Summary/Abstract

Digging up an old management textbook may not seem the most productive thing to do with your spare time, but Jim Collins and Jerry Porras’ 1994 best-seller “Built to last: successful habits of visionary companies” might just buck the trend.

Looking at how blue-chip companies like the Walt Disney company managed to remain financially successful and relevant for the long haul, helps us to see how that most hallowed and ancient of all institutions, the NHS, has managed to survive in likewise fashion.

The solution, in both cases is the preservation and promotion of core values. An imaginative interpretation of ‘Built to last” can illustrate how staff working in NHS libraries can harness the power of core values to market services that transcend individual products (watch-making), and promote ambitious and enduring targets through incremental change (cult leading).

In our post-pandemic world, 1990’s text books may seem irrelevant, but “Built to last” can gift NHS library staff with the chance to feel a key part of their institution at a time when they should all feel justly proud of their collective achievements. To read the full article, click here.

Daniel Park
Assistant Librarian
The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust