionary company is its core ideology. Anything else can be changed or eliminated.

— Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras

Source: Amazon Kindle

Related Stories and Excerpts:

  1. A well-conceived vision consists of two major components — core ideology and an envisioned future. Notice the direct parallel to the fundamental “preserve the core/stimulate progress” dynamic. A good vision builds on the interplay between these two complementary yin-and-yang forces: it defines “what we stand for and why we exist” that does not change (the core ideology) and sets forth “what we aspire to become, to achieve, to create” that will require significant change and progress to attain (the envisioned future). To pursue the vision means to create organizational and strategic alignment to preserve the core ideology and stimulate […]
  2. Core ideology provides the bonding glue that holds an organization together as it grows, decentralizes, diversifies, expands globally, and attains diversity within. Think of core ideology as analogous to the principles of Judaism that held the Jewish people together for centuries without a homeland, even as they spread in the Diaspora. Or think of it like the truths held to be “self-evident” in the United States Declaration of Independence, or the enduring ideals and principles of the scientific community that bond scientists from every nationality together with the common purpose of advancing human knowledge. Any effective vision must embody […]
  3. “I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our being.” (Core) Purpose, which should last at least 100 years, should not be confused with specific goals or business strategies, which should change many times in 100 years. Whereas you might achieve a goal or complete a strategy, you cannot fulfill a purpose; it is like a guiding star on the horizon — forever pursued, but never reached. Yet while purpose itself does […]
  4. Mental Models: The SCAMPER Method The SCAMPER method is one of the easiest yet most effective strategies for finding solutions to problems and sparking creative thinking. Think of this mental model as akin to opening a faucet that introduces water to seven pipes, and each of those pipes channels to a unique pot of earth. Each pot has the potential to bring forth new growth once the seeds in it are watered. Note that the SCAMPER method doesn’t require that you move in a sequential flow of steps. You can use it in any order or sequence and jump among the different techniques. Substitute: […]
  5. Core values are the organization’s essential and enduring tenets — a small set of timeless guiding principles that require no external justification; they have intrinsic value and importance to those inside the organization. “The core values embodied in our Credo might be a competitive advantage, but that is not why we have them. We have them because they define for us what we stand for, and we would hold them even if they became a competitive disadvantage in certain situations.” The key point is that an enduring great company decides for itself what values it holds to be core, […]

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