Clock Building, Not Time Telling
Build an organization that can prosper far beyond the presence of any single leader and through multiple product life cycles
Having a great idea or being a charismatic visionary leader is time telling. Building a company that can prosper far beyond the presence of any single leader and through multiple product life cycles is clock building. The builders of visionary companies tend to be clock builders, not time tellers.
The primary output of the visionary company builders was not the tangible implementation of a great idea, the expression of a charismatic personality, the gratification of their ego, or the accumulation of personal wealth. Their greatest creation was the company itself and what it stands for. They shifted from having a great vision to building an organization that is visionary.
This does not mean that visionary companies never had great ideas or charismatic leaders. They often did. But the key distinction is that the founders channeled their energy into building the organizational clock rather than simply telling the time. Walt Disney's greatest creation was not any single film or theme park but the Walt Disney Company itself. Sam Walton's greatest creation was not any single store but the Wal-Mart organization and its culture.
Clock building means creating tangible organizational mechanisms: training programs, cultural indoctrination processes, clear ideologies codified and communicated, succession planning through promotion from within, performance systems aligned with values, and structures that stimulate progress while preserving the core. The goal is to make the organization itself the ultimate product.
- The primary output of a visionary company's founders is not a great product but a great organization. The company itself is the ultimate creation.
- A charismatic visionary leader is not required to build a visionary company and can actually be detrimental if the organization becomes dependent on that single individual.
- Many visionary companies began without a great idea. What they had instead was a determination to build something that would endure.
- Clock building means creating tangible mechanisms: training programs, cultural processes, succession plans, performance systems, and structures aligned with core values.
- The shift from time telling to clock building is the shift from asking 'What is my great vision?' to asking 'How do I build an organization that will be visionary?'
- Shift Your Mindset from Product to OrganizationRecognize that your greatest creation should be the organization itself, not any single product, service, or idea. Ask yourself: If I were hit by a bus tomorrow, would this organization continue to thrive? If the answer is no, you are time telling, not clock building. Begin redirecting your energy from being the visionary to building a visionary organization.Pro tipDavid Packard concentrated all along on building the finest company he possibly could, stating that creating a huge personal fortune was never particularly a goal. Walt Disney's greatest creation, according to biographer Richard Schickel, was not any film but Walt Disney the company.WarningThis does not mean neglecting product quality or customer service. It means ensuring those things happen because of the organization's systems and culture, not because of your personal involvement in every decision.
- Codify Your Core Ideology EarlyArticulate and document your organization's core values and purpose beyond just making money. Do this as early as possible, even if the company is small and struggling. Sony's Masaru Ibuka codified an ideology for his company less than ten months after founding it, long before turning a positive cash flow. This ideology then guided the company's evolution for decades.Pro tipCore ideology should describe what you stand for and why you exist, not what products you make or what market you serve. Those are strategies that should change over time. The ideology should not.WarningDo not confuse core ideology with strategy, culture, or operating practices. Core values and purpose should never change. Everything else must be open for change.
- Build Tangible Mechanisms with TeethTranslate your core ideology and drive for progress into concrete organizational mechanisms. These include training and indoctrination programs, hiring and screening processes, promotion criteria aligned with values, performance measurement systems, incentive structures, organizational designs, and physical layouts. Each mechanism should preserve the core ideology or stimulate progress, or both.Pro tipDisney created Disney University and required every employee to attend Disney Traditions seminars. HP instituted a religious promote-from-within policy. Nordstrom created a system of sales-per-hour rankings, Pacesetters, and All Stars. These are not vague cultural aspirations but concrete mechanisms with teeth.WarningIntentions are fine but the translation of those intentions into concrete items with teeth is what makes the difference between becoming a visionary company or forever remaining a wannabe.
- Build for Succession and ContinuityDesign the organization so that leadership transitions strengthen rather than weaken it. Promote from within so that successive generations of leaders are steeped in the core ideology. Create systems that do not depend on any single individual's presence, genius, or charisma. The organization should be the vehicle that carries the vision forward, not any single person.Pro tipVisionary companies in the study promoted from within to a far greater degree than comparison companies. This ensured that leaders who rose to the top deeply understood and embodied the core ideology because they had been shaped by it over many years.WarningClock building does not mean the founder is unimportant. It means the founder's most important contribution is building the clock, not telling the time.
Walt Disney's greatest creation was not Snow White, Disneyland, or any single film. It was the Walt Disney Company itself. Disney created Disney University, required all employees to attend Disney Traditions seminars, built elaborate training systems, and designed every aspect of the organization to perpetuate its core ideology of creativity, imagination, and attention to detail. The company continued to thrive and grow long after Walt Disney's death in 1966.
When Masaru Ibuka started Sony in the ruins of postwar Tokyo with seven employees and $1,600 in personal savings, he had no specific product idea. His early attempts included a failed rice cooker and sweetened bean-paste soup. But instead of focusing solely on finding a product, Ibuka codified a corporate ideology within ten months of founding the company, including purposes of incorporation and management guidelines that emphasized technological innovation, contribution to society, and respect for individual ability.
Collins and Porras developed this concept from their observation that the most common image of a visionary company is one centered on a visionary leader with a great idea. But their research revealed that many visionary companies were not started with a great idea at all. Sony began with failed products like rice cookers and heated seat cushions. HP started with no specific product idea. 3M began as a failed mining venture. What distinguished these companies was not the brilliance of their initial concept but the determination of their founders to build an enduring organization. The metaphor contrasts a person who can look at the sky and tell the exact time with someone who builds a clock that can tell the time forever, even after they are dead and gone.