There was a lot of publicity about Stanford Business School faculty - Jim Collins and Jerry Porras's famous books "Built to Last" and "Good to Great." Both books went on to sell 4 million copies - more than any other management book.
The Stanford based research team led by Jerry Porras has launched a follow up book recently. It is called "
Success Built to Last". I have noticed the book in B&N shop last week. I've started reading the book and just couldn't put it down. What an amazing and a thought provoking writing! It has been a long time since a business book had such a profound impact on me.
A few facts about the Jerry Porras. Profession: Academic Dean of Stanford Business School for 35 years. Management Thought Leader, Founder of Organizational Management and Organizational Strategy subjects
Here is a recent article that appeared in the media.
For most, success that's built to last starts with a portfolio of passions
By Kerry Hannon, Special for USA Today
Success is indeed an elusive prize, one that a trio of authors examine in this new self-help business book.Jerry Porras, co-author (with Jim Collins) of the best-seller Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies; best-selling author Stewart Emery; and executive coach Mark Thompson interviewed more than 200 people.
Most everyone was over 40. Some are well-known: Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, Maya Angelou, Steve Forbes, Quincy Jones, Dalai Lama, Alice Waters.
And some aren't, such as Norma Hotaling, a former prostitute and addict, who founded an organization to help women get off the streets.
The bottom-line conclusion about how successful people operate: "Their passions create meaning in their lives that is nothing short of a lifelong obsession from which they seek no escape."
And there you have it. There is, in the end, no trumping true dedication and passion.
"Success in the long run has less to do with finding the best idea, organizational structure, or business model for an enterprise, than with discovering what matters to us as individuals."
Everyone they interviewed have three essential traits in common.
They are:
•Meaning. What you do must matter deeply to you, so much so that you lose all track of time. It's a "flow experience."
•ThoughtStyle. You have a highly developed sense of accountability, audacity, passion and optimism.
•ActionStyle. You find effective ways to take action.
To quote Apple co-founder Jobs: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." What's most important, says Jobs: "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
Most of the men and women interviewed refer to themselves as "Builders," meaning success is something that happens over a long period of time, not just a flash-in-the-pan.
They are trying to make a difference in the world.
Money, ultimately, isn't the goal.
Builders come in all personality types from shrinking violets to swashbucklers, but enduringly successful people are lifted up by the power of their passion.
"The essential difference with Builders is that they've found something to do that matters to them and are therefore so passionately engaged, they rise above the personality baggage that would otherwise hold them down," the authors write.
And you can have more than one passion. In fact, you should. That's what makes a balanced life.
The authors advocate building a portfolio of passions.
"Carve out a little time each week, on the job or after work, to experiment in some way with one of your other passions."
Moreover, you've got to fail on the path to success. A cliché, but true, they write.
In final analysis, one of the best qualities a successful person can bring to the table is a sense of being an explorer.
"The journey is like shooting for the moon and instead hitting Mars — perhaps a better, but different, outcome than envisioned," according to Success Built to Last.
Here's the rub: You should have plans — they get you going — but along the way other things happen in life.
And what you end up being successful at may not be exactly what you pictured when you first started out.
