Built to Last : Successful Habits
of Visionary Companies
by James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras
(3rd edition), 2000, 355 pages.
Publisher: Random House Business Books. ISBN: 071266968X
You may be asking, "what has a book on the successful habits of visionary companies got to do with software testing?" To answer, I have to admit that it has no or very little to do with testing in terms of technical methods and the specific knowledge of testing.
The book does however provide a very researched approach concerning the factors that distinguish best from second best companies. If you think like me, then anything that can produce above average results (nay, the best results) is worthy of contemplation.
James Collins and Jerry Porras indeed make the point that they believe the principles that distinguish best companies, can also distinguish best departments or collections of people, like your testing team, or software project team.
So what is it that makes companies outperform second runners by six times, and average companies by fifteen times?
Built to last authors believe that they have key insights into the primary differentiators between good and excellent. These differentiating factors are discussed in detail in the twelve absorbing chapters of the book.
Factors such as building the business capacity in addition to meeting pressing operational needs make such a difference in the market over time. Not accepting a trade-off mentality at face value. No longer is 'expensive or poor quality' accepted as a trade-off pair, visionary teams achieve cost reductions and quality improvements simultaneously!
Visionary teams are stimulated by more than just profit; they have goals that sometimes will even detriment short-term profits. The financial and other goals of visionary groups are often 'Big Hairy Audacious' goals. In addition to all of this visionary groups are simultaneously able to adapt to operational changes faster and more efficiently because of their incredibly stable core values.
The most visionary teams may not be comfortable groups to work in. If you fit in with the strong cultures, you will wish to stay forever, otherwise you may be left wondering what happened, when a difference in values will see you out of the team before you can say "what happened?"
Believe it or not, the authors' research has discovered that visionary groups don't always have a sure-fire plan of where to go, but they do have tenacity and passion to 'try a lot of stuff' and the wisdom to 'keep what works'!
Visionary companies (and teams) tend to use home-grown management as the culture fit, is often more critical than mere technical skills.
Visionary companies transcend a single leader; the study undertaken spanned more than a century for many of the leading and comparison companies.
As a manager, test manager, or business owner, why read this book?
One compelling reason why I shall read it again, is that I wish to make a difference in the arena of testing, a difference that will outlast 'my current team' by a few centuries at least!
Wayne Mallinson