Monday, October 04, 2010

From Good to Great to Built to Last

My last Good to Great post. Here are my favorite quotes from Chapter 9 - From Good to Great to Built to Last.

What does it take to start and build an enduring great company from the ground up? (188)

Enduring great companies don’t exist merely to deliver returns to shareholders. Indeed, in a truly great company, profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body: They are absolutely essential for life, but they are not the very point of life. (194)

…core values are essential for enduring greatness, but it doesn’t seem to matter what those core values are.

Embrace the key concept of preserve the core/stimulate progress. (195)

..holding a core ideology fixed while changing strategies and practices over time. (196)

If we organized the majority of our work time around applying these principles, and pretty much ignored or stopped doing everything else, our lives would be simpler and our results vastly improved. (205)

…the search for meaningful work. (208)

All that matters is that you do love it and that you do care.

What work makes you feel compelled to try to create greatness? (209)

Perhaps it is when you care deeply enough about the work in which you are engaged, and when your responsibilities line up with your own personal three circles. (210)