There is a paradox evident in those who build the great companies. On one hand, they concentrate on high-level vision and strategy while, on the other hand, they involve themselves with seemingly trivial details. The acceptance of the paradox lies in understanding that details are not trivial. Details matter. The most effective leaders are obsessed with both vision and details. They are fanatical about getting the details right.

How you deal with certain details is actually a very high level statement—a statement about the core values of the company. Involving yourself with certain details can send a very powerful symbolic message.

In the early phases of an organization, a company’s vision comes directly from its early leaders; it is very much their personal vision. To become great, however, a company must progress past excessive dependence on one or a few key individuals. The vision must become shared as a community, and become identified primarily with the organization, rather than with certain individuals running the organization. The vision must actually transcend the founders.

Much of the material in this chapter is based on extensive research at Stanford and the article “Organizational Vision and Visionary Organizations” (California Management Review, Fall 1991). We need not go into all of the theoretical underpinnings and background research of the framework here. The essence of it is that a good vision consists of:

1. CORE VALUES AND BELIEFS

1. PURPOSE

1. MISSION

Many of us have a romantic idea about how creativity happens: A lone visionary conceives of a film or a product in a flash of insight. Then that visionary leads a team of people through hardship to finally deliver on that great promise. The truth is, this isn’t my experience at all. I’ve known many people I consider to be creative geniuses, and not just at Pixar and Disney, yet I can’t remember a single one who could articulate exactly what this vision was that they were striving for when they started.

In my experience, creative people discover and realize their visions over time and through dedicated, protracted struggle. In that way, creativity is more like a marathon than a sprint. You have to pace yourself.

1. Obliquity

Visionary companies pursue a cluster of objectives, of which making money is only one— and not necessarily the primary one. Yes, they seek profits, but they’re equally guided by a core ideology— core values and sense of purpose beyond just making money. Yet paradoxically, the visionary companies make more money than the purely profit driven companies.

— Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, Built to Last