Description

What makes a truly great company? Not just good for a season, not just successful for a decade — but genuinely, enduringly, generationally great? That is the question Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras set out to answer in one of the most ambitious business research projects ever undertaken. The result is Built to Last — a landmark book that has sold over one million copies, shaped business thinking worldwide, and remains as urgently relevant today as the day it was published.

From the bestselling author of Good to Great, this is the book that came before — and in many ways, goes deeper.

The Research Behind the Book: Collins and Porras spent six rigorous years at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business studying 18 truly exceptional, long-lasting companies — including Disney, 3M, Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, and Walmart — and comparing each against a direct competitor that was good but never achieved the same legendary status. The findings shattered some of the most widely held assumptions about what makes businesses succeed.

What Built to Last Reveals:

Myth-Busting Discoveries:

Why visionary companies do NOT require a great idea to start — and what they have instead
Why charismatic, visionary leaders are NOT required for greatness — and why depending on one can be dangerous
Why the most enduring companies are NOT primarily profit-driven — and paradoxically make more money because of it
Why “either/or” thinking destroys companies — and how visionary organisations embrace “the genius of AND”

The Core Concepts:

Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs):

How the world’s greatest companies set goals so bold they seem almost unreasonable — and why that is precisely the point
How BHAGs align, energise, and focus entire organisations around a shared direction
How to craft a BHAG for your own organisation, team, or entrepreneurial venture

Preserve the Core / Stimulate Progress:

The most important organisational paradox of all — and how visionary companies master it
How to identify and protect the core values that must never change — even as everything else adapts
How to relentlessly drive change, innovation, and progress without losing what makes your organisation exceptional

Cult-Like Cultures:

Why visionary companies create strong, clear cultures that are not for everyone — and why that is their strength
How culture becomes the ultimate competitive advantage that no competitor can easily copy
How to build an organisation where the right people thrive and the wrong people self-select out

Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works:

How the world’s most successful companies evolved through disciplined experimentation — not perfect planning
Why evolutionary progress often beats visionary planning when applied consistently over time

Clock Building, Not Time Telling:

Why building a company that can run without you is worth infinitely more than being a brilliant individual leader
How to create organisational systems, structures, and cultures that outlast any single person

Who This Book Is For:

Entrepreneurs and founders building companies they want to endure beyond themselves
Corporate leaders, CEOs, and senior managers responsible for organisational strategy and culture
MBA students and business school graduates studying organisational behaviour and strategy
Kenyan business owners wanting to build institutions — not just enterprises — that create lasting impact
Anyone who has read Good to Great and wants the companion volume that completes the picture
Managers and consultants working with organisations undergoing change, restructuring, or growth

Why Kenyan Business Leaders Need This Book: Kenya is at a pivotal moment in its economic development. The country needs not just more businesses — it needs more enduring institutions. More companies that outlast their founders. More organisations built on genuine values, not just profit motive. More Kenyan enterprises that can stand alongside the world’s greatest companies in ambition, culture, and lasting impact. Built to Last is the blueprint — and at Ksh 100, every Kenyan business leader, entrepreneur, and manager can access it today.

Book Details: