American Icon (25 page)
Authors: Bryce G. Hoffman
“An organization, to render any service so widely useful, must be large in scope as well as great in purpose. To conquer the high cost of motoring and to stabilize the factors of production—this is a great purpose. Naturally it requires a large program to carry it out,” it stated. “In accomplishing its aims the Ford institution has never been daunted by the size or difficulty of any task. It has spared no toil in finding the way of doing each task best. It has dared to try out the untried with conspicuous success.”
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This was exactly what Mulally had been looking for—a polestar to guide his transformation of Ford, a touchstone that he could return to in times of doubt. Everything came together for him in that image. He grabbed a pen and a pad of paper and began writing in his usual stream-of-consciousness style:
Pull all the stakeholders together around a compelling vision: Opening the highways to all mankind
Form a tight working-together relationship with Bill, the board and the family
Respect the heritage
Join the Ford team
Respect and reach out to all the stakeholders
Implement a reliable discipline and responsible business plan process
Include everyone
Make it safe
Every week, every month, every quarter
Continuous improvement
Organize to deliver the plan—the matrix organization
People working together
Great products … Strong business … A better world
The best-designed vehicles in the world