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.