In Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras offer an explanation as to why some organizations have thrived through multiple generations of leaders and over long periods of time. According to Collins and Porras, these successful organizations all have a Vision Framework that helps them to achieve and sustain success. The Vision Framework can be described in two parts.
First, organizational constituents share a clear understanding of their organization’s Core Ideology, which includes its Core Purpose and its Core Values. As the name implies, the Core Ideology is deeply rooted in the organization’s identity. It is the heart and soul of the organization. It should be cherished, protected and preserved. Once an organization discovers its Core Ideology, the organization should use it as a moral compass to guide all of its decisions.
Second, organizations that have thrived over the long term have created an Envisioned Future that includes Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) and Vivid Descriptions of those BHAGs. Everything that is not part of the Core Ideology is open for discussion, debate and reinvention, which gives constituents the freedom to think boldly and outside the box. The Envisioned Future should be aspirational, inspirational and transgenerational.
During my first semester as President of Clinton Community College, the campus community – students, faculty and staff – engaged in an extended discussion of Clinton’s Core Ideology. I thought it would be appropriate to take this opportunity to share some ideas on one aspect of our Core Ideology, namely our Core Purpose. Through a process of discovery that Collins and Porras have named The Five Whys, we at Clinton have determined that our Core Purpose can be expressed in two parts: one that is associated with a private good and one that is associated with a public good.
The first part of our Core Purpose is to provide educational opportunities that result in personal transformation. In this case, the benefit comes to the individual student as a return on the investment of their time, toil and tuition. It is understood that students ought to be better off when they leave us than when they entered – but not just better by increments. The personal transformation that comes from higher education should be more than an incremental benefit, more than a new skill or a new collection of facts. It is a quantum leap forward, a new way of approaching life and the world around us. It may be associated with a new career, deeper insights into one’s own character or a broader view of the world in which we live.
The second part of our Core Purpose is to strengthen our community. In this case, the benefit comes not only to a single individual but to everyone in the community, even if they themselves are not enrolled at the College. This benefit is the return on investment made by the public in its community college. Some of this public good is the aggregate of the individual transformations that occur at Clinton: the community benefits from a technically skilled workforce, from a citizenry of critical thinkers, from better health care, from a healthier environment, and so on. But there is more. The community is also strengthened because the College itself is a community resource for culture, recreation and economic development.
Together with our Core Values, Clinton’s Core Purpose defines us; it identifies us. This shared understanding of our Core Ideology is the bedrock on which we will build our Envisioned Future. As long as we don’t tamper with these ideals or contradict them, we can be open to a whole host of exciting possibilities that will shape our future.
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