Core ideology (Collins and Porras)

Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras argue that enduring companies preserve a core ideology while changing strategies, products and practices around it. Their model separates what should remain stable—purpose and values—from an ambitious future the organisation is trying to create.

When to use it

• Use the model to articulate enduring purpose and values and to set a memorable, demanding big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG), whether for an ordinary organisation or a company such as Boeing.

Origins

Collins and Porras developed the concept through a six-year comparison of enduring companies, published in Built to Last in the mid-nineteen-nineties. Their later Harvard Business Review article “Building Your Company’s Vision” clarified the architecture: core ideology combines core values with core purpose, while the envisioned future contains a bold long-term goal and a vivid account of success. This distinction allows operating practices and strategy to evolve without abandoning the identity the organisation has chosen to preserve.

What it is

The model asks whether the organisation’s long-range ambition is sufficiently clear and audacious to mobilise effort. Collins and Porras call such an ambition a big, hairy, audacious goal.

Products may change completely, as Nokia’s history illustrates; leaders and profits also come and go. Core ideology is intended to endure through those shifts, while the envisioned future is eventually achieved, replaced or revised.

How to use it

First distinguish core purpose, the organisation’s fundamental reason for existing, from core values, the essential principles it would retain even when doing so carries a cost. Derive them from honest reflection rather than from fashionable language or stakeholder expectations.

Next define a highly challenging BHAG that aligns ambition and strengthens collective commitment. Boeing’s move into commercial aircraft and President Kennedy’s moon-landing goal illustrate the scale and clarity intended.

Translate the ideology into selection, onboarding, recognition and decisions. The authors describe visionary companies as having “cult-like” cultures: the ideology is held intensely, cultural fit is actively maintained and members feel exceptional pride. This can create coherence, but the modern application should avoid coercion, exclusion and suppression of constructive dissent.

The wider research identifies additional sources of endurance. One is continual innovation through rapid market experiments, an approach that partly challenges formal strategic planning. The authors favour trying ideas quickly and ending weak experiments without delay.

The design is intended to help an organisation remain built to last.

This experimentation does not change the core ideology; it changes the ways the organisation expresses it. Collins and Porras also challenge the belief that a great founding idea or charismatic founder is necessary. Their argument places more weight on building an enduring institution around an ideology than on dependence upon one leader.

Top practical tip

Separate what should never change from what should change. Express core purpose and a small set of genuinely enduring values first; only then define the BHAG and vivid future.

Top pitfall

Do not invent values for a branding exercise or treat ideology as a substitute for sound strategy. A stated principle that leaders abandon under pressure will weaken trust rather than create endurance.

Further reading

• Collins, J.C. and Porras, J.I. (nineteen ninety-four). Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. HarperBusiness.
• Collins, J.C. and Porras, J.I. (nineteen ninety-six). “Building Your Company’s Vision.” Harvard Business Review.