Clock Building

Something Mr. Hargis said in his comments to my post entitled Update has got me thinking. You're not wrong, my friend, but I do feel compelled to clarify something (you only have yourself to blame for this compulsion; you realize this, right?). You said:

Some people go into business hoping to make a quick killing and retire to some tropical island. No doubt some go into politics for the same reason, but for most businessmen and politicians success equals longevity. If there's any difference it's that few go into business hoping to change the world; they just want to make money.

Now, here's where we diverge. The great ones in any field are what Jim Collins called "clock builders" in his groundbreaking book, Good to Great. Anyone can tell you what time it is, but the really great ones build clocks, and these will tell time long after we've passed on.

I really think that any organization needs to take conscious steps to building a franchise, and this involves organizational mechanisms and rigorous development of human capital. This applies in just about any organization, and I'm going to go dust off GtG and share some more pearls of wisdom. More to follow.